C&C my street shooting please

[keyseddie]

There was no parking anywhere near the Philly art museum, so I parked near Logan square and did street stuff, which I never did. Shooting fast and composing quickly proved difficult. Here are 2 homeless guys. What else? When I go to Key West I talk to them as some are veterans and some pretend to be. This first guy has a sign "gigolo" so ladies, I guess you can wake him for that. He's in the shadow below city hall, with William Penn watching over. A lot of dark in both images. Goes with the territory. I hope you can see ok on your monitor. Tell me what you think.

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[keyseddie]

Next guy more dark. But he looks like a physically beautiful person. I hope his face radiates for you. This was the only vacant piece of bench in the park area.

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[Light Guru]

A lot of dark in both images. Goes with the territory.

Nope it doesn't go with the territory. They are just simply under exposed.

 

[Warhorse]

You should get out more, and shoot more "street", you have some major talent there.

Okay, now that I gave you a trophy for "participating", what's up here, and where are you heading with this?

 

[Derrel]

What do I think? I think these both look simply awful. Underexposed, fuzzy,low-rez, and boring. is this some kind of a test or something? Wanting to know who will suck up to you, and who will tell you these are awful?

 

[sashbar]

Street photography is a VERY difficult genre, keyseddie. You can not (yes, by the way, Derrel is right, these are pretty shi**ty images),.. where I was... yes, you can not just think "OK, now I gonna try street", go out and then think, "Well, what do we shoot now?"


If you want to shoot street you must have a reason, I mean there should be something that you have seen many times and wanted to keep it as a picture, as a frozen moment. Just think about it - what draws you to the street photography, what do you like. The funny juxtapositions, human emotions, the chaos of the colors, the unorthodox composition, the urban lines, the shades and reflections on city concrete and glass?
I am convinced that to be a good street shooter you need to love a big city. I am not a really good street photographer, but I am drawn to it because I am a city animal. I do not care about sunsets, birds, flowers , roads that stretch to the horizon and trees. I am fascinated by the people and their interactions with the environment that they have created.

Alex Webb ( who is a Semi-God of street shooting, and I am, like many, in total awe about the guy) says the street shooting is about discovery, and he is so right. By shooting street you discover things, but first you need to discover what is it that you want to discover. Then you will look for it.

Portraiture photographers are farmers, they cultivate their land and have an almost guaranteed harvest. Street shooters are hunters. And the wood defeats them all the time. Alex Webb admits it himself. "Street defeats me again and again", he says. So it is not easy. Street photography does not give you an opportunity to be a weak photographer. If you are doing portraits, and you are not good, with some preparation and copying other's technique you can still produce a decent photo. If you shot street and your vision is not good enough, you produce sh*t. I know, I have produced loads of it. But, like the portraiture skills, the street vision can be developed and improved, if you work on it. Luck is another huge factor in street photography, but luck is proportionate to the time spent on the street.

As for discovery, Alex Webb is so right about it. Just a couple of days ago I was shooting in Kingston-on-Thames for 2 hours and had nothing. Zero. On my way back to my car, in the middle of an empty square, all of a sudden, I saw that little blond girl in an Arab scarf and had no time at all to adjust, just grabbed my camera, snapped it, and it was gone. So the picture is poor, nothing special, but that was a moment of a little discovery that has captured an emotion and a story which no portraiture can achieve. I wanted to ditch this image with the rest, but something tells me to keep it.

You can buy "The Street Photographer's Manual" by David Gibson. It was published recently. He is pretty average himself as a photographer in my estimate, and I do not like some of his categorisations and rules, he also simplifies the genre to an extreme. But he is a very experienced enthusiast and a pro, and all in all he gives a beginner some great clues about how to start and what to look for and how to find theyr niche. If you have never done it before, the book is quite useful, with some top class, good and rather pedestrian photographs from variuos masters and the author. So good luck. Yes, and here is the girl

 

[Chrispyphotos]

Definitely just flat out under exposed. Perhaps a little too much in both pictures that doesn't really add to the picture so I personally would have gone in tighter.

 

[keyseddie]

What do I think? I think these both look simply awful. Underexposed, fuzzy,low-rez, and boring. is this some kind of a test or something? Wanting to know who will suck up to you, and who will tell you these are awful?

I respect your opinion and that of light guru. No test. I thought these images were good and I'm gonna go back in after my spanking and see what else I have and post some more.

 

[keyseddie]

Thanks, all, I'll be back. Looking at them in a new day, a new way and your comments is working my puzzler.

 

[The_Traveler]

I thought these images were good and I'm gonna go back in after my spanking and see what else I have and post some more.

It might be useful to dissect for yourself and understand why you thought they were good. Much of the impact of photography - and particularly street photography - is due to the shared concepts and ideas of the photographer and the viewer. The photographer sees something and captures it to present, hoping that the understanding of the interest he/she sees is shared by some part of the viewers. If too much is solely in the mind of the photographer and not in the frame, the picture fails.

"This first guy has a sign "gigolo" so ladies, I guess you can wake him for that. He's in the shadow below city hall, with William Penn watching over. A lot of dark in both images. Goes with the territory."

I can't see the sign, in fact the figure is dark and murky so I can't see it at all. And William Penn is looking over him? That concept is discordant with what you want to show us in the frame.
Way too much of that scene, and the next picture, is in your head and not in the frame.

Know what you are capturing and make certain the viewer knows it also.
In regards to pictures of signs and down at luck people; that is hackneyed.
The funny signs are made to elicit pity and money especially in contrast with the state of the person holding it. Someone has created that scene, it is approximately the same in originality as shooting graffiti.

I don't have many/any limits to what I will do to make a point.
You need to decide where you stand in creating your statements.

 

[keyseddie]

Thanks Traveler. I trashed the gigalo and re processed the other.

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[The_Traveler]

Since I think, and hope, you want the truth, I'll say what I think.
I have no idea what you find interesting and want to show me here.
The CVS bags pop out, but shouldn't.
Maybe he is homeless and sleeps days on the bench?
But that isn't either unusual or particularly interesting.

That's the center of street shooting for me.
I don't care about moody chit with heavily shadowed faces and emo running off the corners - if there is no idea or emotion or meaning in the content.
If it's just processing than it's like HDRing everything.
If the picture doesn't say something or show me something or make me feel something, it doesn't make it for me.

 

[keyseddie]

I have thick skin, traveler, and don't mind at all your critique. I stopped by Philly's Chinatown, had dinner and chose these two to try and illustrate the vibrancy of the culture of this area. Thanks for any comments.

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[ristretto]

I like the second one, of the second pair.

 

[gsgary]

Take a look at Alexy Titerenko's he is amazing as well as Alex Webb, and one of the first street photographers William Klein, Garry Winnogrand, Bruce Gilden