A Walk through Times Square

[Iron Flatline]

Actually, slightly over-cast is better

 

[The Phototron]

Actually, slightly over-cast is better

Wait you prefocus or manual focus? And if the latter, that quick!?

 

[usayit]

Wait you prefocus or manual focus? And if the latter, that quick!?

It is relatively quick with a rangefinder.... It is one of the advantages of a rangefinder. Other than directly focusing on a subject, you can also pre-set the lens and wait for subjects to step into focus. There is also hyper-focal.

Many DSLRs don't have the quality viewfinder necessary to completely satisfied with manual focusing. So I generally don't even try... then again.. I don't carry my SLR on the street.

All of Iron's pointers up top are what you naturally end up doing on a street with a manual rangefinder... sounds a bit awkward but it quickly becomes natural.... For me, 28mm and 35mm become favorite focal lenghts. Rangefinder lenses can be small enough to carry a 28-35-50 lenses in your pocket and leave the camera bag at home.


Oh yeh.. NYC is probably one of the best places to learn and practice. Everyone is used to seeing cameras, such a diversity, and the city is huge.

 

[pm63]

I love them, I love all of them actually. Black and white candid images that capture the hustle and bustle of NY. Love the one where the guy is pushing through, as well as the so called "confrontational" one with the black guy. Some of these capture moments are wonderful.

So you just literally walk through with your camera up, and take snaps?

 

[Iron Flatline]

Yup, keep it stuck to my eye... looks ridiculous, no question about it. But a Rangefinder is smaller (and lighter!) than an SLR. You can even try for a series of people whom you're having "eye-contact" with.

Phototron, I pre-focus, but I keep my hand on the lens, so I can adjust focus slightly.

 

[bhop]

These are all very cool. I like "on the way home" and "schools out" the best. Great stuff going on.

I love this kind of photography and try to do it myself here in L.A. I've thought of buying a rangefinder, but the price is too much for me.. I just use my Pentax K1000. It's way smaller than my d70 and I find that manual focus actually makes this stuff more fun, and it's easier to do when there are big crowds. You just look like another tourist, which is probably the excuse i'd use if I was ever confronted.. hah (even though i'm not a tourist here)

 

[nerdyD]

The first one is my favorite. It looks like it was taken in the 60s or 70s to me for some reason. All of them are fantastic though. The blur is a good thing!

 

[Iron Flatline]

Hey, thanks for the comments.

I actually reworked them all, and added a number of shots. They can be seen at my LFI Gallery. Just click on my name and it will be one of the two galleries.

You can also see them on my blog (link below) ...although I'm only publishing one a day there, and I still have a week to go before they've been fully released.

 

[abraxas]

Very impressive series.

A year or so ago I attended a presentation from an NG photographer where he used an SLR prefocused to shoot while walking through crowds. I like your 'obvious' method and its results much better.

 

[jols]

Great series, really get the "jostle walk" feel.

#3 - love the expressions you caught.

Makes me want to go to NY and get a Leica.

quite the opposite here.

looks like hell on earth.

all those people i prefer the quiet life and countryside.

 

[Jeff Canes]

Wow, I like them all, but Hip-hop is my favorite, to me it has some magenta tone to it (maybe it is just me or my monitor):thumbup::thumbup:

 

[photo_guy]

Thanks for sharing the pictures, it really shows a different side to Times Square. What time of day was it? I can't believe all the people.

 

[Puscas]

wow, great series. Looks like they were taken a few decades ago (which is a good thing). Love what you did to the pics. Thanks for sharing!

:thumbup::thumbup:


pascal

 

[Iron Flatline]

Hey, thanks for taking a look.

The Hip-Hop one is actually the one I liked the least in terms of processing. That shot is the reason I reworked them all (which can be seen at my photoblog.) There's also several more images than I posted here...

Here's the reworked shot. Basically I did a B&W Conversion, and then added a slight sepia tint... but then did a bunch of Dodging which did a weird color thing to the sepia.

Here's the same image after some more sophisticated conversion:

 

[ScottS]

I like that one a lot! Sweet PP skills on your part!