I Reversed My Street Tactics And A Good Start.

AND HOW ABOUT ALL OF US HAVING A MORNING COFFEE !!!

:D


i am going for mine now. It's Brazilian, filter way.
 
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Pitxu said:
Jon, I admire Rubens approach too, In fact I'm going to try it for myself, it sounds a great method. Your's too though is very good. Here in France some people call street photog's "Chasseurs d'images" (image hunters), though like your method, it was the great Doisneau who said he was more a "pecheur d'images" (a fisher) and found his spot then waited for the "fish" to come along.
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I try this: find a spot and wait for people, it works great :) , it's allow you to control the background wich is quite useful :)
 
Pitxu said:
Your's too though is very good. Here in France some people call street photog's "Chasseurs d'images" (image hunters), though like your method, it was the great Doisneau who said he was more a "pecheur d'images" (a fisher) and found his spot then waited for the "fish" to come along.
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Thank you, I had forgotten Doisneau's words. And gone and invented the 'method' myself.

In your part of the world I occasionally overnight in Hendaye Hendaia and although I've never taken any photos there have always thought that the bridge between the French part and the Spanish part is ripe for photography; although we can walk across the bridge and enter another country quite freely there are border guards with kevlar jackets watching our every move.

The motorway border crossing is great for photos too. You'll have see it in Wim Wenders movie 'Lisbon Story'. But the border guards there always give me a hard time. I must trip their radar somehow because I always get the full search for thirty minutes. It's gotten so I'll travel from Bilbao to Portsmouth by luxury ferry rather than put up with the car search and questioning every time.

But when I am in Hendaye Hendaia I delight in walking to Spain to buy bread and cheese and carrying it into France two minutes away.

Similarly the main road north from there through Landes and the several caravan cafes seems just too good to be true for a guy with a camera and a few hours.

I have been up into the Pyrenees, but landscape isn't my thing so I had a beer and came back down.
 
le vrai rdu said:
I try this: find a spot and wait for people, it works great :) , it's allow you to control the background wich is quite useful :)
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Mmm. I just 'wasted' an hour on the street. Got myself a table and a beer at a sidewalk cafe, set the exposure and the focus and waited.

And waited.

When I saw somebody interesting I lazily and casually took a photo as if I was photographing something over their shoulder.
 
Hi Jon,

I wanted along this thread to speak too about finding the background first and waiting for the subject.

The only reason I don't use it today, is lack of time. Although here and there I try to pay attention for possible spots to set an ambush. But once, long time ago, when I was young and pretty and had time too, using this tactic I obtained one of the best if not The best of my street pictures so far. You have to have time to spend, and luck.

Cheers,
Ruben
 
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ClaremontPhoto said:
Mmm. I just 'wasted' an hour on the street. Got myself a table and a beer at a sidewalk cafe, set the exposure and the focus and waited.

And waited.

When I saw somebody interesting I lazily and casually took a photo as if I was photographing something over their shoulder.
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wait 5 minutes under a porch during a rainy night ;) it is always nice
 
taking pictures of people, almost right up to their faces is something that i admire and have taken a long time coming to terms with it; i finally learned that no one cares.

*but*, sitting in front of someone's face and busting out your flash -- i'd bitchslap you and would fully expect to get bitchslaped if i did that to someone else.

get some fast film but please don't blind people with your light probe, have some courtesy; although i'm sure some of you are of the opinion of 'anything goes' in street photography.


ClaremontPhoto said:
I admire Ruben for doing what he's doing.
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ruben said:
AND HOW ABOUT ALL OF US HAVING A MORNING COFFEE !!!

:D


i am going for mine now. It's Brazilian, filter way.
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Indeed!!!

And Ruben, you make me think about things I had not yet considered.

Although, I was already heading for the coffee pot... :)
 
I actually enjoy and look for my subjects to engage me when I'm out street shooting. I crave eye contact and sometimes wait for the person I'm eyeing to look at me. I get some interesting emotions from them as I snap away, often taking a few frames to get a range of emotions. Conventional wisdom for some street shooters is that you shouldn't do this but I like to break from the fuss of it all and do my thing. I doubt I'd ever use a flash as that may be too intrusive even for me.
 
ClaremontPhoto said:
Mmm. I just 'wasted' an hour on the street. Got myself a table and a beer at a sidewalk cafe, set the exposure and the focus and waited.
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An hour with a beer is never wasted :D
I keep wanting to set up camp at a likely spot and wait for suitable targets but I don't have the patience. I keep thinking of all the opportunities I might be missing elsewhere, so I keep walking. Wrt flash, I think Martin Parr has made it an art form, although I don't have his guts to emulate his style! Personally I'm fascinated with trying to capture expressions and gestures, however small, between individuals. In the millisecons before firing the shutter the world ceases to exist, just the target.

Thanks, Lol
 
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Agressive Belgrade rivalries aside, what an interesting thread. Nice comments, Ruben.

One of the pleasures of my day-job is that I get to give a photo workshop for my students going abroad. It's a great opportunity. I don't think I'm anything special as a photographer, but it doesn't take much to present the essentials to newbies (the rule of thirds, for example, blows some people's minds and represents an enormous leap in technique).

At these workshops, there are always questions about taking photos of people, the ethics of it (and some of the cultural considerations some posters have rightfully brought in to the discussion here). I usually share the experiences of Matt Moyer, a professional photojournalist I know (and who's presented this workshop with me in the past) as to how he solicits permission or approval from his subjects. I talk about my own journey towards a more interactive photography with a recent portrait project in Copenhagen, and how I'm trying to make my photogrpahy more collaborative and democratic (by, in this case, giving people one of the polaroids I made of them).

So, Ruben, do you mind if I talk about your observations the next time I give this workshop? I think this would really help students think through multiple approaches to getting tacit approval from subjects through body language and expressions.

cheers
doug
 
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Many members are enjoying this thread. Let's keep the personal comments out of it so that they can continue to do so. ;)

Kim
 
I'm really enjoying this thread, particularly as I am a beginner who is looking forward to venturing into the world of discrete street work.

I must admit that I am currently in two minds as to the ethics of "stealing" photographs from strangers. I think I understand most of the arguments put forward for the validity of street photography, and one cannot deny the arresting images posted here and elsewhere. Pitxu, your attachment is terrific. I am sure there is an etiquette to be observed when snapping away in public places, some of which I am picking up from the many posts above, but I doubt that it is right to take a photograph of an unwilling subject for purely "artistic" purposes. I feel a line has to be drawn somewhere, and with me that would be snapping unwilling participants in the enterprise.
 
Pitxu said:
"Good day gentlemen, how's it going, not too cold ?"
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Yes, do that thing too. Just a small bit of chat like "What time's the football today?" or "Has that cafe over there got fresh bread yet?"

It shows that you're there and joining in their life (which I am) and being community not tourist.
 
ruben said:
Hi NB23,

You are right, and I am wrong.

It is buit in in the very human process of understanding and learning. When we start to know something new, we have no choice but making generalizations and eternal truths.

Afterwards, we learn the borders of our new knowledge and become more reserved about it.

Cheers,
Ruben
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ruben, perhaps if you used 'i', instead of 'we' a bit more, it would appear less like a universal truth and more like a truth for you.
i know for me that i do not like to be spoken for.
joe
 
The Campanille Hotel is Hendaye is fine and close to the main road.

The Colombian coffee here was nothing special.

I have some Uruguian beef for next week. I'm roasting it for 30 min. a kilo plus 20 min. at gas 8. Then resting.
 
Oldham

Oldham

That's a great story about an Oldham park. Glad that 'Parky' got his come-uppance.

By the way, on one of the main roads into Oldham there used to be an enormous sign saying: Welcome to Oldham, the home of tubular bandage. Anyone know if it's still there?

Sean.
 
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