Street Portraits - a meeting with a stranger

[bigtwinky]

I've been pushing myself as of late to do more street photography. Not just the candid ninja style photos, but the more in your face chat the person up style.

I was on a quick road trip last week with some friends in Detroit. We ended up meeting a random stranger, who ended up letting me take his photo. And then went home to change, and I took more photos!
haha

I wrote a little blog article on it, check it out if you want to see more.

Here are the two portraits...
Coming home from work, and the every day man

 

[Ilovemycam]

I like #1 best. it would look good HDR'd. Freak it out some. Overprocess it!!

Next time go home with him and shoot him inside. Meet on street...shoot at home. That was I did back in the day. I got some of my best shots that way. (Got lots more, but they wont go for nudes here.)

ArtSlant - Crazy

ArtSlant - Captain of Wall Street 90014

Nowadays, no one lets you in. they are too paranoid. But you can still try...I always ask.

I met this gal at the dump.

ArtSlant - Carla and Babydoll

She said she was too fat to let me go home with her for a shoot. I still got the shot. One way or another...I get the shot.

You never know what you will find inside...

ArtSlant - His Perfect Woman

[URL]http://www.artslant.com/ny/works/show/691523-hakenkreuz-in-a-dress-an-american-nazi-in-her-bedroom
[/URL]
**Meet on street...shoot at home.**

If you wont go or can't go inside, get a superwide and get up close. I shoot superwide 90% of the time. Even back in the day I used Super Angulons on the 4 x 5. And try some night shots. Love night shooting.

http://www.artslant.com/ny/works/show/721151-the-lost-princess

Here is the key...

“If you are out there shooting, things will happen for you. If you’re not out there, you’ll only hear about it”

Jay Maisel


Good luck!

 

[urahara]

Nice story on the blog. He seems to be an interesting character.
@ Ilovemycam: nice advices

 

[bigtwinky]

Thanks for the tips ilovemycam. I wont be overpricessing any image any time soon, just not my style. But like the idea of getting shots of them at home.

 

[Braineack]

Thanks for the tips ilovemycam. I wont be overpricessing any image any time soon, just not my style. But like the idea of getting shots of them at home.

your resistance is appreciated.

 

[bigtwinky]

Thanks for the tips ilovemycam. I wont be overpricessing any image any time soon, just not my style. But like the idea of getting shots of them at home.

your resistance is appreciated.

LOL... thanks. I get the want to go ultra wide, close in, make something funky... but the point of the street photos I do is more journalistic stuff. Maybe if I go back I might try more.

The other thing is my gear. I recently bought a Fuji X100S and was using just that in my trip... wanted to keep gear minimal for ease of travel (and my back thanks me for it). While limiting with no zoom, totally fun for your creative side as you need to push yourself to be close. No 200mm portraits for me!

 

[sashbar]

No. 1 is OK. Move the guy to the right to cover that face on the wall and juxtapose the man against blue spots on his left and right, cut off the black entrance on the left, two steps forward, close up on the guy, cut off the ground, leave the wall only in the frame as background and the photo would be stronger in my view.

 

[Ilovemycam]

Thanks for the tips ilovemycam. I wont be overpricessing any image any time soon, just not my style. But like the idea of getting shots of them at home.

Hi Pierre

No problem. It is all personal taste. You don't like freaked out HDR...don't do it. Do what you love.

I posted this thread the other day.

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...spring-break-ish-girls-gone-wild-pro-use.html

They shut it down within a day before I could even digest the replies and discuss it much.

I got replies that the original BW I posted was overprocessed. People making such comments need to remember, it is overprocessed for your taste and not mine.

One lady told me to trash my image as it was not worth saving. I looked at my photo long and hard and decided it was underprocessed. I turned her from BW into hyper real color. Now, instead of the trash can, she is going out to a number of museums and public institutions permanent collection in the US and Europe

Another person told me I was trying to make something out of nothing with my over processing.

Isn't that what photography is all about?

A successful photographer turns a snapshot into a photograph by using their skill that turns nothing into something.

Another person called the gal in my pix an attention whore. We are ALL attention whores.

We use what we perceive the best technique and treatment to draw attention to our image. If we fail...it is a snapshot and trash. We should never forget than when we desaturated a color image to BW it is no more extreme than freaking a photo out with HDR. Our prejudices just perceive them differently.

Another person told me the more I argue, the worse it makes my photo look. Should we roll over, die and let the critics do our photography for us? Crazy the things people say...isn't it.

If you are secure with your work...you can look at what people say, see if there is any truth to it and blow off the rest.

Amolitor said I was was a poor photographer. In his opinion, I may well be a bad photographer. You can't force taste and opinions. People always have strong opinions about photography. If a photo does not generate an opinion...it is a snapshot flop.

Here is the bottom line...

We are each entitled to our opinions.

But, whenever the subject turns opinions, I have to recall Clint Eastwood's line in his Dirty Harry movie:

"Opinions are like ass holes...everyone's got one."

So be true to yourself and don't let others do your photography for you. Never let others force you to do a damn thing you don't want to do!

 

[Ilovemycam]

When you shoot street, comp can be a problem with all the jumbled up backgrounds. Esp if you shoot big groups of people. You can sometimes break the comp rules if you got something special going on in the frame.

ArtSlant - March of the Zombies

Just avoid shooting people far away on the street that are doing nothing. I see a lot of these 'snapshot' photos being passed around as street photography.

 

[Ilovemycam]

If you meet a stranger on the street, you don't always have to go inside to shoot. Esp if you a woman and worried about your safety. You can still get the flavor of things outside sometimes...

ArtSlant - Christmas in Compton


Good luck and send in some more street pix when you get some time.

 

[amolitor]

ilovemycam, would it be possible, just once, for you to reply to a thread without trying to turn the thread into a discussion of you and your photographs?

I know that sometimes a thread will wander, but it's pretty clear that there's only one thing you want to discuss, and it's yourself. It's pretty tedious.

 

[Ilovemycam]

ilovemycam, would it be possible, just once, for you to reply to a thread without trying to turn the thread into a discussion of you and your photographs?

I know that sometimes a thread will wander, but it's pretty clear that there's only one thing you want to discuss, and it's yourself. It's pretty tedious.

Oh, I was wondering when you would need a dose of 'trying to build your self-esteem' by tearing down others. It won't work.

 

[pixmedic]

Ilovemycam, I think the general feeling that amolitor is trying to convey is that in every response you have made in this thread, you have either linked a thread you have started, or pictures you have taken. None of which are entirely relevant to the OP. showing work you have done is fine when it is relevant to critique you have given as far as showing techniques, or at the request of the OP. otherwise, it usually just tends to distract people from the OP's images and causes the discussion to stray from what the OP has posted. I also took the liberty of editing out the inflammatory comment in your second post as to avoid any problems later. your welcome.

as far as straying discussions go, hopefully this thread will get back to the OP's pictures without further delay.

 

[The_Traveler]

Agreed with pixmedic and amolitar.
This kind of attempted hijacking is just damn rude and just a bit short of posting your own images in the thread.

 

[The_Traveler]

Agreed with pixmedic and amolitar.
This kind of attempted hijacking is just damn rude and just a bit short of posting your own images in the thread.

As for the pictures.
Mannheim, I don't know your attitude towards editing these kinds of pictures soooooo

In the first, I would crop off that black doorway which is a black hole that attracts my eye.
In the second, I would darken the houses in the background and the jacket so they are attractors.

Lew