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Street Shooting with Peter Turnley


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Guest Bernd Banken
street is really all in your mind...It is probably like jumping out of an airplane, more terrifying thinking about it then actually doing it.

 

I think the basic exercise is to give yourself an object lesson. Forget about making good pictures for a moment. Forget about focusing also. Use a very wide lens prefocused outdoors on a sunny day. The voigtlander 15 is great for this because you can't focus it! Anyway the results don't matter, it is all about psychology. Yours. Not the subject.

 

Go somewhere crowded and just stand for a while in the mass. Look around you. Every time you see "something" say "click" to yourself. Get used to your instantaneous response to something else. IOW, it is ok to be interested. Now without moving, keep looking at everything around you, and when you see something happen, or usually when you see something ABOUT to happen get the camera up to your face and frame. Forget that you are too far away and it is not going to work, get the camera UP in anticipation. Pretty soon you notice no one cares.

 

so now move the feet! If you see something about to happen get the camera UP! Frame! Maybe pause. Count how long in your head it is until someone reacts to you. Usually it is about 3 full seconds. Internally to you, because you had anticipated the action, it is longer. IOW, there is a SPACE inside that time that you can exist in that no one is aware of but you. that is the time you have to get the first picture. Sometimes that will be all you have, the action will dissolve. So keep moving. Smile, nod if you need to acknowledge someone. Stop to answer a question. Maybe you end up in a great conversation that leads elsewhere. Life is FUN! this is just an expression of your love of life. Being interested and paying attention is adding, not subtracting to the richness of life. We don't TAKE away a picture, we ADD our appreciation. We show our love.

 

And it is hard every time you go out to do it. There is always the hesitation, but really only the hesitation is the problem. Once you commit you find it is easier than you thought.

 

So mainly: you have to get the camera UP and frame. But don't forget to BE there as a person and look everyone in the eye and acknowledge them because you appreciate them. Smiling is good, after all, you are not doing anything wrong. And you are under no obligation to make "good" pictures. You probably will not know till later whether or not it was "good." the point is trying. You judge later.

 

things like long lenses are not helpful because they allow you to stand back and make pictures you know "work." If you go through life only making the pictures you know "work" then you will not find out what MIGHT work. So a wide helps you discover new things. This is not boilerplate, tho, look at Ralph Gibson, that whole series he did on a 90mm-BRILLIANT! Full of discovery. I could only dream of making those pictures. (and his pictures are very much like dreams...)

 

bottom line, anyone can do it if I can do it.

 

Robert,

 

you nailed it!

 

Your explanation is one of the best about streetphotography.

 

Streetphotography is 95% of a suitable structure of a person's mind and the training of it, the rest is camera and technic.

 

@ Andy:

 

Out of hundreds of portraits I have only one with a negative visual "comment" of the person. The rest had been so easy and sometimes nice talks started during/after the shooting.

Here the pic from Amsterdam

 

Regards

Bernd

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If someone came up that close to me and took my picture I would be extremely narked. I would find it incredibly rude and intrusive.

 

Consequently, I wouldn't dream of doing this to anyone else.

 

And if I stood across the street with a 90mm you'd be happy as a clam?

 

Seriously, I have had one negative reaction in two years. But there is no right and wrong. Your reaction is as valid as anyone else's.

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Guest malland
Robert,

 

you nailed it!

 

Your explanation is one of the best about streetphotography.

 

Street photography is 95% of a suitable structure of a person's mind and the training of it, the rest is camera and technic....Here the pic from Amsterdam...

Bernd, I agree with you about Robert's observations being spot-on. Also, I like your Amsterdam picture a lot — and for me is raises the issue of what is meaningful in street photography? I came across a post by someone who spoke about all the "meaningless street photography" that one sees on the web. While one comes across a lot of meaningless street photography your picture is meaningtful, althougtht the meaning is difficult to put into words — but that's why we photograph, isn't it?

 

I'll repeat one of my pictures here, just to say that, to me, it expresses some of the same ideas and feelings as an Edvard Munch painting, altough I don't mean to suggest it is that grand:

 

 

1432698417_b63a541032_o.jpg

 

 

—Mitch/Paris

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two from me.

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As to the changes in my comfort in getting close. First.. I start with the premise that the photographs will be more interesting.....so its worth doing. Second....its of course easier to shoot from behind , the side or when the person is otherwise distracted ..but the pictures are not as interesting (again my point of view). Third..the situation dictates reasonable expectations for privacy....weddings in major public spaces are fair game..reasonable expectation that people will be watching the event. Surprisingly on my last two trips I shot 5 different weddings.....one poor bride didn t have an official photographer...so she posed for me. On the Charles Bridge in Prague ...I walked into a Fashion/Catalog shoot with a Japanesse model...I shot a few and the two Pro s invited me to take turns shooting the model. My style was clearly not like Peter s ..and he was exaggerating ....so its not walk up and stick the camera in someones face. I tried to be suttle.....as i got more comfortable..I would shoot until the person recognized I was photographing them ..then one of two things happened .....they either smiled or looked bothered......If they smiled I thanked them ..told them that I had made a very interesting photograph and asked if I could shoot more....if they looked bothered I apologized for taking their picture and moved on in a deliberate fashion. We discussed this with the czech and hungarian journalists..they all indicated that they spent the time to be familiar with the people most of the time. The other technique that worked was to look for a great "stage" ...good background, nice lighting ...then pre focus on a spot usually 8 ft away for me with the WATE ..then anticipate the subject and frame and shoot at the last minute. Most of the time the subject never recognized that the photography was of them. I feel you need a mixture of approaches ..you don t want every picture to be of a subject collaberating with the photographer nor will grab shots always work. Obviously I am trying to find balance and to put myself into situations where photographs just happen. My view was ..you have to be willing to fail...a lot ..to get this right. And then you can remember the ones that worked. I also found that people having fun or in good humor were easy.....people working were often bothered and most men ...don t like to be photographed..at least by me. LOL

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Guest Bernd Banken

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Roger,

 

believe it or not, the more you walk without the pressure to get keepers the more your mind ist open and more sensitive for situations with a "hook".

 

You can't force it because you are in the same layer of people and situations. But you are the one with a camera and the wish to bring something at home....

For me it was often very frustrating tired feet and nothing in the box but during the following weekends it happened.

 

Here a shot from the back (which I dont't like normally) but it was worth while... ;-)

 

Bernd

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Roger,

 

Thanks for sharing your experiences with the Peter Turnley workshop. I enjoyed your photos and descriptions of what you got out of the workshop. My fiance, who has an especially critical eye, loved your poodle image.

 

I was wondering if you had any negative experiences associated with this workshop. Was it well organized? Good accommodations? etc.

 

thanks

Norman

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Guest malland
...believe it or not, the more you walk without the pressure to get keepers the more your mind ist open and more sensitive for situations with a "hook".

 

You can't force it because you are in the same layer of people and situations. But you are the one with a camera and the wish to bring something at home....

For me it was often very frustrating tired feet and nothing in the box but during the following weekends it happened...

You're right, Bernd: for street photography it helps to have a "loose" or "fluid" style of shooting, which keeps you from thinking about the results. Cartier-Bresson recommended the book by Eugen Herrigel, "Zen in the Art of Archery" as helpful for shooting. He was right: Herrigel wrote that when you let the arrow go without being conscious of doing so, without being conscious of the target, is when you can get a good shot. It is a book worth reading.

 

In my case I found that changing from the M6 to the Ricoh GR-D, a very unasuming camera, which I shot without a viewfinder by framing with the LCD, loosened up my style substantially. It's also counterproductive to think about the results because for some pictures one may not realise until some time has passed whether the picture is any good. For example the picture below I took last March but only processed today when I went through old pictures to see whether there was anything that I should print. For this reason one should not delete digital pictures except for ones that are obviously very bad — no need to be stingy with disk storage space.

 

 

1675671723_2665846458_o.jpg

 

 

—Mitch/Paris

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I want to thank Roger for starting this thread and ALL that have contributed to it. I have found it a very interesting read and very informative.

I recently did some street shooting and had one person, NOT someone I had taken a picture of, ask me "Did I get permission from these people to take there pictures". Being me I say "It's in public and I didn't need permission". I probably should of just shrubbed his comment off and not replied.

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Roger,

 

Thanks for sharing your experiences with the Peter Turnley workshop. I enjoyed your photos and descriptions of what you got out of the workshop. My fiance, who has an especially critical eye, loved your poodle image.

 

I was wondering if you had any negative experiences associated with this workshop. Was it well organized? Good accommodations? etc.

 

thanks

Norman

I thought it was very well organized and for me it had no real negatives. I worked exceptionally hard at this workshop ...because you really have to be out on the street as much as possible...then come back and process your images for the next day. The pace was mine but it was difficult physically. You really have to find and make your own opportunities..I am sure some attendees might have wanted more instructor lead shoots . I had been to Prague before and am very comfortable walking the streets by myself day or night..but I am 6'2" 230Lbs so I don t worry too much . Nevertheless I avoid places that would isolate me while shooting. I am not sure I would send my daughter..who is an active professional ..on this type of trip....at least not by herself . So I would be sure you are up to it physically and are comfortable working alone in whatever location you choose. .
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Thanks for starting this great thread. I am currently taking a street photography class with Harvey Stein at ICP (intl center for photog). Our rules are similar. No zoom. 35mm max desired focal length Go wide get close is the mantra.

 

My first assignment was all done with the CV21mm. I cheated a bit today and used a 50cron and could have used wider - my bad. I've been going out with just body and one lens.

 

Harvey isn't hung up on cropping to clean up a shot but isn't keen on cropping to make up for not getting closer.

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I would be interested in hearing about your workshop. Street shooting and NYC just seem to go together. I would be interested in the locations you found best. I did a warm up for the workshop over a weekend in NYC. We had more locations and opportunities than we could shoot. In two days .we did the statue of liberty, ellis island ,battery park,ground zero, little italy,soho ,grant park,times square day and night ..and didn t make it to grand central station or central park ..ran out of time. Joel Meyerowitz had a show on Comcast on demand on street shooting in NYC.

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Thought you might enjoy this picture I took of a wedding party outside the Hanoi Opera a couple of years ago. Wedding parties arrive there in droves to quickly take a picture of the bride and groom in front of the restored grand facade. I spent an afternoon hanging around butting in with my camera. I even have one shot that has three different bride and grooms in it at once. Weddings and other celebrations are a great place to get your feet wet doing street photography. There tend to be lots of other people doing the same thing and everyone is in a festive mood. Just be careflu to not tread on the toes of the hired wedding photographers.

 

This was my favorite, the cooler than thou father to be. Leica M6TTL with a 24mm on Fuji NP400.

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Roger,

 

Thanks for sharing your experiences with the Peter Turnley workshop. I enjoyed your photos and descriptions of what you got out of the workshop. My fiance, who has an especially critical eye, loved your poodle image.

 

I was wondering if you had any negative experiences associated with this workshop. Was it well organized? Good accommodations? etc.

 

thanks

Norman

The Poodle shot was the only image in my final 15 that I had to over ride Peter s editing....not sure why but he wasn t excited about it like I was.
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There is a lot going on in so many spots and you named so good ones. There are also a lot of street fairs and other outdoor events. You can generally get a list in the New York Times on Friday. I've liked being by the ferry to NJ, battery park along the river. I've spent time in Bryant Park a number of times. A lot of different activities going on with chess, bocce, free wireless internet, outdoor dining etc.

Today I need to pick something up at the Apple store at 59th and 5th. It was packed and I had a lot of fun. I got pretty close to some people. The assignment was shooting something sequential where the shots relate to each other. On the way over I saw two guys wearing interesting hats so I spent a good part of the time trying to take shots where the person was wearing a hat.

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here is an image that demonstrates an interesting opportunity. It was 3rd in a series..the blond girl never changed her expression....check out the girl behind her for a more typical response..this was the 35/1.4 summilux at 1250 under by 1.0 stop...1/8 sec

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Mark I decided on Black and White after looking at my first days images ...the Vapor Lights used to illuminate the streets and buildings must have been flourescent . All the early morning and night shots were impossible to color balance due to mixed lighting. My first batch was about 500 images ..they looked better in BW. Also when I looked at the Peters work ...his books and most essays are all BW. To get a quick conversion I used Lightroom ..tried a few individually ..then just batched them on import. I know I can do this a lot better . Where the Leica really impressed the group was in the available light situations. ...normally I shot ISO 320 which would allow f5.6 and shutter speeds over 1/250 ....but some of my best can at 640 or 1250 f1.4 and 1/30 or less. The 35 Summilux blew everyone away ....I could use 640 underexpose by 1 stop ...adjust for the noise in lightroom and get acceptable images ...this was at 10pm. The M8s were a real hit.. I am sure I sold at least a few more . Attached is the one M8 in full battle dress..Black Luigi Case ....taped with Black Gaffer Tape form Photo Village ...Upstrap . I used two M8s ..to get around the bag I used a Filson Travel Vest which held 2 additional lenses . In the day it was normally the WATE or the 24 on the one body and the 35 on the other. The 50 or the 90 in the pocket of the vest. Gradually I moved back to using the 90 a little more and revisited locations requiring more distance. Images were amazingly evenly split across all 5 focal lengths. What I learned was that you need the faster lenses for street photography..I will be adding a 21 2.8 as I could have used the speed and 21 was about right for most situations.. I learned more by using the WATE at 16 but didn t get as many keepers. We were not allowed to crop anything and at 16 thats a lot of coverage to keep clean.

 

OK, while I'm not a tape person, seems dumb to me, but do understand. I see why the tape on the front of the M8, but why the tape on the top? There is nothing there to tape over.

 

This seminar seems like one i need to attend, as I find getting up close to a subject unnerving to me. I am also retiring soon and I guess I will have to sign up for osme similar seminar. Great shots.

 

gene

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