Graduating from the Eric Kim street tog course

[Mixalis]

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Last weekend I went way outside my comfort zone and took part in Eric Kim's introduction to street photography course in London. I had mixed emotions and was up and down several times during an action-packed weekend. My forte turned out to be chatting to people and persuading them to have their portrait taken. Here are some of the results, all taken with a Leica Monochrom and 35mm Summicron. Incidentally, Leica Ms and Fuji X100S dominated the weekend with five of each. A further four used a mixture of DSLRs from various manufacturers and there was one Sony RX100. But it was quite clear that Leica and Fuji are currently dominating the street scene. Several participants also had a compact Ricoh GR in their pockets and they came in useful, especially on a rainy Sunday.

 

All in all I learned a lot from this course as I was pushed to be bolder. The emphasis was on breaking down reserve and getting close to street subjects. I failed miserably with the highly risky task of jumping in front of pedestrians and pushing the camera into their faces. This seemed a step too far to me; instead I concentrated on approaching likely people and asking their permission. Astoundingly, eight out of ten strangers would say yes.

 

See the full report on my blog here.

 

My five chosen shots of the day are below. The lady in the black hat was chosen as the one to present to Eric and the other participants. With the exception of the fourth shot (at the door of the British Museum), all came about as a result of a street encounter, a brief chat and an agreement to participate. Wherever possible I showed the results on the murky screen of the MM and gave everyone my email address with an offer of a free copy.

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[stuny]

Michael -

 

Congratulations on taking the course, on exceding your self imposed barriers, and at you obvious success. I encourage you to continue regularly asking strangers to take their photos -- It's too easy to slip back into old ways, and it seems clear you've a knack for this approach. Should you ever meet NYC Forum member Ben (roguewave) you'll see that he is a master of chatting up strangers and capturing remarkable photos of them.

[Mixalis]

Michael -

 

Congratulations on taking the course, on exceding your self imposed barriers, and at you obvious success. I encourage you to continue regularly asking strangers to take their photos -- It's too easy to slip back into old ways, and it seems clear you've a knack for this approach. Should you ever meet NYC Forum member Ben (roguewave) you'll see that he is a master of chatting up strangers and capturing remarkable photos of them.

 

Thanks, Stu. You are right. With Eric or Charlie Kirk pushing it is quite easy to accost strangers. Somehow you feel you are on a mission and they will understand. To do it every day is another matter and I shall have to keep in practice.

[Guest Gilgamesh]

… next step is off camera flash, something really useful with hat-wearing people (place the flash below the camera). Or a reflector might have been useful. If you check out Palani Mohan's work, he doesn't use flash, but reflectors.

 

Did you choose the 35mm over a 50mm for any reason?

 

One shot is clearly not a static portrait as per the others and as such should be excluded from the set as it weakens the over-all effect (it's the weakest shot anyhow).

[Mixalis]

… next step is off camera flash, something really useful with hat-wearing people (place the flash below the camera). Or a reflector might have been useful. If you check out Palani Mohan's work, he doesn't use flash, but reflectors.

 

Did you choose the 35mm over a 50mm for any reason?

 

One shot is clearly not a static portrait as per the others and as such should be excluded from the set as it weakens the over-all effect (it's the weakest shot anyhow).

 

Thanks. Good point about the out-of-sequence shot. The 35mm was obligatory for the course although, after these close encounters I am thinking I might try 50mm in future. As for flash, I don't use it (perhaps in error, I don't know) and I would be uneasy using it in a street situation like this. But I take the point about hats and shadows. Interestingly, Eric Kim had a flash bolted to his MP throughout the weekend and he obviously uses it a lot. It's something I perhaps need to experiment with. Thanks for your constructive input.

[Indina]

Well, I'd instantely get aggressive if someone would flash into my face on street.

A quite harsh approach to a stranger, imo.

[XVarior]

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That's interesting, I'm like you, shy to jump on people in the streets and ask for a picture! I prefer to be candid! Your post is encouraging, I may do a test :-)

The second shot is my favorite. I like the evolution of the smile from close "gentlemen's" to wide open "background poster."

[Mixalis]

Well, I'd instantely get aggressive if someone would flash into my face on street.

A quite harsh approach to a stranger, imo.

 

I agree and that's why I point-blank refused to do it. I would also get annoyed if it happened to me. Yet it is amazing how many people are co-operature, even stopping and posing, if you approach them nicely. No point in antagonising people unnecessarily when the pickings are there with a bit of effort. Call me old fashioned, but iI like a face a to be in focus--something that is hard to do with zone focus, even on a forgiving 35mm lens.

[Mixalis]

That's interesting, I'm like you, shy to jump on people in the streets and ask for a picture! I prefer to be candid! Your post is encouraging, I may do a test :-)

The second shot is my favorite. I like the evolution of the smile from close "gentlemen's" to wide open "background poster."

 

This is also my favourite, although the course instructors preferred the first shot. The one we both like would have benefited from being in colour (as am MM owner I realise this is heresy) because of the full red lips in the poster and the burgundy hat and matching velvet collar on the man.

[XVarior]

This is also my favourite, although the course instructors preferred the first shot. The one we both like would have benefited from being in colour (as am MM owner I realise this is heresy) because of the full red lips in the poster and the burgundy hat and matching velvet collar on the man.

But then, if we add the color we may lose the focus on the smile evolution :-)

[Guest redge]

Mike,

 

Enjoyed your post here and the write-up on your blog.

 

Was your offer to send subjects a copy of the photo a factor in getting their consent? At what point in the conversation did you make the offer?

 

I love the shot of the Spanish tourist. She is clearly not intimidated

 

Cheers

[Mixalis]

Mike,

 

Enjoyed your post here and the write-up on your blog. Was your offer to send subjects a copy of the photo a factor in getting their consent? At what point in the conversation did you make the offer? I love the shot of the Spanish tourist. She is clearly not intimidated

 

Cheers

 

My MO is to walk up directly with hi or hello (depending on the age of the subject) and ask to take a picture. Often they ask why or what for but most do not. I parrot out that I am on a photographic course at the university/photo school or wherever (it doesn't really matter but it is important to indicate that this is a some sort of task/assignment). I have a task to approach as many strangers as possible in order to get a portrait. My life won't be worth living if I fail. Assuming assent, I then start clicking away, moving around the subject, apologising for being too close but explaining that this is part of the assignment. With a 35mm lens mounted it is necessary to get very close and this can be uncomfortable for subjects. If necessary I ask them to move to a better background (this is pure candid camera, of course, but I am astounded by the acceptance and compliance of the majority of strangers). The lady on the phone, for instance, was clearly in the middle of a conversation but she paused and agreed, then mumbled into the phone that she was having her photo taken. While taking the shots I ask them where from, what doing here, etc, and try to keep up a conversation. Only when I've finished do I show them the shots on the camera screen, tell them how good they look. Finally I offer a card with my email address. About 25% of the people then write and ask if they could see the picture. I send them a small file but offer a full-sized version for printing (...take it to Snappy Snaps, etc) if they like. Works like a charm. A couple of months ago, out in Soho at night, I came across a likely looking couple, got a few shots. It turned out they were on a wedding anniversary and thought the pic was marvellous....got it printed and now on their wall with profuse thanks to me.

 

Mike

[Guest redge]

I have a task to approach as many strangers as possible in order to get a portrait. My life won't be worth living if I fail.

 

[Karl G]

Congrats on the course and some excellent results!

[robert_parker]

The results are excellent, in particular the way that the subjects are relaxed and comfortable

 

I really like the third image

[George James]

Michael,

 

Excellent Photographs. I've read your blog, and although the weekend was intense, reading between the lines it appears you really enjoyed the whole experience.

 

Best George

[steve kessel]

Well done. Keep at it!

 

Best wishes

 

Steve

[Mixalis]

Michael,

 

Excellent Photographs. I've read your blog, and although the weekend was intense, reading between the lines it appears you really enjoyed the whole experience.

 

Best George

 

Thanks, George. In the end all was well. But I definitely had my uncomfortable moments and sometimes it was hard to keep up. Eric was a great motivator, though, and most of these portraits were done with his encouragement. All in all I really enjoyed it and I am glad I joined in and stuck it out.

 

M

[pauledell]

Excellent portraits taken in a way the seems so natural and relaxed.

 

Paul

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[stuny]

Usually when you see somebody with very unusual or flamboyant get-up they want attention and are the easiest ones to approach about a photo, and then never seem to ask why.