Oddities of Life

Street photography is all about the street…It might take hours and miles to hit the pavement and find that one photo that says, you did good. While you can do street photography in any town, I surely find a difference in the definition of ‘any town’. IE….Tucson AZ is not nearly as doable as Philadelphia PA.

So the other day in Philadelphia I walked for 4-5 hours and put in 10 miles. I did the same the next day too. All told I came out with one roll of film or 36+ images to review. Not a lot, but I don’t press the shutter just to press the shutter. Although I must admit the ‘sound’ of the shutter on my OM2 is ridiculously addicting. I think someone should make a ‘white noise’ sound of that shutter being pressed to get people to sleep. It is ‘that’ gratifying!

So….I ended up with 38 images and of those, I elected to scan 27 images so not a bad ‘hit rate.” Out of those 27 possibles, I feel I really enjoyed 4-5 images. So pretty good, for film or digital or anything. Given that I take my time and set up a shot or, I see a shot in the making, …..I plan ahead. I am constantly roaming with purpose and not just snapping with ease. I want impact….I want uniqueness. I want my style in my images.

I shot my OM2…..with Arista 400 EDU. If you read my blogs you will see that thru the years I manage to shoot many types of film as each type brings with it a flair, a purpose…. And Arista is no different although you still have to take the basic attributes of that film (you get to know this thru time and experience with each) and transfer your skill and your ‘want’ out of each image so it matches the style of the film.

Below is an example….. I like this image. It is crusty, …rough and ready….odd….unique, different and has flavor.

Here is another example of what I enjoy seeing….

The latter is a reflection…. I just happened to be in the right spot at the right time for the foreground to shine thru and overpower the background of the van.

Now….experiment on your own. Find your style…..it doesn’t make a difference as to what your style is, ….just find it. It might takes years and within those years and miles and rolls of film, your style will most likely evolve. There is no one right style….just yours. Enjoy it….and learn from it. Grow and adapt and change and experiment as life is all about that.

Access To....

Street Photography has more depth than the vast majority of street photographers assume. When I visit forums or watch You Tuber’s spout off, I am blown away by the lameness of shots. I call them “tourist shots”….”post card’ by nature representing buildings or snapshots of people with little depth, no meaning, a blank narrative….absent of a story.

You see, your images need those in order to take your images to the next level. Make a point to capture photographs that tell the viewers something, whether it is one photograph or a series of that compliment one central theme (as I prefer them). In either case, the photographer needs to hone a series of sub-skills in order to achieve.

Take this photo for instance….

Take Note… this is a pure candid shot….I didn’t ask this lady if I could take a shot…nor did I have her pose in any manner. I simply took the shot and the result is ‘one image’ that tells a story. What is she thinking? Look at her expression; she appears to be lost in a daze. and oblivious to her surroundings. A wandering mind.

What did I do to capture this? …..I gained access to her world. I became as common to her world as the litter at her feet. I became non-existent. How to do that? A few tips.

First….dress the part. This was an alley at dark….the evening when the young ones come out for their night of frolic. I didn’t stand out in clothes but became a part of them in my clothing.

Second….I was the scene. I was there first. I waited….I didn’t come to her but she came to me. I was there first. I sat and just waited for something to occur in that alley, knowing that eventually something would. I had no idea of what though. I waited…I had patience…I existed and I melded into this alleyway.

Third….When ‘she’…..came, I was there but not in an overt or blatant manner. Just because she sat next to me doesn’t mean that I grabbed my camera and shot. But I let ‘her or she’ become comfortable within her surroundings. I wanted her to be natural.

Fourth…when it came down to shooting, I was prepared. My settings were already in place for that alley shot with my exposure set. My focus was ‘zone’ and just needed an adjustment to show she was a few feet away as opposed to 10. Just a quick glance at my settings and I adjusted. No more needed.

At this point….I had established my ‘access’ ….I simply needed to get a quick pull up of the camera and press the shutter. She never knew, it was that quick.

journaling

I like project photography….as evident by a few blogs uploaded. To compliment that I want to addressing the concept of ‘journaling’… It is a simple process but one that adds to your overall result.

In life….we meander, don’t we? Today we do ‘this’, yesterday we did ‘that’….two weeks or a month or 6 months ago we did ‘this and that’…. It all adds up, but usually our ‘this’s and that’s ‘ run together and we forget what we did. Like a snake crawling in the grass, we meander, we eventually get someplace but in the process we fail to record in images alone; the big picture.

That is where journaling comes into play. I started to journal about my photography 8-9 years ago when I was leading a group of birders into the jungles of Ecuador to bird. I journaled where we were, what Tom saw, or how Pete tripped on a log etc . Since that adventure, and not so soon after, I began the journaling process for my street photography.

So what is in the box? I journal about the mechanics, the light….what I captured and where. I journal about my thoughts and what worked or what I needed to return to. I journal about my reflections too. For you see, since I enjoy social documentary and I couple it with photo-projects, my journals become one element to the finished product. I carry around a small notebook and make a point to record the day. When my images come to life, not only do they speak to the event recorded on the negative but the journal adds a new dimension to how that shot was taken and why.

I enjoy it….