Street scene

[karenoliver]

Scene I came across in Chester today. Some Australian tourists where on a walking tour of the city. I decided to follow them as I guessed there may be some photo opportunities. I photographed as they photographed the sights and was quite happy with this shot as I captured their flash and it sort of looks like the man is holding up a ball of light. I liked that the guy on the bench was watching and it just seemed to be a good street scene to me.



Karen

[OldBoy]

Well done Karen, in spotting a possibility of a shot and waiting to capture it. Nice mixture of people each doing their own thing. Cracking shot and composition.

[Stormsong]

Love it! And the B&W gives it a particular 'street' edge as well.

Regards,
Denise

[karenoliver]

Thanks, Old boy and Denise :-) This was day one of me trying to be more confident photographing people and having more guts! I'd read something in the new street photography now book which sort of inspired me,
Walker Evans is quoted as saying " Stare, it is the way to educate your eye and more. Stare, pry, listen, eavesdrop. Die knowing something. You are not here long" Then in the same book Martin Parr says " You need obsession, dedication and balls. Get out there why you still can" Martin Parr is a very harmless kind of guy and you can't imagine him having fisticuffs on the street as he photographs people so I thought well if he is prepared to get out there I will have a go :-)

Karen

[OldBoy]

I always find it best to stand around with the camera in full view, as most people will ignore it, giving you the chance to get the candid shot. Some times I use a telephoto lens, so I can zoom in on anything that takes my fancy. The real secret is to avoid contact with the subject otherwise, you get a staged photo instead of a candid.

[ABERS]

Originally Posted by OldBoy

The real secret is to avoid contact with the subject otherwise, you get a staged photo instead of a candid.

Sometimes you can't avoid contact, especially if they show an interest in what you're doing. If that happens I usually say I'm just taking some pictures and perhaps you are in them as part of the overall scene. Never been knocked back yet. If they pose for a couple let them, turn away for a few seaconds as though you are finished, turn back walk around a little and start again. It usually invokes a reaction that says 'It's that bloke with camera', they then ignore you and you can get on getting what you want.

[AndyStevens]

Great shot Karen, love the flash and B&W conversion.

Cheers
Andy

[pburness]

Another nice picture Karen, I can almost feel that sandstone!
Have you tried cropping the the two women off (a crop down the waterpipe)? Adds another aspect to the picture I think.

Phil

[karenoliver]

Thanks, Andy and Phil. I will have a look at the cropping Phil and see what I think. The only reason I am concerned about it is it will drastically reduce the image size. I tend to save as Jpg and don't know how to make a crop bigger in case I want to enlarge it after. Do I need to save as tiff do you think?

Good advice , Oldboy except I always end up having a chat to some and yesterday I spent 20 mins talking to the preacher handing out his leaflets! :-)

Karen

[Stormsong]

If you are interested in street photography and are down Londontown way between February and September, Karen, you may want to pop in to this exhibition:

http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/Eng...hy/Default.htm

and its free!

Regards,
Denise