Wide Angle Street Portrait

fjrabon · Apr 21, 2015

Semi-candid. I gave him a dollar to play Sweet Melissa (what he named his guitar) and took a photo. I was about 2 feet away, with a DSLR and wide angle lens, so no chance at pure stealth candid style street, but he wasn't particularly posing either.

DSC_7063 by franklinrabon, on Flickr

funwitha7d · Apr 21, 2015

with that very cool guitar and curved iron fence in the background this is a great shot IMO, candid or not

weepete · Apr 21, 2015

Yup, great capture. Everything there adds to the shot.

fjrabon · Apr 22, 2015

funwitha7d said:
with that very cool guitar and curved iron fence in the background this is a great shot IMO, candid or not

Thanks! I was fairly pleased with the shape of the fence rails echoing the shape of the body of the guitar and the way the wide angle enhanced the perspective and created a curved leading line with the fence.

weepete said:
Yup, great capture. Everything there adds to the shot.

Thanks! That's quite a compliment given the FOV. The challenge for me shooting wide angle street is that you have to be obsessive about your composition and background, because SO MUCH is in the frame. I didn't love the car, and I wish his bag was a better match character wise for his guitar, but, they were in the scene and I couldn't have gotten them out without radically changing the composition.

Gary A. · Apr 22, 2015

Nicely done. I'm not a believer in stealth for Street. Not being stealthy (sneaky) adds to the challenge and makes the game more interesting. In the last year I've acquired my first fisheye which I am now using for Street. Again, nicely done.

fjrabon · Apr 22, 2015

Gary A. said:
Nicely done. I'm not a believer in stealth for Street. Not being stealthy (sneaky) adds to the challenge and makes the game more interesting. In the last year I've acquired my first fisheye which I am now using for Street. Again, nicely done.

I alternate depending on what's going on and my mood. Sometimes I try to be stealthy (hip shot) sometimes I just try to blend in, but shoot with the camera at my eye, sometimes I engage with the people. Shooting any one way gets stale for me personally.