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Street Photography


shayallen

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I am new to film Photography and just bought a Leica M7, 50mm Summicron and CV 35mm 2.5(and hoping to upgrade to leica 35mm not sure which one). I was wondering if you could recommend any books, websites, or videos that could help me with learning how to shoot street photography?

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I am new to film Photography and just bought a Leica M7, 50mm Summicron and CV 35mm 2.5(and hoping to upgrade to leica 35mm not sure which one). I was wondering if you could recommend any books, websites, or videos that could help me with learning how to shoot street photography?

 

Get out in the street and shoot, that'll learn you better'n any book'll.

 

Walk around and shoot what interests YOU. Books can help with things like composition, but ultimately they show you what interested someone else.

 

That said, there's a website called masters of photography filled with some very interesting street shots.

 

Jon

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No substitute for experience. You have to find your own style, boundaries and vision. Above all, decide what distance you are comfortable working at, and whether you are going to keep still and let the images come to you, or walk about and see what you come across - the two are very different approaches.

 

I've put down some more of my thoughts on the subject here:

 

Rangefound: The Indecisive Moment

 

One other point - you mention having the CV 35mm f2.5 - it doesn't matter which version because the glass is identical - and "upgrading" to a Leica 35mm. You may wish to give the CV a good try first. I went from a Summicron IV to the CV 2.5 quite deliberately because I preferred the results it delivers, particularly in black and white.

 

Regards,

 

BIll

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Guest maddoc2003jp

Chris Weeks "Street photography for the purist" is well worth reading. Actually it is one of the rear scripts that covers more than the usual "Go out and shoot". ;)

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Agree with the advice to go out and shoot! You have to become comfortable with it (not at all easy for some people) and find your style. What subjects interest you?

 

Couple this with studying the work of other photographers. Another good source of inspiration is www.in-public.com

 

Just, not loads of photos of people from behind please! (though there are exceptions).

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I take quite a few street pictures but I no longer feel comfortable about firing the shutter at an individual without first asking thier permission. I admit that the results do not have the same spontaneity but I feel it is more respectful to the person and I also offer to send them a print if they send me thier details on an e-mail. It seems to work and has created some wonderful conversations

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I have that exact same gear and have done a lot of street shooting with it. It is somewhat easier I think to shoot street with the 35mm, but I have been forcing myself to use the 50 a lot recently, as a sort of exercise, and I like the results. Substantive the skopar is a great little lens.

 

Some follow a technique of fixing a distance and exposure and then strolling and snatching shots -- it takes some skill to time it right and, for fairly obvious reasons, the wider the lens, faster the film, and smaller the aperature, the easier it is to land your subject in the focus zone.

 

Another tip for starting -- go where there are loads of people and lots of people photographing -- it will get your confidence shooting strangers up. Course some people already have the confidence -- google for video of Bruce Gilden shooting!

 

I second the Winogrand recommendation and also Robert Frank. Dig around on Flickr a lot too - there is a ton of good street stuff. Chris' stuff is also good as others mention (he is also now on Flickr).

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