Street Photography
Feb 26, 2019 14:19:43 #
What lens do you suggest using in order to avoid confrontation from subjects being photographed. 50mm? 28-135mm? 70-200mm?
Feb 26, 2019 14:23:38 #
I mostly use a 35mm f/2.
--Bob
--Bob
LITTLEBIT wrote:
What lens do you suggest using in order to avoid confrontation from subjects being photographed. 50mm? 28-135mm? 70-200mm?
Feb 26, 2019 15:41:16 #
Aren't you having to get pretty close to your subject using a 35mm f/2?
Feb 26, 2019 15:46:04 #
LITTLEBIT wrote:
Aren't you having to get pretty close to your subject using a 35mm f/2.8?
That's the whole idea, it gives you intimacy with your subject.
Feb 26, 2019 16:07:54 #
Yes, one does have to get somewhat close to their subjects. That's the intimacy of street photography. Though not taken with the 35mm, here's an example. https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-303411-1.html
Using long focal length lenses presents the photographer as a stalker or peeping tom. Using the 35mm means I don't have to actually look through the viewfinder, as well. I can reasonably "shoot from the hip" and crop, and/or enlarge, the portion of the capture to get what I want.
--Bob
Using long focal length lenses presents the photographer as a stalker or peeping tom. Using the 35mm means I don't have to actually look through the viewfinder, as well. I can reasonably "shoot from the hip" and crop, and/or enlarge, the portion of the capture to get what I want.
--Bob
LITTLEBIT wrote:
Aren't you having to get pretty close to your subject using a 35mm f/2?
Feb 26, 2019 17:11:13 #
`
That's the most usual choice,
at least according to several
decades of observing others,
plus my own use of it.
A long lens will raise far more
suspicion than a compact fast
handling outfit.
Stealth will attract far more
confrontation than openness
and honesty ever will.
================
OTOH if you're a gumshoe, a
long lens ... plus a firearm ...
is pretty much de rigueur.
.
rmalarz wrote:
I mostly use a 35mm f/2.
--Bob
I mostly use a 35mm f/2.
--Bob
That's the most usual choice,
at least according to several
decades of observing others,
plus my own use of it.
A long lens will raise far more
suspicion than a compact fast
handling outfit.
Stealth will attract far more
confrontation than openness
and honesty ever will.
================
OTOH if you're a gumshoe, a
long lens ... plus a firearm ...
is pretty much de rigueur.
.
Feb 26, 2019 17:25:31 #
LITTLEBIT wrote:
What lens do you suggest using in order to avoid confrontation from subjects being photographed. 50mm? 28-135mm? 70-200mm?
I'm not near as concerned about "confrontation" as I am candor. I like to make images of people being people, in a given environment ~ and, I've come to prefer a smaller metropolis, or small town vs. "big cities". "Candor" means they're not posing, and they don't know I'm taking their picture (at least, until after it's in my camera). I don't shove a camera in someone's face, for shock effect.
Presuming that you're talking "35mm equivalent" lenses, I use fast 35, 42, 50, and occasionally 75 millimeter "prime" lenses; according to whichever streets I'm on (some wide, some narrow, some light, some dark, etc.).
Feb 26, 2019 17:29:26 #
LITTLEBIT wrote:
Aren't you having to get pretty close to your subject using a 35mm f/2?
The human brain understands what it is looking at. Given a photo taken using a telephoto lens, the brain understands it as taken from a distance. a voyageur, a spy; given a photo taken using a wide angle lens, the brain understands it as an intimate photo. The goal of street photography has always been the former, not the latter.
Feb 26, 2019 17:31:03 #
Graham Smith wrote:
That's the whole idea, it gives you intimacy with your subject.
A wide angle lens tells your subjects that you are not a voyeur but actually part of the scene. A telephoto lens sends the opposite message.
Most cell phones have a 28mm (full frame equivalent) field of view. A normal (50mm) lens works but 35mm is probably better.
Feb 26, 2019 17:40:57 #
LITTLEBIT wrote:
Aren't you having to get pretty close to your subject using a 35mm f/2?
With a wide angle lens, you can compose with your subject off center, and it looks to them like you are shooting something past them.
Feb 26, 2019 17:53:41 #
`
A rather sweeping, and faux
authoritative, claim.
.
rehess wrote:
...........
..... The goal of street photography has
always been the former, not the latter.
..... The goal of street photography has
always been the former, not the latter.
A rather sweeping, and faux
authoritative, claim.
.
Feb 26, 2019 17:58:05 #
User ID wrote:
`
A rather sweeping, and faux
authoritative, claim.
.
A rather sweeping, and faux
authoritative, claim.
.
I can't think of any of the great classic street photographers who used long lenses.
Feb 26, 2019 17:59:01 #
I did a lot of OTOH type of work. It was for a private investigator, handling mostly insurance fraud cases. The longer lens the better, up to a point.
--Bob
--Bob
User ID wrote:
`
That's the most usual choice,
at least according to several
decades of observing others,
plus my own use of it.
A long lens will raise far more
suspicion than a compact fast
handling outfit.
Stealth will attract far more
confrontation than openness
and honesty ever will.
================
OTOH if you're a gumshoe, a
long lens ... plus a firearm ...
is pretty much de rigueur.
.
That's the most usual choice,
at least according to several
decades of observing others,
plus my own use of it.
A long lens will raise far more
suspicion than a compact fast
handling outfit.
Stealth will attract far more
confrontation than openness
and honesty ever will.
================
OTOH if you're a gumshoe, a
long lens ... plus a firearm ...
is pretty much de rigueur.
.
Feb 26, 2019 19:45:39 #
If you're going to pursue street photography, you're going to face confrontation at some point. It's going to happen, and when it does, it's your ability to interact calmly with the person(s) facing you that's going to matter much more than the lens on your camera.
Check out some of the many Youtube videos on street photography; Bruce Gilden, Joel Meyerowitz and Garry Winogrand, among others.
Use whatever kit you've got, take a deep breath, go out and do it!
Check out some of the many Youtube videos on street photography; Bruce Gilden, Joel Meyerowitz and Garry Winogrand, among others.
Use whatever kit you've got, take a deep breath, go out and do it!
Feb 26, 2019 20:12:23 #
LITTLEBIT wrote:
What lens do you suggest using in order to avoid confrontation from subjects being photographed. 50mm? 28-135mm? 70-200mm?
If you are trying for candids, the 50mm or 35mm would be less obtrusive.
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