Street shots of Korean women

kseoul · Sep 11, 2011

Candid street shots of Korean women in Seoul. Later plan to start taking posed photos as well. No models, just natural shots.

http://www.kseoulgirl.com/index.html

The_Traveler · Sep 11, 2011

If you are looking for comments, you will be more successful if you post one or two here using the instructions in the sticky in the beginner's forum.
People will not want to go off site to strange new sites with a new poster.

kseoul · Sep 12, 2011

Thanks for the advice!

FlyingScot · Sep 12, 2011

nice BUT the follow up should be ...............Hi there i am XXXXX an amateur photographer would you like to pose for me someday? (hands over a business card with your name emaill address and phone number) you will be amazed at the positive response

TOUS_O · Sep 12, 2011

I think you are just fishing some hits for your website. Speaking of candid shots, yours seemed like you took pictures of these girls without their consent and these pictures just don't have any artistic elements at all.

kseoul · Sep 12, 2011

I wont deny that I would like people to view my site. I also appreciate constructive criticism. Telling me that my photos have no artistic element is not really what I'm looking for though. Whats wrong with looking at a pretty girl? Every photo needs to be artistic? As for asking candid shots and asking for their permission, care to explain how that works exactly. I ask for their permission and then tell them to walk normally and pretend im not there? I dont mean to be rude but try to say something useful.

MTVision · Sep 12, 2011

IMO they look like snapshots. Some of them have focus issues and composition issues. Nothing wrong with taking pictures of pretty girls but....as a female I find it a little creepy that you ONLY seem to photograph young ladies. If you are trying to practice street photography then why not take pictures of the men as well? I am sure they have fashion sense!

You could ask the ladies permission AFTER you take the picture like FlyingScot said.

Good luck with your project though!

The_Traveler · Sep 12, 2011

kseoul said:
I wont deny that I would like people to view my site. I also appreciate constructive criticism. Telling me that my photos have no artistic element is not really what I'm looking for though. Whats wrong with looking at a pretty girl? Every photo needs to be artistic? As for asking candid shots and asking for their permission, care to explain how that works exactly. I ask for their permission and then tell them to walk normally and pretend im not there? I dont mean to be rude but try to say something useful.

No one can constructively critique an entire set.
Post some here for comment.

As to the matter of girl-watching, there have been big discussions about this subject around the net and an acquaintance of mine actually got ejected from Flickr for his huge hobby of candid snaps of pretty women. It is a consummate example of the objectification of women. There is nothing wrong in the absolute sense, but once you have some experience in getting the shot, what more is there? Constantly sneaking girlie shots comes across as a little creepy to many and, to be honest, to me also.

DiskoJoe · Sep 12, 2011

a lot of your shots are out of focus and rather plain.

edddial · Sep 12, 2011

Nice but photos are out of focus. Try to get different angle so you could capture nice background or so. I have this problem too at the beginning (still do every now and then), so i did a lot of 'try and error'. Looking forward for your 'posed photos'.

kseoul · Sep 12, 2011

Some good advice here, thanks. As for the out of focus photos, some I posted are in fact a bit slow on the shutter speed or slightly blurry. More often though, the problem is that the image is a pretty significant crop so it appears less focused that it is. In Seoul, good composition and getting one person in the frame is nearly impossible because there are just too many people.

I thought of taking photos of men as well. Problem with that is that I personally am not quite as interested in the subject and further, the more I try to do with my site the less effectively I can do it. If I change my site to street photos of people in Seoul, it becomes less unique and in my opinion not as interesting.

Some of my later photos I have taken are much sharper.

The_Traveler · Sep 13, 2011

I just read your website and saw that you see this as street photography.
In a purely definitional sense it as, just because it was done in the street, but actual street photography is much more than that.

The best definition I've seen.

"Street shooting is maybe the hardest niche of all in photography. The photographer stalks his chosen environment where, essentially, nothing is happening - people are quietly going about their business - and yet has to select tiny moments when an image can be snatched which is more than the sum of its parts - fractions of people are going about thier busines has to se often, where some fleeting coincidence of expression, gesture, positioning, and movement come together to create an instant which holds some undefinable meaning."

In this sense most of your shots don't fit in; they are just pictures taken in the street.

analog.universe · Sep 13, 2011

:er:

It's collections like these that cause be people to be creeped out by street photographers. This style is more like "sniping" than street shooting. Candids with a telephoto just have a weird feel to them...

subscuck · Sep 13, 2011

The only shot that really speaks to me in any sense is the lady in the rain with an umbrella. It embodies some of the definition Lew posted. All the rest look like pretty standard creeper shots.