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a study in Street Photography
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Oct 8, 2013 14:24:39   #
j.erwin.brown Loc: Cumberland County, Illinois
 
Musket wrote:
Street photography is just another name for blurry snapshots?


I've given many of my blurry shots all kinds of names trying to validate them. Thanks to your brilliant suggestion, this gives me a whole brand new genre to move my blurry shots into - "Street Photography". Now, when I show them to people they'll OOH and AAH and exclaim how brilliant I am. I'm already feeling good about the prospect. YIPEE!

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Oct 8, 2013 14:25:51   #
j.erwin.brown Loc: Cumberland County, Illinois
 
Art Grandpa wrote:
It's a shame you couldn't wait until the bow was away from her face and maybe her top as well!! HA!


You'd be amazed what can be done with PhotoShop... but this is a family site--don't want to get kicked off the Hog.

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Oct 8, 2013 14:36:47   #
j.erwin.brown Loc: Cumberland County, Illinois
 
Graham Smith wrote:
Thank you Swan. I am very flattered and somewhat embarrassed by your comment. I think that the most important prerequisites for street photography are an eye spotting the interesting opportunity that many would miss and the "nerve" to able to openly take pictures of strangers, this "nerve" is a big stumbling block for many. I seldom use a long lens as I consider this to be sneaky.

Graham


Indeed, Mr. Smith, after viewing your work I'm quite certain I don't have the "gift" as it were. But I do love the challenge learning, or trying to learn. I had read recently that using a long lens was good because the subject would not be aware, wouldn't "pose", that a more candid shot could be taken using a long lens. But of course you're correct that it produces by default an undesirable blurring of the background, as in the example I posted. I was a considerable distance from the subject, and there was a wide open space beyond her--blurring was inevitable. But I feel like I'm intruding if I physically come in close and use something like 50mm 1:1. But if that's what I have to do, then I guess I better get to work on it. Thanks so much for sharing your expertise.

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Oct 8, 2013 15:30:08   #
cacompton
 
j.erwin.brown wrote:
Perhaps I've learned another aspect--that street photography is expected to actually include part of the "street". That is a humorous and very astute observation, Singing Swan. It made me smile at the revelation you've must put forth. Thanks. I like it very much.


Graham's work is very good and check out Gary Winogrand. He is considered a master.

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Oct 8, 2013 15:37:12   #
Graham Smith Loc: Cambridgeshire UK
 
j.erwin.brown wrote:
Indeed, Mr. Smith, after viewing your work I'm quite certain I don't have the "gift" as it were. But I do love the challenge learning, or trying to learn. I had read recently that using a long lens was good because the subject would not be aware, wouldn't "pose", that a more candid shot could be taken using a long lens. But of course you're correct that it produces by default an undesirable blurring of the background, as in the example I posted. I was a considerable distance from the subject, and there was a wide open space beyond her--blurring was inevitable. But I feel like I'm intruding if I physically come in close and use something like 50mm 1:1. But if that's what I have to do, then I guess I better get to work on it. Thanks so much for sharing your expertise.
Indeed, Mr. Smith, after viewing your work I'm qui... (show quote)


Mr j.erwin.brown, The defocusing of the background and thereby the isolation of the subject can be achieved with any wide to short telephoto lens that has an aperture of say f/2.8 or less. Of the pictures that I posted links to the longest lens was a 90mm, the rest were 35mm, 50mm and 85mm. For street I prefer to use a lens wide open or near to. I tend to loiter in an area that I have chosen as likely to have good subjects, focus manually and wait. When you see something you can step forward or back, with the camera in your hand down by your side, never hanging around your neck, to get the distance correct. Raise the camera and fire. Lower the camera and walk away. I always shoot in aperture priority, as I previously said, wide open.

Graham

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Oct 8, 2013 16:52:53   #
Singing Swan
 
It has been hard for me to get over feeling like an oddball when I take my camera into a public place like a farmers market or a grocery store. Street photography is very hard for me to do as I feel a bit like I am intruding in people's privacy. I know, I've read all the things about how there is no privacy in a public place, but I had an opportunity just recently in a stadium full of people for candid shots and it was really hard to get over that feeling of intruding, snooping per se. I did point the camera at a few strangers but after I downloaded, I had a lot fewer than I thought. I hesitated a lot more often than I pushed the button. And if you do make shots in public and you think it's good, is it proper to approach your subject and offer them a copy of a photograph of some point in time when they thought they were unobserved? Ah, the trials and tribulations of learning photography!!! :)

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Oct 8, 2013 17:09:17   #
Graham Smith Loc: Cambridgeshire UK
 
Singing Swan wrote:
It has been hard for me to get over feeling like an oddball when I take my camera into a public place like a farmers market or a grocery store. Street photography is very hard for me to do as I feel a bit like I am intruding in people's privacy. I know, I've read all the things about how there is no privacy in a public place, but I had an opportunity just recently in a stadium full of people for candid shots and it was really hard to get over that feeling of intruding, snooping per se. I did point the camera at a few strangers but after I downloaded, I had a lot fewer than I thought. I hesitated a lot more often than I pushed the button. And if you do make shots in public and you think it's good, is it proper to approach your subject and offer them a copy of a photograph of some point in time when they thought they were unobserved? Ah, the trials and tribulations of learning photography!!! :)
It has been hard for me to get over feeling like a... (show quote)


A grocery store isn't a public place per se, it's private property, so not a good place to take photographs. As to giving people prints, that really isn't practicable, I would be giving away hundreds of prints. As to the feeling you get of intruding on people, you need to develop your cloak of invisibility, blend into the background, don't use a DSLR with a huge telephoto zoom lens on it, use a 35 or 50 mm prime, at most 85mm. Keep at it you will soon become more comfortable.

Graham

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Oct 8, 2013 17:23:24   #
Singing Swan
 
There's a local grocery store here that always has the prettiest flowers available for purchase. I can't buy them all so sometimes I just take the camera , purchase one bundle for later work and a quick shot of the others. Or the displays of fruit. Lined up row after row. I am always careful not to place anything identifying in the photo, but if grocery stores are bad juju then I should give that up. Thanks for the warning. But then, when I came here to the big city my daughter did warn me that I couldn't be swimmin' in the public fountains! ! I'll practice being the invisible camera.

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Oct 8, 2013 17:25:26   #
pastagal Loc: NJ
 
Graham Smith wrote:
Thank you Swan. I am very flattered and somewhat embarrassed by your comment. I think that the most important prerequisites for street photography are an eye spotting the interesting opportunity that many would miss and the "nerve" to able to openly take pictures of strangers, this "nerve" is a big stumbling block for many. I seldom use a long lens as I consider this to be sneaky.

Graham



Graham, you are an artist!!

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Oct 8, 2013 17:27:27   #
pastagal Loc: NJ
 
j.erwin.brown wrote:
In an effort to study a genre of photography that baffles and perplexes me to no end, from time to time I try taking a "Street Photography" shot. I look at it in color, then in B&W, back and forth, back and forth and still I don't know if one or the other is better than the other or the one. Maybe neither, maybe both. I wonder how good "Street Photographers" know when they've taken a good shot?


I like the B&W one best, and I think I would have liked to see more of where she was at/doing, particularly if it was an outside or street event.

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Oct 8, 2013 18:18:58   #
j.erwin.brown Loc: Cumberland County, Illinois
 
pastagal wrote:
I like the B&W one best, and I think I would have liked to see more of where she was at/doing, particularly if it was an outside or street event.


Here's another question for you more experienced B&W Street Photographers: Do you set your camera to its B&W mode, or do you shoot in color and convert later? Also (a most difficult objective for me) when you look at a potential scene, do you visualize in B&W? Have you trained your eye/mind to ignore all the colors to see only B&W? Ansel Adams must have been able to do so... actually, Ansel Adams had never seen a color photograph, had he? Color film hadn't been invented in his day, correct?

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Oct 8, 2013 18:32:58   #
Graham Smith Loc: Cambridgeshire UK
 
j.erwin.brown wrote:
Here's another question for you more experienced B&W Street Photographers: Do you set your camera to its B&W mode, or do you shoot in color and convert later? Also (a most difficult objective for me) when you look at a potential scene, do you visualize in B&W? Have you trained your eye/mind to ignore all the colors to see only B&W? Ansel Adams must have been able to do so... actually, Ansel Adams had never seen a color photograph, had he? Color film hadn't been invented in his day, correct?
Here's another question for you more experienced B... (show quote)


Shoot in colour, convert to monochrome. That way you can adjust the individual colour channels. I consider Silver Efex Pro to be the de facto conversion software. And you also have the luxury of being able to pick which images have more impact monochrome and which have more going for them in colour. Why hobble yourself by trying to be a "purist"? Grab every advantage that digital offers you :-)
I must add that sometimes, when I take a picture, I know that it is destined for monochrome.

Graham

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Oct 8, 2013 18:37:39   #
j.erwin.brown Loc: Cumberland County, Illinois
 
Graham Smith wrote:
Shoot in colour, convert to monochrome. That way you can adjust the individual colour channels. I consider Silver Efex Pro to be the de facto conversion software. And you also have the luxury of being able to pick which images have more impact monochrome and which have more going for them in colour. Why hobble yourself by trying to be a "purist"? Grab every advantage that digital offers you :-)
I must add that sometimes, when I take a picture, I know that it is destined for monochrome.

Graham
Shoot in colour, convert to monochrome. That way y... (show quote)


Silver Efex Pro I'm not aware of. I have PhotoShop (as do most people), which seems to offer reasonable conversion options. Cost wise, is the cost of this Silver Efex Pro software worth the occasional color/B&W conversion?

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Oct 8, 2013 18:44:54   #
Graham Smith Loc: Cambridgeshire UK
 
j.erwin.brown wrote:
Silver Efex Pro I'm not aware of. I have PhotoShop (as do most people), which seems to offer reasonable conversion options. Cost wise, is the cost of this Silver Efex Pro software worth the occasional color/B&W conversion?


The short answer is that I consider it to be well worth it. You can now get the whole Nik package including Silver Efex Pro for just $149. Not too long ago it cost very much more than that. It's a real bargain.

http://www.google.com/nikcollection/

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Oct 8, 2013 19:21:50   #
j.erwin.brown Loc: Cumberland County, Illinois
 
Graham Smith wrote:
The short answer is that I consider it to be well worth it. You can now get the whole Nik package including Silver Efex Pro for just $149. Not too long ago it cost very much more than that. It's a real bargain.

http://www.google.com/nikcollection/


Do you have both--the Nik package as well as PhotoShop? Have you used them both and consider the Nik package equal to, or better than, PhotoShop?

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