Not done street photos before!

Bend The LightBend The Light Registered Users Posts: 1,887 Major grins
edited March 16, 2011 in Street and Documentary
I have just spent the day in Scarborough with the family. After visiting the SeaLife Centre to see the fish, and then the restaurrant to eat the fish, we took a walk up the hill to the town.
I haven't done street photography before, so had a go, but not blatently (I had the family with me)...the camera grip has a handy shutter button just where I rest my little pinkie - So I took some shots as we were walking. Here's a few of them...
This first one sufferes from shooting into the sun, but I still like it...
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Born to shop by Bend The Light, on Flickr
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Nothing Doing by Bend The Light, on Flickr
And I wasn't quite sure about the fashion sense here...
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On the prowl by Bend The Light, on Flickr
Walking The Dog...
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Walking The Dog by Bend The Light, on Flickr

Comments

  • bdcolenbdcolen Registered Users Posts: 3,804 Major grins
    edited March 14, 2011
    Nice expression on the guy in the second photo - and particularly nice composition given that I assume it was a grab shot. As for the first and third - I'd ask myself 'why?' Street photography has to be more than a photo of people in public - it has to intrigue us, amuse us, puzzle us, grab us somehow. And for me anyway, the first and third don't do that. The last one, of the oddly colorful Basset Hound in the black and white city...I think I get where you were going with the amusement sign, and the car shaped a bit like the dog, but I really don't get the bizarre Photoshopping. Is that a color photo? Or a black and white photo? Or a photo that you felt wouldn't work unless you did what you did?ne_nau.gif

    B. D.
    bd@bdcolenphoto.com
    "He not busy being born is busy dying." Bob Dylan

    "The more ambiguous the photograph is, the better it is..." Leonard Freed
  • Bend The LightBend The Light Registered Users Posts: 1,887 Major grins
    edited March 14, 2011
    Thank you, B.D. I appreciate the critique...

    It was definitely a grab shot, number 2, I'd just come out of a shop, turned to face my wife who was behind, and saw this guy, and nudged the shutter. He's a little bit to the right, but not bad for shooting from the hip.

    I like the first, but that's just me, I reckon. I like the haggered look of the lady. I know it's challenged by the straight on sunlight, however.

    Not sure I know what you mean about the basset. That is his colour, I haven't adjusted that. I was just playing with selective colour, and I know people don't like it (well, photographers don't) but I thought it was fun. I didn't really take the sign or the car into consideration...I wanted the dog...a funny looking colourful dog in the mono street.

    Many thanks for your considered opinion. :)
  • damonffdamonff Registered Users Posts: 1,894 Major grins
    edited March 14, 2011
    I like the rays of light in #1.
  • Bend The LightBend The Light Registered Users Posts: 1,887 Major grins
    edited March 15, 2011
    damonff wrote: »
    I like the rays of light in #1.

    It is funny what people like...so many have said they DON'T like the first...I was shooting into the sun, not ideal, but I kinda like the image all the same, which is why I included it.

    Thanks for your thoughts. :)
  • RichardRichard Administrators, Vanilla Admin Posts: 19,961 moderator
    edited March 15, 2011
    Bend The Light wrote: »
    It is funny what people like...so many have said they DON'T like the first...I was shooting into the sun, not ideal, but I kinda like the image all the same, which is why I included it.

    Thanks for your thoughts. :)
    The sun rays and starbursts are the best part of the pic. I'd like to see it (and the others) without toning.

    Like many people here, I am not fond of selective color. I can see why you are using it on that shot, but I can't help feeling that it's a rescue attempt. A better approach would have been to use a narrow DOF and focus on the dog. With the background out of focus, the dog would stand out both in B&W and in color.
    My Pics
  • Bend The LightBend The Light Registered Users Posts: 1,887 Major grins
    edited March 15, 2011
    Richard wrote: »
    The sun rays and starbursts are the best part of the pic. I'd like to see it (and the others) without toning.

    Like many people here, I am not fond of selective color. I can see why you are using it on that shot, but I can't help feeling that it's a rescue attempt. A better approach would have been to use a narrow DOF and focus on the dog. With the background out of focus, the dog would stand out both in B&W and in color.

    Thanks, Richard. I will have a go without the toning, too.

    As for the dog, you may be right...I think the focus is in the wrong place, but then, I have no way of knowing what I have focussed on until afterwards...maybe most people wouldn't have bothered with the picture in the first place. I just liked the purposeful movement of the dog, and the "being dragged" stance of the woman.

    Cheers
  • RichardRichard Administrators, Vanilla Admin Posts: 19,961 moderator
    edited March 15, 2011
    Bend The Light wrote: »
    As for the dog, you may be right...I think the focus is in the wrong place, but then, I have no way of knowing what I have focussed on until afterwards

    Yeah, that's the problem with shooting from the hip. Sometimes I get an interesting shot that way, but more often than not it's just garbage. I much prefer using the viewfinder.
    My Pics
  • Bend The LightBend The Light Registered Users Posts: 1,887 Major grins
    edited March 15, 2011
    Richard wrote: »
    Yeah, that's the problem with shooting from the hip. Sometimes I get an interesting shot that way, but more often than not it's just garbage. I much prefer using the viewfinder.

    Well, yes. I will have a go at that, but wasn't actually out photographing, but was out with the family. I found this to be an interesting experimant, anyway. :)
  • bdcolenbdcolen Registered Users Posts: 3,804 Major grins
    edited March 16, 2011
    Bend The Light wrote: »
    Thank you, B.D. I appreciate the critique...

    It was definitely a grab shot, number 2, I'd just come out of a shop, turned to face my wife who was behind, and saw this guy, and nudged the shutter. He's a little bit to the right, but not bad for shooting from the hip.

    I like the first, but that's just me, I reckon. I like the haggered look of the lady. I know it's challenged by the straight on sunlight, however.

    Not sure I know what you mean about the basset. That is his colour, I haven't adjusted that. I was just playing with selective colour, and I know people don't like it (well, photographers don't) but I thought it was fun. I didn't really take the sign or the car into consideration...I wanted the dog...a funny looking colourful dog in the mono street.

    Many thanks for your considered opinion. :)

    You're quite welcome. As to the dog's color, I was referring to the selective color. But when all is said and done, we each do what we want - that's what it's all about. :D
    bd@bdcolenphoto.com
    "He not busy being born is busy dying." Bob Dylan

    "The more ambiguous the photograph is, the better it is..." Leonard Freed
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