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My 2 pennies: I think most of the so called "street photography" images I see are just "photos". I mean I do not consider people walking in the street "street photography". There must be much more in a picture to be considered "street", there must be something very unusual, very funny or very strange, something we do not see often. It's a very difficult kind of photography. Is not enough to shoot a flash in the face of a scared or horrified or raging stranger (as Bruce Gilden does) that makes a picture look "street". Cartier-Bresson was great at it, he did it with an extraordinary lightness.

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9 hours ago, epand56 said:

My 2 pennies: I think most of the so called "street photography" images I see are just "photos". I mean I do not consider people walking in the street "street photography". There must be much more in a picture to be considered "street", there must be something very unusual, very funny or very strange, something we do not see often. It's a very difficult kind of photography. Is not enough to shoot a flash in the face of a scared or horrified or raging stranger (as Bruce Gilden does) that makes a picture look "street". Cartier-Bresson was great at it, he did it with an extraordinary lightness.

agree, use #leica on instagram and you will see many good stuff like he said.

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1 hour ago, jaeger said:

agree, use #leica on instagram and you will see many good stuff like he said.

I don’t know about that. Honestly, most people that shoot with a Leica think the fact that the have a Leica makes their images good. As if the spirit of HCB is channeled into their boring pictures by some spiritual transference.

I think Leicas are really easy to use poorly.

Just my opinion. Welcome any others. 

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3 hours ago, ChicagoMatthew said:

I don’t know about that. Honestly, most people that shoot with a Leica think the fact that the have a Leica makes their images good. As if the spirit of HCB is channeled into their boring pictures by some spiritual transference.

I think Leicas are really easy to use poorly.

Just my opinion. Welcome any others. 

I'd say that it's not just Leica, but the internet in general. It may seem more prevalent in a niche group like Leica users just due to distilling down the numbers to a small subset. You see that a lot for analog photos as well; worst ratio I've seen is Polaroids, where getting a decent exposure gets upvoted on the subreddit. It's such a niche community that it's artificially seems like more bad pictures are being taken. 

 

People that take really good pictures crop up more on Sony, Canon, Nikon sites/forums as they are simply the most popular brands. There's certainly similarly bad images being taken and shared with those brands. Just that there's just a lot more people shooting with the other brands that the good images crop up more often.

 

Just look at Gurushots and see how terrible most images are, regardless of brand. And people are submitting them for competitions!

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@sanadsaad, you’re going to need to try another approach.  The one you are currently using isn’t worktng for you,  Recognize that Street Photography may be the most difficult type of photography there is.  You can walk for hours and not see a single interesting thing to shoot.  And even if you do see something interesting, that doesn’t mean you will be able to make an interesting photograph of it.  Maybe trying going out for 90 minutes with the goal of producing 1 strong image.  You can shoot hundreds, but only expect to produce and subsequently post, one single strong image.  Also, you need to get closer to whatever you are shooting, and if you want to create strong images, you are going to need to actually lift the camera to your eye and focus.  Try shooting only in areas where you can be close to people and they won’t question why you are so close.  All of my street photography is done at f2 with a 35mm lens and it is done in the subway where people are expected to be close.  Best of luck!

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  • 2 weeks later...

@sanadsaad -

IMHO, you are on the right track with your street images; your work would benefit from some refinement which will come with time as you hone your street photography skills.  A couple of suggestions -

When shooting, ask yourself "who (or what) is the main subject of my image?"  When you have answered that, work to make that person or situation prominent in your frame. 

Get closer to your main subject - fill the frame with this person or persons.

When your main subject is looking at the camera, wait till they look away to make your photograph.  Sometimes a secondary subject will be looking at the camera; if you have to make your image while a secondary subject is looking at the camera in order to capture the decisive moment, so be it.  You cannot always avoid having everyone in your frame not looking at the camera at the instant of making your exposure.

If you have a wide angle lens - a 35mm or 28mm - try those focal lengths for street work.  You will have to get closer to your subject(s) to fill the frame but that goes with the territory.

Google search for zone focusing and hyperfocal focusing.  Learn how to apply these simple techniques to your street photography.

Don't be afraid to get close to your subject(s) to fill the frame.  This is nerve wracking at first, but the more you make yourself do it, the sooner you will become comfortable with shooting close to your subject.  Your images will improve significantly by just getting closer to your subject and filling the frame with them.

Hope these will help...

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I consider street shooting strangers on the sly (without their cooperation or knowledge) a form of stealing.  I prefer getting permission with simple nods indicating my intention produces the most pleasing results.  I then give them my card with the promise I will email the best shot(s) if they contact me - and do.  Everyone likes a good picture of themselves, family etc.  Its fun and ethical.

If they turn their back or indicate 'no', fine.

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  • 4 weeks later...

John Free has one of the best talks about street photography. Available on YouTube. This is what he does, teaching street photography, on the streets. 

50 is difficult focal length for big cities. IMO.  And limiting to single object, often. 

I prefer 35mm with focus tab. Or wider and plowing through the crowd. I hope OP is still around and crowds are in UK, London.

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To the OP, I think you need to get closer up to your subjects.

I continually adjust my pre-focus when I shoot street, usually between 5-15 feet, depending on the lens. Mostly I use a 21mm, sometimes 35mm.

I tend to keep the ISO quite high, so that I can use f4-f8, to give me a workable depth of focus. In terms of shutter speed, 1/250 would be my minimum, so that if I'm having to rapidly raise the camera to get a shot, then it minimises blur due to camera movement. Having said that, the photo below was taken at 1/60.

Ernst

M-P, CV 21/4, 1600 ISO

 

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

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Hi guys. I am still around. I have taken your advice and have been practising. I live in Sheffield but travel to London every now and then. I had to take a break from everything due to personal reasons but I am finally back to my normal routine. Thank you all for your advice and encouragement. I will learn from it and post more files here for critique. 

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10 hours ago, sanadsaad said:

There's a good 28mm summicron and elmarit available locally with not much of a difference in price (1900 vs 2100) as well as a 35mm summicron. With a 240, would an elmarit be a hindrance with its f2.8? 

Assuming the 2.8 is asph, and all the lenses are six bit coded.  IMHO, you can crank up the 240's ISO to compensate for the one stop difference.   

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