David Solomons - street photographer - video

Don't get me totally wrong because I like some of this guys pictures, and I like that people post links to a lot of stuff here. But what is it with all these guys posting videos of themselves walking around taking photos? Am I the only one that thinks this is pretty weird?

Cheers,
Gary
 
Self promotion for his book I guess. Don't like his shots any of the shots he took while out, but some of his stuff is nice elsewhere. But yeah, don't see the point in this.
 
It is one of the rules of being a street photographer.
You eventually have to make a book and then a video of yourself shooting. If you consider yourself a pro street photographer, you have to get your friend with a 5D Mark II, the best camera in the world, to shoot the video using shallow dof and other stuff like out of focus moments.
 
LOL good point... I guess many people are interested in videos of street shooters because they want to see how they do it in practice, if they shoot from the hip, the body language, how they manage to stay out of trouble etc.
 
It's interesting, the odd composition of his shots look like they are from the hip, but he is apparently looking through the viewfinder to frame what he's shooting. If I walked around photographing people that blatantly, I'd probably be hassled multiple times in a day. Haha.
 
He missed the shot of that guy blowing smoke at 3:40, only to take the photo of the woman photographer?! I personally don't get much, or like these kinds videos, but I can understand why some people are interested in them. I am more interested in hearing what they say about their work, not their technique. I frankly didn't find David's work all that interesting, but then I am only making my observation from this video.
 
duncanhill said:
It's interesting, the odd composition of his shots look like they are from the hip, but he is apparently looking through the viewfinder to frame what he's shooting. If I walked around photographing people that blatantly, I'd probably be hassled multiple times in a day. Haha.
Click to expand...

Helps to have very busy streets with every type of human strolling, staggering, marching by all the time. He's so furtive and quick---just another strange person.

Shooting street stuff in a small town is a whole nuther story....

Gotta use that technique from the movie "Z"---motor drive, wide angle, camera held almost behind the hip, distract with eye contact

Funny thing is the people in the vid aren't even that distracted by the videographer.
 
Thanks for the link. I am starting to think that having someone shooting the street photographer is a perfect ruse to distract/confuse the vigilant subject on the street 🙂.

I personally find these videos of other street photographers really fascinating and it's so cool to see how other people work. Besides, I love the busy streets and watching them is like a first-person street photographer’s video game.
These types of videos are a great way to promote street photography/street photographers and I always appreciate when folks take the time to provide links to them.

If I did one, I would show all the shots I miss when loading/rewinding film 😛. Or when I’ve got my head turned the wrong way or I’m using the wrong lens and all the out-of-focus shots and bad exposures ...OO.

It would also be really entertaining to see people's reaction to me, as I shoot the weird **** I like to photograph.
I’d like to see the contact sheets and the photographer going over the contact sheets and talking about the images taken during the video.

The other thing I can't help noticing is that sometimes, the video is better than the photos. I am not saying that this is the case in this instance but the man blowing smoke is a perfect example of the video guy getting it and the street shooter missing.

Don't get me wrong, I miss so many shots it's not even funny. But isn’t that the whole point? Street photography isn’t easy.

And where are the security guards telling you that you can't shoot? And how come no one ever asked "those photographers," Why are you taking my photo 😛?

Another thing I would like to show is how different it is when it's freezing outside and the street is almost bare and the light is bad and the photographer is 6”3 and stands out like a sore thumb 🙂.
 
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what camera is that?
Hexar AF???

It's so hard to do street photography...
I just got my 1st RF kit recently and feel more comfortable to use than my F2 / F3 as it is quieter...
but then I am still afraid of taking picture of people as they realise I am shooting them!!!

How do you guys do it?
 
juno_lau said:
How do you guys do it?
Click to expand...
Just down a bottle of your favorite liquid courage. I vote Tequila. Then go to the street and start documenting the conditions of humans at the moment of decisiveness.
If you are too drunk, you'll come back with some blurry, out of focus shots, but it is ok. Just call it 'art.' Voila!
 
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He didn't even look like he was trying, he was just shooting everything in sight. What was the point?

I think street shooting is about framing up a moment with some sort of visual interest. This guy was just lazy imo and photographing nonsense. There was no aesthetic in any of it, except maybe that shot with the elderly woman in blue.
 
kbg32 said:
He missed the shot of that guy blowing smoke at 3:40, only to take the photo of the woman photographer?! I personally don't get much, or like these kinds videos, but I can understand why some people are interested in them. I am more interested in hearing what they say about their work, not their technique. I frankly didn't find David's work all that interesting, but then I am only making my observation from this video.
Click to expand...


I thought of that too as well, it was a brilliant moment he missed!
 


Smoke rings are cool 🙂.


I still say getting the word out on street shooting with these kinds of videos is cool. I would love to see others make their own and do better.
 
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