Voss

Powerful music. C & c welcome.

Nightski

I would love to dance with this guy .. lol .. it looks like fun! I think a more shallow DOF and I would clone out the cords. I do like the motion blur in the hands. I think it's perfect.

Voss

Good suggestions. And he was having fun. He danced for quite a while.

Nightski

I was dead serious .. I would have joined him. LOL

Voss

That would have been something to see.

LarryN Loc: Portland OR & Carbondale, CO

Nice catch. What lens & shutter speed. Also like the slight blur in his hand. And how far were you from the subject? :thumbup: :thumbup:

Voss

Thank, Larry. Shot at 1/180 at F 6.7 and ISO 200. The lens as used was 55mm, but not sure which lens I had on the camera. It was an overcast day. I'm guessing I was about 15 ft away. He was moving around quite a bit.

Nightski

I like it .. you're getting closer to the subject.

Voss

Thanks. I like closing in on the subject, but am also trying to keep with the theme of "street." It's kind of a balancing act.

Apaflo Loc: Anchorage, Alaska

For Street, the subject is life, not the person. It's the relationship(s) between the surroundings that is the subject. The man dancing has a fascinating relationship to the two musicians behind him, connected via the physical location and equipment that make what each of them are doing possible.

I like the shot as is. For Street it might have been better to take in a very slight amount more of the context, such as the entire name that is on that wall next to the man, and maybe something that more clearly shows whether there are other people in the audience or other musicians, or not. Granted that is as much personal style as anything though, and the photographer's opinion is the only one that really counts as to which way is best to go here! It was your choice and I'm willing view it as just that: an example of your style and your set of choices.

Even slightly closer and most pretensions of it being Street would be gone. That would also be true of shooting from a different angle that didn't include the musicians.

In the end... it's a great bit of Street as is, and demonstrates a photographer's good style and taste.

Nightski

Voss, you can get closer and still include environment if you are using a wide angle lens. The thing that I noticed was that you were using a 55 mm. I have seen you make a comment before that you are usually at a longer focal length. I think the best Street shots happen when you are engaging your subject. A wide angle lens helps you include your environment and engage your subject.

Voss

Thanks, Apaflo. I follow what you're saying regarding this shot (thanks for the assessment), but still have a problem applying it to some other photos. I imagine sooner or later, I'll have a "eureka" moment. Will hang in till then.

Apaflo Loc: Anchorage, Alaska

The above is not consistent with physics. Perspective changes with distance, not with the focal length of the lens. Changing the focal length merely sets the framing of the chosen perspective. When the camera is moved closer to any object, that object becomes larger in perspective. If object A is twice as close as object B, object A is much larger than B. If the difference in distance is only slight, the difference in size is only slight. Standing back, with a longer lens gets the same context, with a very different perspective.

If the point is to show the character of an individual, which is a portrait of that individual, then closer might be better.

Street is generally, though not always, not about "engaging" with a subject. Life is the subject, and can't be engaged as such anyway, and if the subject engaged is a person it becomes a portrait rather than Street and loses any pretense to being candid.

Here's a very significant and profound comment on exactly that, from Ming Thein of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The full essay is at

http://blog.mingthein.com/2015/07/14/the-evolution-of-street-photography/

And includes a number of images from "The Idea of Man" project. It might also be helpful to view the About page (accessed from the main web page) to see the credentials of Ming Thein.

From the essay titled "The Evolution of Street Photography".

Voss

The next time I go on a "shoot," I'll give it a try. But I think it's more a case of redefining what the subject matter is. I need to raise the importance of the environment.