January 1st, 2012

Quincy T

Florida style:







For #1, I asked permission since there were kids involved and parents were nearby. This was part of my assignment to begin prompting myself, and I wanted to get their names and a bit of information afterward. Unfortunately, the grandfather shooed me away after three frames, and I only managed to get the surname of the family. Disappointing, but better than nothing.

michswiss

I think you can forget the second shot, but the first and third are nice. I was going to suggest the third as nothing special until the puppy came into view. I agree that it's worth practicing approaching people and then quickly assessing how to get a meaningful and technically solid shot in uncontrolled settings. Doing documentary work, you'll many times only have a minute or two of cooperation before the subject loses interest or other extraneous characters join the frame.

Quincy T

michswiss wrote: »

I think you can forget the second shot, but the first and third are nice. I was going to suggest the third as nothing special until the puppy came into view. I agree that it's worth practicing approaching people and then quickly assessing how to get a meaningful and technically solid shot in uncontrolled settings. Doing documentary work, you'll many times only have a minute or two of cooperation before the subject loses interest or other extraneous characters join the frame.

Thanks! I kind of like #2 as a story setter, but it's not particularly street and it's certainly not PJ haha. I guess I just included it for more context.

lensmole

The first one could have been a nice shot had you focused on the boy in the middle.

rainbow

First is a good attempt to capture the scene. I like that you shot close and shot from a low angle.

Second could be skipped. You do not need to "set the scene" for the other two unless it is an essential part of a series. In this case, #1 & 3 speak for themselves.

Third is well seen and composed. It falls short only because it is of mild interest.

There is an entire discussion that can be held on whether you should seek permission to take a street photo. Once you ask permission, it changes any photo you could have taken. They have an awareness of you and will behave differently. Some commenters here love people looking at the camera. I am one that generally dislikes it, though it does add some dramatic effect to some shots. You might experiment with both situations and see what fits you or the assignment better.

bdcolen

I find the first one quite compelling. What is that young boy thinking. And why? He is not a happy camper. Is he upset at the attention his sib is getting? Is he upset with you? Is he upset with the world?

Second one, as has been noted, is a 'do not post.' Third one is fun. As Jen noted, one looks at it, gets ready to dismiss it, and then sees the dog. Nice.