street photography the who the what and the pictures

Vipmediastar

He was probably hungry. I have that face when I'm hungry.

ibecamewe

Whatever camera you use, you must know your equipment thoroughly. You need to have a mind map of your camera. You must now waste time struggling with the exposure dials – It must be part of your sub-conscious. You must be able to adjust the camera’s setting without removing your eye from the view finder. The only way to master this is to practice.
Street Photography is not just about shooting on the streets. Anything you shoot in any public place comes under Street Photography. Check your local newspaper everyday and list out the events and incidents happening around you. Select your interesting topic or event and go there. The advantage of listings is there are always interesting photographs you can shoot.

PeterPhamWesley

When ever I do street photography I always talk to the person and get their email address and send them their pictures! It's always so much more fun when you can make friends with a complete stranger and have a great conversation.

This is a guy name Dustin that I ran into in Washington Square.

PeterPhamWesley

The guy with the camera has a Nikon D700 I think.

PeterPhamWesley

Union Square - sometimes it might not feel neccessary to have a fast camera but there are actually plenty of opportunities in center city to use that 8 to 11 FPS burst.

Msmoto

@PeterPhamWesley

In the vast majority of my candid work in public venues, I hand out a card which directs them via a few simple clicks to the image on Flickr. This requires an effort on their part to see the image, bit also gives them access to download a 3000 px image, often good enough for a 16" x 20" enlargement if desired.

Golf007sd

@PeterPhamWesley: Did you notice how many people used their phones/Ipad now & days to take "street shots?" In this image alone I counted 7 vs. only 2 that used a POS/DSLR.

MikeGunter

Hi all,

Like it or not, phones are replacing cameras as the 'go to' imaging taking device in the 'general' market place.

That might be a clue for the street photographer who wishes to sell their work and for the working photographer as well.

Everyone has or very soon will have a camera on them, and I'm finding that the bar for what passes for acceptable photography standards lowers every year.

More than ever, getting a style and a market niche will be important to success.

My best,

Mike

Benji2505

IMHO street photography is about capturing every day life on the street. A good street photo captures emotions.

Ade

IMHO street photography is about capturing every day life on the street. A good street photo captures emotions.

How does one define 'emotion'? From the legendary Henri Cartier-Bresson, to the recently discovered Vivian Maier, they all have great "street" photographs without anyone in the pictures.

Vipmediastar_JZ

Here is the photo that I talked about in one of the comments above.

How is this for emotion? Now that the teenagers are out of school I will see more of this in the city.

Benji2505

IMHO street photography is about capturing every day life on the street. A good street photo captures emotions.

How does one define 'emotion'? From the legendary Henri Cartier-Bresson, to the recently discovered Vivian Maier, they all have great "street" photographs without anyone in the pictures.

Many photos of both mentioned photogs show excellent emotions in the persons. IMHO it is not about architecture.

spraynpray

@Ade: Maybe 'emotion' is also described as atmosphere which that picture has and others without people can have and that in and of itself can trigger emotion in the viewer.

Ade

Hmm, yeah, I believe you're right. Consider this interesting image by Vivian Maier:

http://www.vivianmaier.com/portfolios/chicago/?pid=111

There is a person in there but his emotion isn't the subject of the picture.

Maybe for any street photographer, there is a point when he (she) stops just taking random snapshots of 'interesting' things, and start developing a vision and intent of what to shoot.

Benji2505

@Ade: Maybe 'emotion' is also described as atmosphere which that picture has and others without people can have and that in and of itself can trigger emotion in the viewer.

You're probably right. Atmosphere describes it better.

Vipmediastar_JZ

Ever since I started this thread I have changed in personality. I tend to be less shy and talk to more people on the street and even in random situations not involving photos. I have made more connections by just talking.

I have been reviewing my photos for the last 6 months and mostly discarding the rejected photos because I'm out of space (indeed the d800 files are huge)

With the 3 lens that I have the 24-70 2.8
50mm 1.8g and 85mm
I have found that I'm more likely to keep the 50mm over 35mm. 35mm is great but it offers lots of empty space. It's great to include that random person on the corner frame and be sneaky about it and for car photography.

Why 85mm? I decided to try this in the early months switching from the heavy 24-70. The state street kiss photo was the result of that. If I had anything else I probably would have missed it as I still had to crop the bottom left corner to remove a blurry backside from it.

Yesterday I had the 50mm shooting jpg just for amusement to see how it handles before I decide on the Fuji x.

I can now say that I understand why you need to be involved with the people. There is a thai fest and I happened to catch a little girl running barefoot in the hot pavement. We connected eyes at the last moment with a good shot. Not neccersly .jpg good shot.

Today I'll try the 35mm end of the 24-70 and tommorow the 85mm.

The colors are awesome with the 24-70 but I really feel uncomfortable both physical and mentaly carrying it everyday.

That's why I want a Fuji x for street. It took me a long time to save up and I don't want to break it or get it stolen in the streets of Chicago.

Did you guys hear how the trio of homeless people in LA stabbed a woman for taking their photo? They demanded money and when she didn't give them money she was stabbed to death.

In Chicago I seen them get violent and one of them put a woman in a coma.

It's not that I'm afraid of them I try to avoid them. I'm more worried about the teenagers acting up and noticing my camera everytime and making comments. Even in the public tourist areas there are creeps. Have you guys heard of the non stop violence in Chicago? It's not so present in the downtown area but I see the trouble makers there.

I want to keep shooting because it relaxes me mike when I go fishing. It's my medicine to stress and I really enjoy it.



The other day I decided to simply relax and enjoy the breeze when I noticed a person that didn't fit the business district during business hours and sure enough she was bumping into people and then yelling at them. She did that to 3 people before going into a bank.

Keep shooting and stay safe.

Vipmediastar_JZ

I took delivery of the xe1 with 35 and 18-55. Man what a diffrence. I love this setup.

No pain of heavy equipment and no post once I get home. Hopefully.

Todays story is brought to you by the word vintage.

I was photographing two cops on bikes giving out parking tickets. One cop yelled at me and I heard something you can't photograph my wife. But I think he said you can photograph us.

I pointed to the sky. To play it off. He looked at my black and silver camera and figured it was a vintage camera with film and didn't tell me to delete the photo. I proceeded to take pictures of the buildings like I was before I took pictures of them. He mumbled something and took of happily riding his city issued bike.

The couple next to me called him an idiot since he is in public and he has no right to tell me what I can't photograph.
That was my first bad encounter.
I missed lots of good street shots but I headed out to Aldo to buy a bag and then get some food.

I looked up laws and couldn't find anything specific to Chicago or Illinois but I did find that the DOJ ruled that it is ok to photograph police in public.

For next time I know that is legal and tell them if it comes to it but I'll just play it off and pretend I'm a tourist. I already look like one so that is a plus.

Vipmediastar_JZ

Some powerful advice.

Practice practice practice. The photo is not about you. It's about them.

heartyfisher

Street photography for me was not fun due to the ugly looks I would get. But its fun again now bec I have hooked up with a bunch of street photographers. Its obvious to everyone around that there are a bunch of silly photographers roaming around taking silly pictures for fun. !

Nikonsince1974

On a public street people cannot expect to have a right to privacy. But there are gray areas. If you are going ot use the image commercially for any reason, you have to not only get the subject's permission but also a modeling release. I have one I use all the time when I shoot models for their portfolios. I am a member of PPA and used the one off of their website but I think even a non-member can copy and paste it and modify it to their own particular needs.

If you are going to be taking the photo up close to a person, I think it is just courteous to ask their permission, if they say no, you should respect their privacy and not do it. For candid shots, my 300mm f/2.8 lens is a good choice but I will sometimes use a Nikon TC300 with it to get out 600mm. I would not even think of being inconspicuous if I dragged out my "Beast", my 600 mm f/4 AIS. At 13 pounds a monopod is an absolute minimum.

Msmoto

On our Nikon Rumors Forum Getogether in Maine we were out one evening in Portland having a super time doing the street stuff. And had some fun chatting with the natives as well.



For sure, having several together is much desired IMO for security purposes when on the street.

crizman

One of my favorite street photographers has just passed away- Arthur Liepzig! Not just a street photographer- He did it all. He also taught photography at C.W. Post college on Long Island, N.Y.
I had the honor of printing some of his work for him back in the'90's.
Arthur had many wonderful street shots of kids playing, people working as well as a young couple kissing on the subway.
For those unfamiliar with his work - just type his name in your search engine & enjoy!

manhattanboy

For sure, having several together is much desired IMO for security purposes when on the street.

+1 for this...but sometimes its hard to find someone to shoot with sadly.

Ironheart

For sure, having several together is much desired IMO for security purposes when on the street.

+1 for this...but sometimes its hard to find someone to shoot with sadly.

Growing up in NYC, I got to see it all, literally. This was 35 years ago before Giuliani "cleaned up" the city; the red light district was in full swing and crime was rampant. I've personally been mugged, accosted, screamed at, chased, and had guns and knives and other weapons brandished in my general direction. I was a budding photographer even in my teens, but in the city I only used my 110 instamatic because it would slip into a coat pocket easily. (it was all I could afford until I got my used FTn anyway).
What we were taught as children was that you have to walk with a purpose, eyes facing forward, and don't stop to look around, up, or appear lost or confused (even if you are). To do so makes you an instant target. As a street photographer you are doing exactly these "wrong" things on purpose, so while you may want to disappear into the background, you stand out as a target to all of the "bad guys".
I learned that you need to switch modes from photographer back to ordinary citizen walking in a hurry to your next destination and back again quickly. You want to blend in as much as possible. Being aware of your surroundings while appearing busy is a skill we had to develop.
Fortunately NYC is much safer these days.

Rx4Photo

There are 2 types of street photography that I enjoy. One being where the subject(s) don't have a clue that they're being photographed and they're caught at the moment of doing something interesting. Once people notice your camera then everything changes - they look, stare, turn away, etc. I've never had a case where people yell or get aggressive. I think the best way to approach this type of street work is to have the camera under a jacket or overcoat - which is reasonable in Chicago or NY. This would look odd in South Florida though.

The other is portraits of strangers. I've done little of this and interestingly enough, about 99% of the time most have allowed me to take a photo. The key is your introduction - must be brief, confident, and cordial. Tell them what makes them interesting and worthy of you photographing them. Then offer to email a copy to them - not likely with the homeless. With those that are less fortunate it might be wise to offer a bit of cash before attempting a photo. Keep a supply of $1's in your pocket when going out.