Street(level) Photography?

[Stephanie Brim]

Due to the contest we've been talking a lot about street photography. What it is, what it isn't, who does it, who doesn't do it, asking before we take a portrait or just taking it, etc. It has been a good primer for what I plan to shoot for the contest and what I plan to shoot more of in the future.

However, when I go out shooting tomorrow, I just want to mess around.

The concept? Street level photography. Putting the camera (with an electrical-taped bottom, of course, to prevent scratches) at street level and shooting. This will be done without looking through the viewfinder with the lens at a set focus distance. I'll be doing it with two different lenses: the Canon 50mm f/1.8 and the Jupiter-12. I'll be doing this at different places around town, out of town, in other towns, in the mall, in the grocery store, etc. I'll be doing this at different times of the day. Dunno what kind of shots it'll produce.

Anyone else done something like this? Anyone want to join me in this crazy venture? I think a little for fun shooting could do us some good around here. If there's some interest I can start a W/NW thread next week and we can see how things go.

 

[wamjam]

that is a cool idea! just wondering how you would focus? just measure the distance of the subject like what the old paparazzis did or wil you just keep it locked on infinity?

 

[Stephanie Brim]

I don't know exactly how I'm going to focus yet. I'm thinking of just setting it on a decently small aperture (f/16) and setting focus to infinity. I'm going to be using either Velvia or Sensia for this little project...I don't shoot much color but for some reason I'm going to for this. I may do some black and white, too.

 

[Todd.Hanz]

I wouldn't suggest setting my camera on the ground, maybe hold it low. I've shot alot while I was sitting on a bench with the camera held at shin level with interesting results, usually with a wide angle lens. You tend to get half street/half feet in your composition when it's on the ground.

Good Luck and I agree, some fun shooting would be good around here!

Todd

 

[Stephanie Brim]

I was thinking of holding it in portrait orientation, not setting it firmly down necessarily, and I'll be taping it a bit as I said to prevent scratches. 😉 Shin level wouldn't quite count in this experiment...I want the camera touching the ground for the shots.

As I said, I have no clue what I'm going to get. I just want to do something fun this week to make the time go faster while I wait for my scanner.

 

[IGMeanwell]

I have done this when I want to make long exposures without a tripod ...

The few times were on a beach front ... I would set my camera on a rock and then open the shutter for the designated time and voila!!!

when the tide is rolling in and out .... especially if the rock is almost water level.... the result is a photo that almost feels as if you were lying on the beach

 

[Stephanie Brim]

I figure on doing this in addition to the contest shots through the entire month of February and then posting the results on a separate subdomain of pleasewipeyourfeet.com at the end of the month. It will give me something to do, help with my spontanious shooting skills, and possibly help with taking photos of other people. Lord knows I'm going to get plenty of funny looks when I get down on my stomach once in a while.

 

[furcafe]

Instead of simply setting focus to infinity, I would use the DoF markings (or a DoF calculator/chart, which you can find on the web) & set the focus to the hyperfocal point, which will often bring stuff that's closer in into focus. E.g., using a 50mm lens, the hyperfocal point for f/11 will be around 30 feet, meaning that everything from 15 feet to infinity will be in focus (for almost any reasonable print size).

Also, rather than simply placing the camera on the ground, you might want to use/borrow a skateboard or old-style rollerskate & use that as a shooting platform (easier to move the camera around & you can experiment w/motion shots).

 

[Stephanie Brim]

I don't really want to make the project more complicated than it already is. I want to start it today so borrowing things like that is out of the question, though a good idea, and the entire *premise* of the project is to have the camera as low to the ground as possible. This is why I'm taping it...no damage to the camera body so I don't have to worry about setting it on the ground.

I think that the original idea will work best for what I have in mind. I'll be moving the camera as though it's on a tripod for some panoramic shots most likely and I *will* be bringing an old book or something like that to set under the front of the camera when I want it to stay at a certain angle. I've decided to use the 35mm lens for this project for the most part, but I may use the 50mm as well and try and get some shots for the contest. Can't wait to start...gotta eat first, though. 😛

 

[peterc]

Anyone else done something like this?

I've done this quite a bit with a digicam (Sony F55) and you can get some neat shots. I haven't done as much with film simply because I found the toss/keeper rate was quite high but that just might be bad technique on my part.
This shot was taken with a Nikon FE, 20mm lens, in a pioneer graveyard.

Peter

 

[Stephanie Brim]

Nifty.

I decided not to start this today because I found something nifty and I want to get my gallery sorted before next week so that all I have to do is upload the photos and make thumbnails. Thinking of making an action in Photoshop to crop the photos to squares. Dunno.

So I'm starting on Friday most likely when I get off work and I'm doing this through the entire month of February. Should be lots of fun. 🙂

And yeah, the script that I linked above doesn't really work like it's supposed to in Safari...I'm going to try and fix that if I can...but I don't know if I'll be able to.

 

[hoot]

Looking forward to these photos, Stephanie. On a side note, Velvia at f/16 without a tripod should be an interesting challenge. Take it easy on the coffee!

 

[Stephanie Brim]

The fact that the camera will be on the ground and supported by something should help with the shaking thing...but yeah, it'll be interesting.

 

[ch1]

I've done this quite a bit with a digicam (Sony F55) and you can get some neat shots. I haven't done as much with film simply because I found the toss/keeper rate was quite high but that just might be bad technique on my part.
This shot was taken with a Nikon FE, 20mm lens, in a pioneer graveyard.

Peter

Very nice shot, Peter.

For myself, I would have "levelled it" with a PS adjustment - but probably because I'm just starting to us PS and so "taken" with it's capabilities of adjusting and cropping etc.

 

[peterc]

Very nice shot, Peter.

Thanks.

For myself, I would have "levelled it" with a PS adjustment.

I considered getting all the horizonatals and vedrticals where they belonged, but ended up deciding I was happier with the shot's tilt.

Peter

 

[amateriat]

Stephanie: I have a Glottos pocket tripod for stuff like this - easy to carry around all the time (it was permanently attached to my Hexar autofocus for most of the five years I had it). Not everything "works" from the proverbial worm's-eye-view, but when it does work, it can be wild. You go, girl - and let's see some results as soon as you can.


- Barrett

 

[peterc]

Also useful for this sort of photography is The Red Pod. It's fairly cheap and works pretty well.

Peter

 

[st3ph3nm]

I'd also recommend a small table-top tripod. Very, very handy.

As for focussing, have a look at this description on setting hyperfocal distance - it's made for some great, fast shooting for me.

http://www.fortunecity.com/marina/marine/569/rusrngfdrs/focusing.html

Good site all round, actually...

Cheers,
Steve

 

[Stephanie Brim]

A tripod would be too high...I do, however, have a small pillow that I'm thinking of taking. Or I could also make one just for this (as soon as I could get somewhere to get the padding...I have fabric galore).

 

[peterc]

A tripod would be too high...I do, however, have a small pillow that I'm thinking of taking.

The red pod is a beanbag ... well it's filled with plastic beads ... and it opens so you can take some out if you need to get a little lower or balance the camera on a really uneven surface.

Peter