Streets of Utrecht

[Phothomas]

Hi everybody,

my name is Thomas and this is my first thread in this forum. I am from germany and I´m new to rangefinder photography. I bought a Zorki 3 camera two weeks ago and today I took it out for the first time. Me and my girlfriend travelled to Utrecht (Netherlands) today. They had a big flea market all over the town and a lot of partys around because today they celebrate the "Koninginnedag". (the birthday of Queen Juliana)
I took some pictures to test the camera and found a one hour photo service in a supermarket so I can already present my pictures.
I hope you like them a little bit and I also hope my english isn´t too bad.

Thomas

 

[Richard G]

Welcome Thomas. Your English is more than OK, of course. Looks like a stop or two more exposure would have been better in one or two of these. If you used a one hour place it must have been C41 processing of colour negative or one of the C41 B&W films. Those films can take two stops over-exposure without trouble. How are you setting exposure? Even without a light meter that first one would have worked better with 1/125 f5.6 or f4 assuming ISO 400. Keep experimenting and keep posting. I've been at this for decades but have learnt a lot here on RFF.

 

[bgb]

Welcome to the forum Thomas, nothing wrong with your English or you photos 🙂

 

[Chinasaur]

Thomas: From a US citizen... Your English is better than 90% of the native speakers 😉

Keep shooting.

 

[Phothomas]

Thanks for your comments, it´s great to see people looking at my work. I´m setting exposure with the "sunny 16 rule".
Yes, it was a color negative film but I converted it to black and white because the pictures had a color fault when I scanned them.
They all looked a little orange. (Which is funny because that is the favorite color in the netherlands)
But I think they look better in bw.

Yes, it was an ISO 400 film. I´m practicing to take pictures without an exposure meter at the moment
because I don´t always have the time for measuring while taking pictures on the street.
Thanks for your hint to overexpose a little bit, this will help me for the next time.
What about real bw films, do I overexpose them also or what do they like to be treated?
I add two pictures of which I think they work better in color, please feel free to comment them.

Regards,
Thomas

 

[Richard G]

Black and white is also better slightly over-exposed than under. I only suggested a greater exposure for those scenes where you want more detail in the shadows. You won't blow the highlights too much. Some of your shots do have this challenge of bright sun and heavy shade, but the most recent one is a better result I think. Well done for going without a meter, but you'll want one eventually.

 

[alistair.o]

Hello Thomas, thanks for posting your pictures.

Just a small contribution from myself: keep an eye on your framing i.e. get in closer; it will help keep out side distractions.

Well done. Keep 'em coming (fill your gallary up 😀)

Al

 

[Phothomas]

It´s difficult for me to get as close to my subject as I probably should. I am new to street photography and I think this is one of the things I have to learn. Do you think I am too shy? Which kind of reactions do you normally get when someone notices that you take a picture of him/her?
I had a light meter with me yesterday but chances for good pictures come and go so fast that I felt like I don´t have the time to use it. Maybe I should look for one for the camera´s hotshoe so I don´t have to grab it out of my pocket and so on before metering...

Thomas

 

[TXForester]

They are nice. I'm a little on the shy side, so I don't do much street work and can't give more help than agree with get closer.

And, your English is far better than my high school German from 30+ years ago. 😀

 

[alistair.o]

It´s difficult for me to get as close to my subject as I probably should. I am new to street photography and I think this is one of the things I have to learn. Do you think I am too shy? Which kind of reactions do you normally get when someone notices that you take a picture of him/her?
I had a light meter with me yesterday but chances for good pictures come and go so fast that I felt like I don´t have the time to use it. Maybe I should look for one for the camera´s hotshoe so I don´t have to grab it out of my pocket and so on before metering...

Thomas

Hi Thomas, You too shy? I couldn't say, but the way you've started with the pictures leads me to believe otherwise. As for reactions, remember a smile works wonders and a word or two helps build on the smile - people are not the enemy of street photography, just the opposite.

As for metering, take a reading and unless there is a huge change in light, carry on with that reading (with just a stop increase or decrease for shadows etc). Finally, if the meter you are using now works then why buy another, buy more film instead 😉

Good Luck

Al

 

[semrich]

Welcome, and as you can already tell this is a good place to get helpful feedback when you ask.

 

[Phothomas]

Good morning,


that´s a good idea, I will meter once before I start shooting and then only take little changes if it´s necessary. Maybe the sunny 16 rule doens´t work in central europe as well as it does in the US. I remember I once read that there´s a difference in the intensity of sunshine and so I guess I should have opened my aperture one step more than I did. Okay, I´ll remember that for the next time.

It´s great to get so much help here from all over the world, I want to thank you all for being so kind.

I think my Zorki is the best thing I bought for a long time, I don´t want to take other cameras with me at the moment. It´s so much fun and I don´t miss a thing when I don´t have my dslr with me.

Regards,

Thomas

 

[johannielscom]

Hi Thomas, wilkommen!

Du hast ja das richtige Land gewählt für deinen ersten Foto's! 😀

You could try one of these exposure calculators if you do not want to carry a lightmeter all the time:


Agfa Exposure Calculator 54 by A*J*P, on Flickr

I borrowed the shot from Flickr since it was the best one I could find online, with a German exposure calculator and all.

The big plus with a calculator like this is that it gives very overall settings, while a lightmeter always has to be pointed at something and thus will show readings from that specific object.

 

[alistair.o]

Hi Thomas, wilkommen!

Du hast ja das richtige Land gewählt für deinen ersten Foto's! 😀

You could try one of these exposure calculators if you do not want to carry a lightmeter all the time:


Agfa Exposure Calculator 54 by A*J*P, on Flickr

I borrowed the shot from Flickr since it was the best one I could find online, with a German exposure calculator and all.

The big plus with a calculator like this is that it gives very overall settings, while a lightmeter always has to be pointed at something and thus will show readings from that specific object.

Good thinking Johan. Can I then offer this link (basically the same idea:

http://expomat.tripod.com/

Credits for diections to Andy of Filmus Monochromus (http://filmus-monochromus.tumblr.com/)

 

[Richard G]

Interesting about exposure in Utrecht, where of course Sunny 16 will work, but it might have to be Sunny 11 sometimes. I remember the Rolleiflex exposure guide suggests a doubling of exposure for months away from June July August:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/raulm/5454897270/

 

[Phothomas]

The exposure mat is great, I will print it and try it out. Thanks for the link!
But now my pictures are the way they are I´m afraid and I asked myself if it would be better to give them to a lab, let them print and then scan the prints. My scanner is an older one (Canoscan 4200f) and I wondered if it would improve the quality to scan a print. I think it makes the negatives (especially the dark ones) very grainy. If I try to light them up in Photoshop they become worse. So what do you think, could my idea help? Or do you think it´ll help to give the negatives to a professional scan service?

Thomas

 

[oftheherd]

Well, a late welcome to RFF. You photos are nice. Exposure is something you will do better with as you gain more experience. Keep experimenting and you will get more comfortable as you go. But you have a good start already.

 

[Phothomas]

Thank you. Rangefinder photography is new to me. I shot with a dslr before and so I have to get used to completely manual shooting. But it´s great fun and I enjoy it. I will practise this weekend and show pictures here as soon as I can.

Thomas