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Street Shooting with Peter Turnley


glenerrolrd

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The tape on the top isn t necessary to hide the camera name...I use it to minimize the wear on the top plate......just experimenting ..two weeks of carry two bodies can be hard on the finish. I did something similar on my M6s ..literally 20 years later I pulled off the tape cleaned them up with alcohol and they looked new..I suspect that these M8 bodies will be traded out as soon as the next generation comes out . Now I will probably clean off the tape soon and just rely on luigi s half case with grip.

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Guest malland
Question for you street shooters......What minimum shutter speed do you tolerate? Sharpness is a second priority..correct?
Sometimes it's the blur that makes the picture:

 

 

324986396_1243ea829e_o.jpg

 

 

—Mitch/Paris

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we were advised to try for 1/250 ..sharpness does matter....when we reviewed the prints of the various journalists ..they were almost all very sharp ..obviously in some cases the image carries the photograph....and there is a difference between critically sharp and acceptably sharp.. I had a lot more trouble with nailing the focus than handling camera motion. I didn t use the image of the trolley in my portfolio ..just illustrated a point about peoples reactions.

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we were advised to try for 1/250 ..sharpness does matter....when we reviewed the prints of the various journalists ..they were almost all very sharp ..obviously in some cases the image carries the photograph....and there is a difference between critically sharp and acceptably sharp.. I had a lot more trouble with nailing the focus than handling camera motion. I didn t use the image of the trolley in my portfolio ..just illustrated a point about peoples reactions.

 

1/250th was our instruction as well. Either shutter priority or manual. Which for me obviously means means manual.

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I've heard a couple of posters mention the notion of taking photos and thinning down. Given that this is nothing like the machine gun approach of sports shooters and newbies, I am assuming that you'd just keep looking for situations to photograph, take one and then move on? I was shooting somebody a couple of weeks ago and he aksed when I was going to take the shot and by that stage I'd taken 4. I'm guessing that this isn't the right way to go about it?

 

Roger, how many shots and how many distinct scense (I recognize that in certain instances they flow into each other) would you take in, let's say, 30 minutes of working to find a shot?

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re Mitch's pic-I like the ever so slight motion blurr, it absolutely makes it for me. It is a quick pencil sketch-really a sharpie sketch! just emotion!

 

1/250 is pretty standard, if you are walking and the other person is coming at you you can freeze them at 1/250. Under that and you get a little blur. If the motion is sideways it is a little tougher.

 

It is a little dance out there, trading dof for shutter. in sun it is no problem, f11 at 1/250 iso 320 and hyperfocal focus to the f8 mark on my 25 or 28mm and no focusing required, just point and shoot.

 

Shady side of the street can be 250-5.6 or 125-f8, dipping lower sometimes towards the end of the day. I find I can leave the hyperfocal at f8 even dipping to 5.6 and still not having to focus much, at least on the 25mm. I try to avoid focusing if I can if stuff is moving, you just start looking at the darn patch and lose the frame.

 

But sometimes what you are "seeing" that day is not movement, but stillness, so I might open right up to 2.8 at 1/4000 (love that M8) and focus the moments, but then I am not moving and they are not moving either.

 

Where it gets tough is in chiaroscuro lighting where you need to nail exposure and nail movement. How alex webb did it I don't know. I guess a long time working the same situations, just "knowing" what the exposure should be. I don't have those memorized yet.

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Guest malland
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...
To each his own but my view is that street photography is about photographing people in public places, about photographing life. Things such as street fairs and events leave me cold.

 

 

1677859812_bd1f4b1966_o.jpg

 

 

—Mitch/Paris

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Guest malland
Mitch I am no critic but wouldn this be better if the person in the background was sharper
Roger, I realise that not everyone will like the blur in the picture, but for me it works. Forgive me for posting so many pictures, but I think that this is an interesting topic; here are a few more pictures with intentional blur, all taken in Bangkok, to which I'm curious about reactions in terms of which ones people think work:

 

 

 

250507826_f4d4768e88_o.jpg

 

 

 

348966714_3e4fd9622d_o.jpg

 

 

 

254582453_f4f09991c4_o.jpg

 

 

 

 

And here is one that is all blur — it reminds me of jazz:

 

 

 

 

1488455276_08e893528b_o.jpg

 

 

—Mitch/Paris

Flickr: Photos from Mitch Alland

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I've heard a couple of posters mention the notion of taking photos and thinning down. Given that this is nothing like the machine gun approach of sports shooters and newbies, I am assuming that you'd just keep looking for situations to photograph, take one and then move on? I was shooting somebody a couple of weeks ago and he aksed when I was going to take the shot and by that stage I'd taken 4. I'm guessing that this isn't the right way to go about it?

 

Roger, how many shots and how many distinct scense (I recognize that in certain instances they flow into each other) would you take in, let's say, 30 minutes of working to find a shot?

generally I found that you should work a good target when you find one..try different angles ..watch the light ..focus bracket..the couple kissing..I got off 4 frames..slightly different angles ...they didn t blink ..I did I moved on too soon.....only a few times did I feel I stayed too long and unnecessarily bothered someone ..I know in the reviews it was a constant comment.."wow what a great situation....why didn t you take more?" One photographer walked into a Miss Universe Teen group in front of a major fountain ..he could have used a 1d mk III and they would still be smiling and posing for him..Peter wanted 50-100 images he got maybe 15. This is an area I need to work on . I only shot and moved on when I knew otherwise would probably be unpleasant and not add any decent images. I never shot enough and I was not shooting wildly. I was getting maybe 50 images an hour...more if I didn t have to move much. Endurance is an issue for me ...I make more mistakes as I get tired ...and don t stay with the subject....shooting low is tough ..very similar to sports. This of course was just my style..I have no idea if this is typical .
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To each his own but my view is that street photography is about photographing people in public places, about photographing life. Things such as street fairs and events leave me cold.

 

LOL- If you ever have to drive or take a cab around NY from spring through fall they are an annoying part of every day life....every weekend at least one major avenue is closed.

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Guest Bernd Banken
Question for you street shooters......What minimum shutter speed do you tolerate? Sharpness is a second priority..correct?

 

Due to my mainly used Ilford HP5 there is no problem with speed. But sometimes a scenario needed a sharp turn of my body/Camera so the blur occured by my motion:

 

 

 

Bernd

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Guest Bernd Banken
To each his own but my view is that street photography is about photographing people in public places, about photographing life. Things such as street fairs and events leave me cold.

 

LOL- If you ever have to drive or take a cab around NY from spring through fall they are an annoying part of every day life....every weekend at least one major avenue is closed.

 

you are right, shooting street means having scenarios with a "hook" not only shots of people standing/hanging around. Therefore wide angle lenses are strongly recommended by profs.

My experience about this kind of photography is that one need no workshops but good, warm shoes and neutral clothing :rolleyes:

 

and a fast reaction....

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I, for one, am picking up some good tips here. Just to summarize a few guidelines for us beginners to think about, more intended as a bookmark for me.

 

1. Keep the camera lower than the subject's eye level.

2. Use 1/250 sec, f11, set hyperfocal to f8.

3. "See" a canvas" and then look for a subject to walk into it.

4. Keep shooting, even after you think you have the shot.

5. Get close.

6. Travel light, one or two lenses more than adequate.

7. You probably have 3 seconds before you get noticed, when you do, stay part of the scene, smile and interact.

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To each his own but my view is that street photography is about photographing people in public places, about photographing life. Things such as street fairs and events leave me cold.

 

you are right, shooting street means having scenarios with a "hook" not only shots of people standing/hanging around. Therefore wide angle lenses are strongly recommended by profs.

My experience about this kind of photography is that one need no workshops but good, warm shoes and neutral clothing :rolleyes:

 

and a fast reaction....

 

I agree totally. I wasted a lot of time at art fairs, outdoor car shows, etc. with maybe two or three usable shots to show for it. You can find much more interesting material in ten minutes walking down the street in any major city.

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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

 

Hi Roger,

was this the 35lux asph or pre-asph?...

i'm getting mad with these pictures... look so like what I like...

cheers

 

Maurizio

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Roger, I realise that not everyone will like the blur in the picture, but for me it works. Forgive me for posting so many pictures, but I think that this is an interesting topic; here are a few more pictures with intentional blur, all taken in Bangkok, to which I'm curious about reactions in terms of which ones people think work:

 

 

 

250507826_f4d4768e88_o.jpg

 

 

 

348966714_3e4fd9622d_o.jpg

 

 

 

254582453_f4f09991c4_o.jpg

 

 

 

 

And here is one that is all blur — it reminds me of jazz:

 

 

 

 

1488455276_08e893528b_o.jpg

 

 

—Mitch/Paris

Flickr: Photos from Mitch Alland

 

Personally I would say that only the last very blurry photo works for me. The others just look like mistakes - like you rasied your camera at the last moment and popped it off. There's no emotional connection to the subjects, no anchor, they are just merely passing by. One could make thousands of pictures like these a day in city as crowded as Bangkok. Sorry to come off as harsh, but having seen your Flickr photos I would say you are an accomplished photographer but might need some help in the editing arena. One of the hardest things to do is for photographers to let go of sentiments around photographs that aren't anywhere in the actual photo - "oh, I love this street", "that was a fun evening" etc etc. It's also easy to get swept up in the exoticness of a place and assume that all the pictures are interesting because of that. I've just finished editing my fourth book so I know how difficult it can be to kill your "children." But it has to be done for the sake of ones' truly strong images.

 

I like a complete story contained within a photograph, and a lot of that comes from sharpness (as well as composition) - the ability to read a person's face (or an object even) and connect. Look at Winogrand's images - each photo contains a mini-novel. Yes, blurry can work great, but it has to be really well formed and usually works best if it relates strongly to mood (which is why Mitch's night scene works best IMO).

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Personally I would say that only the last very blurry photo works for me. The others just look like mistakes - like you rasied your camera at the last moment and popped it off. There's no emotional connection to the subjects, no anchor, they are just merely passing by. One could make thousands of pictures like these a day in city as crowded as Bangkok. Sorry to come off as harsh, but having seen your Flickr photos I would say you are an accomplished photographer but might need some help in the editing arena. One of the hardest things to do is for photographers to let go of sentiments around photographs that aren't anywhere in the actual photo - "oh, I love this street", "that was a fun evening" etc etc. It's also easy to get swept up in the exoticness of a place and assume that all the pictures are interesting because of that. I've just finished editing my fourth book so I know how difficult it can be to kill your "children." But it has to be done for the sake of ones' truly strong images.

 

I like a complete story contained within a photograph, and a lot of that comes from sharpness (as well as composition) - the ability to read a person's face (or an object even) and connect. Look at Winogrand's images - each photo contains a mini-novel. Yes, blurry can work great, but it has to be really well formed and usually works best if it relates strongly to mood (which is why Mitch's night scene works best IMO).

 

I like a lot of Mitch's stuff, but at the risk of being misinterpreted as negative I have to agree with Charles. I have been working with Ben Lifson, and he recently pointed out that a lot of my pictures are too generalized: people walking, people sitting, people standing, etc. I had not thought about it before and it hit me like a slap in the face. Even with great form, there needs to be something of interest, something happening, a story being told, etc. Otherwise it ends up being equivalent to a great vacation picture: you like it because you were there, but to others it's attractive but not interesting.

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Guest malland
Personally I would say that only the last very blurry photo works for me. The others just look like mistakes - like you rasied your camera at the last moment and popped it off. There's no emotional connection to the subjects, no anchor, they are just merely passing by. One could make thousands of pictures like these a day in city as crowded as Bangkok. Sorry to come off as harsh, but having seen your Flickr photos I would say you are an accomplished photographer but might need some help in the editing arena. One of the hardest things to do is for photographers to let go of sentiments around photographs that aren't anywhere in the actual photo - "oh, I love this street", "that was a fun evening" etc etc. It's also easy to get swept up in the exoticness of a place and assume that all the pictures are interesting because of that. I've just finished editing my fourth book so I know how difficult it can be to kill your "children." But it has to be done for the sake of ones' truly strong images.

 

I like a complete story contained within a photograph, and a lot of that comes from sharpness (as well as composition) - the ability to read a person's face (or an object even) and connect. Look at Winogrand's images - each photo contains a mini-novel. Yes, blurry can work great, but it has to be really well formed and usually works best if it relates strongly to mood (which is why Mitch's night scene works best IMO).

Charles, I don't think you're being harsh at all. Editing is difficult. Photography is interesting because, although one "makes" photographs there is also the proicess of selection at two levels: first when one selects what to frame when pressing the shutter and second when one selects what to print from the shots one has taken. Sometimes it isn't until months later that I've recongnised that an old shot that I haven't yet printed is really quite good.

 

Then there is the ongoing process of editing a project: my Bangkok series is a work in progress that I've editied some three or four times, and am getting ready to edit once again — some pf the pictures have been cut and then found their way in again. Sometime one needs help in editing, but ultimately the work is one's own and one hasd to take responsibility for it.

 

BTW, I'm fond of the last, completely blurred picture and am thinking of making a painting of the colour version of it. I'm starting by ketching it first.

 

—Mitch/Paris

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