second attempt at street photography...

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laudrup

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Hi Guys,

I thought i'd follow up my last post with a couple of pics taken today. I realised after my last attempt i'd not taken shots of any people...unless you include the mannequin in a shop window!!!

This was my second time out with my zorki 4k, i realised when looking at the film that there was some parallex error between by turret finder and lens. It meant that i had to crop some shots and missed capturing some of the banners in full.

I was using Ilford XP2 400 B&W c-41 film again and wanted to capture some expressive face shots. As luck would have it there was a demonstration on the streets of manchester so i managed to capture a few shots.

Let me know what you think and also any feedback is greatly appreciated.

Cheers

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p.s. i've resized them at a more normal size, around 800x600 so hopefully they'll fit on your screens




 
Some nice composition, and the images are sized better than last week, and a demonstration is a good place to start street with people.

My favorite is the one of the two guys up close - but the focus is off.

And personally, I'd crop to the same size for every image in a collection. For internet work I use 480x320 for regular (3:2) 35mm, and 480x160 for panoramic (3:1) 35mm.

You wil get more confident and work out your people skills and your camera skills, it just needs practice. Work your way up through markets (again pretty easy), and regular streets.

See you back here next week?
 
Thanks for the feedback Jon, I appreciate it.

I had a really good time shooting again yesterday. I felt pretty comfortable mingling with the crowds and shooting away. In the past i've felt a bit self conscious and either avoided shooting in public or rushed shots.

I think i rushed shooting this time to a degree, but for different reasons, rather than lacking confidence and just wanting to take pictures as quickly as possible I felt I almost had an adrenaline rush and wanted to take as many shots as possible!

I feel like i've learn a lot in the two sessions i've tried to shoot on the streets and i've also thought about what I would try differently next time. I'll post some more next week....

Cheers

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p.s. found one more i forgot to add

 
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I like the 4th one. I find a 135mm perfect for shooting folk in the streets. You can catch them at their best because of the extra distance between the camera and them.
 
Frank....believe me i'm tempted to splash out on a 135mm....but i'm going to have to resist the urge for the time being. It felt quite good getting in close and shooting without being noticed, but i think i'll try and lay my hands on a 135 in the new year.

As for M&S, apparently they are responsible for the oppression of palestinians, there was lots of literature/propaganda lying around but instead of reading it i was too selfish & busy taking photo's. Although I did get given an aggressive left wing newspaper so that I could email some photo's to them. The newspaper is called "fight racism, fight imperialism" and is published by the revolutionary communist group. It's a full on "smash the state" type rag.

The people protesting outside m & s were quite passionate and seemed to make good subjects to shoot. The Sean Connery look-a-like was very animated and forceful when he was talking to people.

Unfortunatly some of the shot's ive not posted were ruined due to the problems with my turret finder! Boo!
 
For your sort of street I'd look for a wide rather than a tele. If you need another lens.

Because whatever you've got now looks fine already.

Save your 'lens' money and think of it as 'film and dev' money. That way it will improve your images much more.

With a new lens you'd end up in here talking about lpi and bokeh, and out there you'd be taking one off and putting the other one on every two minutes. Missing decisive moments all the time.

Personally I've settled on 40mm, after buying every lens in the store and blowing a lot of money over the years.

Get in close and see the white their eyes.
 
i think you're right Jon, i love 35mm...not too wide, just wide enough. And like you say you have to get inclose which makes it quite challenging but fun! I love working with just one lens because it forces you to focus on composition and you have to think about where you need to be to get what you want in the frame....i suppose to a degree your feet are your zoom. I still wouldn't mind getting the 135mm eventually....you know how addictive this hobby of our is!

I've got a 50mm lens too but haven't even used it yet because i didn't want to miss anything while swapping lens over like you said!
 
ha ha, fair point Jon! I suppose technically speaking telephoto lenses are for voyeurs!

I do like the fact that with a shorter lens you've got to get in close and get involved with whats going and blend in.

I like the pinkheadedbug.com website, before you go shooting you tend to have preconceptions that put you off, for example of lot of photography magazines seem to be full of horror stories about people being confronted or even assualted for taking photos in public. To a degree they make you expect photographing people in the street to be an ordeal. The newspaper's here seem to infer that everyone who takes a camera to a public place is a potential paedophile, so i can understand why people might be a little circumspect.

I've probably opened a can of worms and started a big telephoto vs wideangle debate...doh!

I suppose if you're furtively wandering around with a big lens people may be more likely to be suspicious or wary. I found that the site i mentioned above was quite rational in the way it explained it's approach to street photography.

Luckily my experiences have only been positive so far and i'm lucky that i've had a lot of fun getting out and taking photo's. Using the rangefinder has really kickstarted my interest and i look forward to every day that i can get out there.

Cheers

Ad
 
I too think of street photography as a domain for wide angles lenses.

Pardon my asking but why are they boycotting M&S?
I'm from the states but I really enjoy shopping at Marks & Sparks in the UK, I get all my knickers there... ok TMI.
 
Apparently they were boycotting m&s because they are in some was supporting the oppresion of palestinians. I'm presuming that this must be financially as i can't imagine part-time shop staff going out oppressing people! There was plenty of flag waving and use of a loud speaker. The people at this protest were pretty passionate and some were downright fiery!

There was a lot of literature/propoganda depending on your view floating around, and a few guys running the show gave me a pretty extreme left wing magazine to take so that I could send them some of the pictures but unfortunately my turret finder being out of sync meant that the only ones that turned out reasonably well were the ones i've posted.

It was probably pretty ignorant of me to not find out more about what they were saying but i was caught up in a buzz of taking shots. The tone of the paper was fairly aggressive in a "smash the state" kind of way.

From a selfish point of view it was ideal, because i think i managed to catch some pretty expressive faces.
 
135 is great for landscapes and some portrait work but it takes you too far from the action on the street.
35mm is my favourite and i think 28 is good too.

i even find 50 a bit too far away, like a very short telephoto but i am determined to start using my new 50 more.

joe
 
nice shots Beniliam, I agree with you and Jon that it's more about the balls to get in close and get the shot, rather than hide away with a zoom lens.

If you get close enough you don't get too much background included. If you want a zoom, take however many paces forward you need. having said that i haven't go a problem with someone wanting to use a zoom and i can understand how people might be sensitive about invading someone's space, but at the end of the day it's about how you carry yourself.

If you skulk around in the shadows with a zoom you're bound to feel a bit self concious yet if you carry yourself with pride and confidence and act as though you should be there taking photo's then you shouldn't have a problem. Especially if you actually talk to people and explain what you are doing if confronted. I recognise that the "you can't expect privacy in a public place" argument is valid (but perhaps a touch confrontational) and have tried to be respectful when shooting.

Without wanting to contradict myself, i will add that this is easy for me to say with only two street shooting sessions under my belt. At the end of the day this is a subjective area and what is right for one person is not neccessarily best for the next. From my limited experience i prefer to get in close and use the wider angled lenses (i.e. 35-50mm, i use 24mm on my slr but havent used this on the mean streets!)

I must also add that I think we've got a pretty interesting discussion going here.
 
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