People of NYC

PhotoDavid78 · August 3, 2009

Hello all, these are some shots of people in New York City.

1. I think this guy was reading the New York Daily News. It definetly wasn't the New York Times.

2. This guy was smoking his cigar and getting his shoes shined before work in front of Grand Central Station. He seemed to notice me just as I snapped the shot.

3. As this girl passed me I quickly snapped a shot. to me this represents the hustle and bustle of the big city.

4. A cold morning in Bryant Park.

You can see the rest of my NYC GALLERY HERE!

bdcolen · August 3, 2009

dtw78 wrote:

Hello all, these are some shots of people in New York City.

You can see the rest of my NYC GALLERY HERE!

I'm going to assume you are looking for honest responses.

Really like the first shot, but what is it about the colored letters that you love so much?

I see the guy reading the paper, positioned as though he were on a livingroom rug, as the subject of the photo. But because you decided to play with PS, my eye is immediately drawn to the colored balls.

Lose the color, save an excellent street photo. (And boost the bw contrast a bit)

The second one might be good, but the smoker is too far away for me to really tell - get in on him and the shoe shine guy.

The third one? Would you have shot it had a middle aged man, rather than an attractive young woman, been in the foreground? And in either case, why?

And the last one - yup, that's a guy sitting alright. But so what?

You definitely show us with the first and second photos that you get the idea that a street photo should be more than a photo taken in the street. But most photos taken in the street, even when we're working really hard at it, are just snaps of people in public places. Keep trying for those special images.

Richard · August 3, 2009

I agree that #2 might have been better if you had been closer, but I really like the blur of the shoeshine guy at work.

bdcolen · August 3, 2009

Richard wrote:

I agree that #2 might have been better if you had been closer, but I really like the blur of the shoeshine guy at work.

Absolutely! A crop can really help here.

sweet caroline · August 3, 2009

I'm also liking #2. Maybe just darken the bottom portion. It looks washed out, and darkening that area may help the eye move straight to the subjects. Or just crop it. The expression is great, as is the motion of the shoe shine at work.

I actually really like #3. First of all, the light and composition are pleasing to my eye. I do get the feeling of the hustle and bustle of the city, but there's also a clear subject to settle the eye on. There's a strange phenomenon amongst younger adults in which they use their phones both to keep busy and keep in touch, and also to escape into their own little universe and disconnect from the present. I've opted out of that trend, myself, but it is so prevalent in the under 40 age group. So, I don't think it would be exactly the same if it were an older male, but I don't think that it's just because young attractive female are nice to look at.

Caroline

Vycor · August 3, 2009

I like the girl in front of cab... thats NYC right there

1) cabs
2) Good looking woman
3) Fashion (shes got those fashion glasses on i see the girls wearing)
4) The cell phone... ALL nyc people are always on their cell phones

Trevlan · August 3, 2009

#3 at f2.8 would have look really nice I think... Nice shots. #1 I believe is your strongest effort. If you can do away with the selective colors, it would be a really strong piece. As mentioned before, my eyes are immediately drawn to the train station sign. This makes the station the subject and the man reading the paper, an object in the foreground.

Great work other wise. As a street shooter, I appreciate this kind of work because it takes guts to shoot people you don't know. I'd invest in some Jujitsu classes, especially for street shooting in NYC.

PhotoDavid78 · August 3, 2009

bdcolen wrote:

I'm going to assume you are looking for honest responses.

Really like the first shot, but what is it about the colored letters that you love so much? I see the guy reading the paper, positioned as though he were on a livingroom rug, as the subject of the photo. But because you decided to play with PS, my eye is immediately drawn to the colored balls. Lose the color, save an excellent street photo. (And boost the bw contrast a bit)

The second one might be good, but the smoker is too far away for me to really tell - get in on him and the shoe shine guy.

The third one? Would you have shot it had a middle aged man, rather than an attractive young woman, been in the foreground? And in either case, why?

And the last one - yup, that's a guy sitting alright. But so what?

You definitely show us with the first and second photos that you get the idea that a street photo should be more than a photo taken in the street. But most photos taken in the street, even when we're working really hard at it, are just snaps of people in public places. Keep trying for those special images.

Thanks for the advice. I would have to agree with you about the man sitting in the park and also the photo of the man reading the newspaper outside of the subway. I disagree with you about the girl holding the cell phone. The reason I took that shot was for the reasons vycor listed. I work in NYC everyday and that shot bleeds NYC. When I saw her I immediately thought of the TV show "Sex and the City."

PhotoDavid78 · August 3, 2009

I reworked photo 1. please tell me what you guys think now. Also, here is another shot I hesitated to post before. Can you also critique this as well. Thanks!

Trevlan · August 3, 2009

dtw78 wrote:

I reworked photo 1. please tell me what you guys think now. Also, here is another shot I hesitated to post before. Can you also critique this as well. Thanks!

#1 stands out more now!!!

If you can give it some more 'pop' it'll be a winner. ;-)

Tee Why · August 3, 2009

I liked the third shot the most.

People of NYC

Comments