Thorhammer and Iron Flatline go to Downtown Los Angeles

[Iron Flatline]

Hi All.

Thorhammer and I met up in downtown LA for a fun walk-around shoot.

The goal was to get some good candids, and to push ourselves to take some shots that we probably wouldn't get by ourselves.

We definitely succeeded. In part it becomes a self-fulfilling mission: when you have two large oafs walking around with camera gear, talking loudly and having a good time, people are less likely to perceive you as a possible health inspector, a journalist doing (yet another) story about illegal immigration, or some kind of stalker/molester.

We also enjoyed various foods that were great then, but are definitely haunting me today - a day later.

I will add pictures slowly, as it is Christmas weekend and I only have small chunks of time.

Please let me know what you think, and feel free to edit if you want to suggest a different approach.

First one:

 

[Iron Flatline]

Oh, and another. These are the hands of an older man carving some very ornate picture frames. I almost never to Black & White, but when I shot this I had B&W in mind. I'm terrible at doing the conversions in PS, but this one came out ok:

 

[Iron Flatline]

A quick jpg of Thorhammer in action, with clear duct-tape that he had to charm out of the skate-rental girl so that he could mount a lens hood from a different manufacturer.

Good on-the-spot thinking. We needed hoods: the light was unbelievably bright.

 

[fmw]

The shot of the carver's hands is really nice. Looks like you had some fun.

 

[Iron Flatline]

Fun was definitely had.

Here's another that we took in an alley that was surprisingly stinky and full of flies, not to mention one absolutely crazy street person who insisted on calling us his "earthquake people." He wanted us to inspect his foundations.

The light was just perfect. We hung out around for about 20 minutes and waited for the sun to make perfect shadows.

 

[Iron Flatline]

Another B&W conversion, though I actually prefer working in color.

 

[Tyson]

How do you go about taking pictures of people you meet on the street? I am new to artistic photography, do they just like ok you to shoot them?


I like the forth one I think it's priceless! Beautiful shot indeed.

 

[Iron Flatline]

There's no recipe for doing it. How you approach a subject depends on you, and how you think the world perceives you, coupled by how you expect someone to react.

Obviously if you're some super hot-looking bombshell the world is your oyster, and most people will gladly pose for you. My problem is that I'm unbelievably handsome, so I am forced to shoot only men - women tend to throw themselves at me, so I need to be careful.

Not.

Sometimes I just start shooting because I don't want the person to say no. Other times I ask, and lead off with a compliment - "Wow, I love your hat, I'd really like a picture." Thorhammer and I must have tried out 10 different variations yesterday, some of which worked, and some that didn't. For instance: almost no one in a downtown environment gives a rat's *** if you say you're a college student and are working on a project. We got nowhere with that line.

 

[Iron Flatline]

Ok, one more, then I must go lavish attention upon my rib-roast.

The news stand:

 

[Thor the Mighty]

wow very nice work! i live in glendale which is about 15 minutes north of los angeles. if you guys go on another shoot, let me know.

 

[Iron Flatline]

omg two Thors, not sure I could handle that

Sure, we'll let you know.

 

[midget patrol]

As much as you don't like working in black and white, I really like your black and whites.

 

[MrMatthieu]

"The old man with the hat" is great, nice expression on his face.
B&W well balanced.
The other one look like more "ordinary" ( sorry I am not sur of the translation) to me
Bye

Matthieu

 

[Iron Flatline]

Ok, another one, this one in the opposite of B&W - not that it easy to spot. This image was processed using FM's Velvia Vision to give it that psycho-active pop. It's hard to tell on this shot, but wait till I upload the next one...

 

[Don Simon]

Here's another that we took in an alley that was surprisingly stinky and full of flies, not to mention one absolutely crazy street person who insisted on calling us his "earthquake people." He wanted us to inspect his foundations..

His what now? :shock:

I really like your black and white shots too, a shame you don't like doing them.