Beginner CC on first Street attempt?

beercan

beercan

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Steve
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Hi all,

I'm looking for some CC on my first attempt at street photography please?
These were all taken between 7pm and 10pm in London. Hesitant to start with a big camera (and lacking a prime lens) I started by using by G7X Mkii.
I tried looking for interesting activities or people and found only a few areas I felt comfortable shooting (generally where it was very busy so I blended into the background).
I also found I have cropped many of these in PP quite a bit, as as the camera at its widest is 8.8mm so there's a learning.
Any feedback on how to improve my shots would be appreciated please?


Street 19-03-2019-5 by IscaSteve, on Flickr


Street 19-03-2019 by IscaSteve, on Flickr


Street 19-03-2019-6 by IscaSteve, on Flickr


Street 19-03-2019-8 by IscaSteve, on Flickr


Street 19-03-2019-7 by IscaSteve, on Flickr
 
What are you trying to achieve?

These images are (to me) mostly just photos of people on the street. -8 is starting to get somewhere and I think the best (-9) isn't shown here! :)

For Me, street photography is about storytelling and people. The crowd of onlookers in -8 is really interesting, as is the pose of the dancer. Something is happening here and I want to spend a minute or two looking at the photo to figure out what. -9 on Flickr is even better. The quality is poor as is the lighting, but the composition is not terrible and the horse "boxing the ears of" the couple strongly suggests a story to me. I want to get a bit closer to see expressions and body language better. This is the best of the whole set even though, quality wise, it's probably the worst.

It's not just about the photographer and the subject. It's about the viewer too. Think of your viewer while you're hanging around. What interesting things are developing? What story can you tell?

Having said all of that, you've done really well to get a couple of decent shots there. Great to see wide angle being used rather than a telephoto. Also great to see street photography that isn't a bunch of images of people on phones. Practise will improve you. Find a spot and sit in it for a while. Become part of the scenery. Let the stories come to you. Chasing them will result in fewer decent images and hip shooting isn't a good look (IMO).

Also: Research. Elliot Erwitt & Saul Leiter if you want to go old school. Matt Stuart & Nick Turpin if you want modern (and London). Street Photography Now is a super resource too. Can't recommend this enough.

Getting good at this sort of photography takes practise and time. But you've got a good start here. Keep at it.
 
Thanks Ian.
For the benefit of others I post nos 8 and 9 below.
I'm going to ponder the questions you have asked and come back with a considered answer once I know what I am trying to achieve! :)
I think my biggest problem was, as you suggest above, chasing for images rather than sitting still. Next time I will take the DSLR and sit on the steps for a bit.

8:

Street 19-03-2019-8 by IscaSteve, on Flickr
9:
Street 19-03-2019-9 by IscaSteve, on Flickr
 
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Harlequin565 said:
Great to see wide angle being used rather than a telephoto.
Click to expand...

Harlequin565 said:
Also: Research. Elliot Erwitt & Saul Leiter if you want to go old school
Click to expand...

:facepalm: You know Saul Leiter used a Telephoto, right ? Wideangle and Telephoto both have their uses depending on what you're trying to achieve.

@beercan Welcome to the frustrating world of street photography where 99% of the time nothing much of interest happens and where hours and hours of walking the streets perhaps generates one interesting photo a week.
You're doing absolutely the right thing though at this stage - just take loads of photos of random people on the street to build your confidence. After you've reached the point where you have no qualms with taking photos of strangers you should start to realise what you like, where to hang out and what your style might be.
 
I agree it can be very difficult not to just "take photos of people on the street". In my experience heading to very busy areas makes it much more difficult to get an interesting photo because it's too chaotic.

Something which I've tried to keep in mind whilst practicing my street photography is to try and only keep "important" people - usually only 1 person, in the frame to add impact. Also I like to not have the face of the subject clearly visible which can help with the confidence issue.

I look for areas where I can sillhouette the subject, or create interesting juxtapositions of light and dark, or movement and stillness. Sorry if it's bad ettiquette to link to my own website but you can see some examples of what I mean on my Street gallery: https://andyintothewild.co.uk/street-urban/ (I reported my own post - mods feel free to remove if not allowed).

Most of all shoot as much as you can and you will eventually get more comfortable and find out what type of images you like to create, and how to create them!

Good luck :)
 
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Andy Into The Wild said:
I agree it can be very difficult not to just "take photos of people on the street". In my experience heading to very busy areas makes it much more difficult to get an interesting photo because it's too chaotic.

Something which I've tried to keep in mind whilst practicing my street photography is to try and only keep "important" people - usually only 1 person, in the frame to add impact. Also I like to not have the face of the subject clearly visible which can help with the confidence issue.

I look for areas where I can sillhouette the subject, or create interesting juxtapositions of light and dark, or movement and stillness. Sorry if it's bad ettiquette to link to my own website but you can see some examples of what I mean on my Street gallery: https://andyintothewild.co.uk/street-urban/ (I reported my own post - mods feel free to remove if not allowed).

Most of all shoot as much as you can and you will eventually get more comfortable and find out what type of images you like to create, and how to create them!

Good luck :)
Click to expand...

Posting links to examples is to be encouraged. ;)
 
Ste_S said:
:facepalm: You know Saul Leiter used a Telephoto, right ?
Click to expand...

No I didn't - thanks for the heads up. I suspect most photographers will switch lenses around depending on what they want to do.

My point was more that I've seen a lot of beginning street photographers exclusively use a telephoto (almost always a 70-300 or 70-200 zoom) to hover round the edges of a scene (and people give what I'd consider bad advice that it's good to do this) or to be "sneaky". Same goes for hip shooting. Neither are wrong, but using either exclusively will force a style upon you. My comment was that it was refreshing to see someone not doing this. Again, not trying to say anything is "wrong". Probably should have been clearer in my post for those that didn't understand.
 
Harlequin565 said:
No I didn't - thanks for the heads up. I suspect most photographers will switch lenses around depending on what they want to do.

My point was more that I've seen a lot of beginning street photographers exclusively use a telephoto (almost always a 70-300 or 70-200 zoom) to hover round the edges of a scene (and people give what I'd consider bad advice that it's good to do this) or to be "sneaky". Same goes for hip shooting. Neither are wrong, but using either exclusively will force a style upon you. My comment was that it was refreshing to see someone not doing this. Again, not trying to say anything is "wrong". Probably should have been clearer in my post for those that didn't understand.
Click to expand...

Should be noted that Saul in his later years was using a Panny G1 with a zoom lens along with a few compacts with zooms. He was a bit of a gear head surprisingly.
If I'm using a modern camera I'll almost always use a zoom for daylight, seems weird to restrict yourself to one focal length and style of shot when you don't have too.

I don't think 'sneaky' is exclusive to lens choice, or shooting from the hip. It's normally in the vibe the person gives off where they're nervous and feel as though what they're doing is wrong. Just as easy to look dodgy using a wide angle lens up close as it is a telephoto if you're not confident.

One of the rites of passage everyone goes though until they build up their confidence from experience.
 
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Thanks for all the insight everyone.

I did do some shooting from the hip and it felt a little "sneaky" whilst I was doing it; as if i was trying to hide what I was doing.

Thinking about the original question from @Harlequin565 - "What are you trying to achieve?" - I think the answer is that I was looking for images of people connecting with each other. During the day when travelling around London, I noticed one theme repeated itself; and a colleague even mentioned it to me too - "Why does nobody [strangers] even look at each other, let alone talk"? I even wanted to snap a shot of this on the train but didn't have the opportunity - people sat opposite, engrossed in phones; many seemingly not even focusing on what they were doing; more like they wanted something "safe" to seem busy with.

So when I went out snapping, I was looking for direct human interaction. That's what drew me to no.9 and made me hang around the street performer. Sadly his show finished shortly after I arrived so I didn't get many images. I took some shots of people in Chinatown looking at menus outside restaurants. Unfortunately they didn't really impress as they were mainly photos of people's backs.
I also took a couple of shots of a young couple very much in love at Trafalgar Square but they came out a bit voyeuristic so I deleted them. I need to learn a better technique.

Can anyone comment on the contrast/brightness of the images? I know the quality isn't really good which I hope to improve with the DSLR. I'm looking for feedback about how they look with PP.

Thanks!
 
beercan said:
Thinking about the original question from @Harlequin565 - "What are you trying to achieve?" - I think the answer is that I was looking for images of people connecting with each other. During the day when travelling around London, I noticed one theme repeated itself; and a colleague even mentioned it to me too - "Why does nobody [strangers] even look at each other, let alone talk"? I even wanted to snap a shot of this on the train but didn't have the opportunity - people sat opposite, engrossed in phones; many seemingly not even focusing on what they were doing; more like they wanted something "safe" to seem busy with.
Click to expand...

Couple of reasons. UK weather is mostly crappy so people just walk to and from places - people don't hang out as much together on the street as perhaps they do in other countries.
Secondly, a lot of social interaction has now moved online. Jeff Mermelstein used to be a street photographer in the classic style, but now just takes photos of other peoples phone screens with his phone.

beercan said:
So when I went out snapping, I was looking for direct human interaction. That's what drew me to no.9 and made me hang around the street performer. Sadly his show finished shortly after I arrived so I didn't get many images. I took some shots of people in Chinatown looking at menus outside restaurants. Unfortunately they didn't really impress as they were mainly photos of people's backs.
I also took a couple of shots of a young couple very much in love at Trafalgar Square but they came out a bit voyeuristic so I deleted them. I need to learn a better technique.
Click to expand...

There just isn't that much human interaction on the street due to the reasons above. If that's what you want to go for you need to maximise your chances. Go out and shoot when the weather is warm and sunny and people want to linger outside. Go to parks and squares that are destinations in of themselves rather than thoroughfares which people are just walking through. Hang around places that are interesting.

beercan said:
Can anyone comment on the contrast/brightness of the images? I know the quality isn't really good which I hope to improve with the DSLR. I'm looking for feedback about how they look with PP.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't worry about quality or PP, nailing the content is the main thing. Some of the best street photography photos are out of focus/blurry, but work because they've captured that 'moment'.
One thing I will say is don't fall into the B&W trap to cover up a boring photo. By all means use B&W as a style choice, but if the photo doesn't work in colour also then it's not a good photo.
 
Everything's been said so I won't add critique. The best way I find to take a street photo is to include the surroundings. Take a look at Sean Tuck and Josh K Jacks work and you'll see what I mean. I never feel like a photo of just people tells a story unless it's a major subject like Don McCullins work in the wars with portraits etc.
 
A thought on the horses one, if you'd moved to your right, so the two people were framed by two horses on each side, each pair of horses seemingly trying to get away from the lovey couple. (Them embracing/kissing would seal it!)
 
Ste_S said:
I wouldn't worry about quality or PP, nailing the content is the main thing. Some of the best street photography photos are out of focus/blurry, but work because they've captured that 'moment'.
Click to expand...

This was pretty much my thought too.

Also, if you want interaction, go where people interact :)

Cafes & pubs can be good. Cross roads and intersections will more often than not find people stopping to figure out which way to go. Arrivals places could be good too. Hotel lobbies, train stations etc. A friend of mine does some great work at the local market catching interactions of people as they discuss wares.

"The street" as in a 'road with shops on it', isn't always the best place because people are often hurrying from one place to the next. Your two best images (IMO) were not taken on the typical "street"
 
@beercan - As someone who leads workshops on street photography I would recommend thinking about 3 things...
1. Light - look for light first an foremost - shadows, contrast, light falling onto or off of items or buildings in interesting ways, reflections etc
2. Colour/Pattern/Texture - Look for colours that provide contast to the environment, or that match the environment, or that create symmetry or broken symmetry etc
3. Character/Moments - Look for interesting people/characters, clothes, hair, character faces, gestures, interactions with others or the environment etc

If you can get one of the above you'll have a decent photo, two and you'll have a good photo and three and you'll have an awesome photo!

Once you have trained your eye to look for these items then you can start to get creative with your composition/framing - using sub-framing for example, or reflections, or playing with the sense of scale and so on.

For more exmples, my site is all street stuff - www.ashsmithphoto.co.uk in both colour and black and white.
 
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YoshiK1 said:
Take a look at Josh K Jacks work
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Im really keen on this style and has given me some inspiration for my next trip out.
 
Thanks to everyone for your very helpful replies and advice.
I'll be back in London again in a couple of weeks so would like to take my D7000 this time. I have the choice of my 18-55f /3.5-5.6 G AF-S DX VRii, or 18-105 f/3.5-5.6G ED DX VR.

Alternatively, what zoom lens (I like the versatility) would you recommend for street, particularly in evening/night light? I have seen the Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 EX DC HSM Macro for £190 but although it's f/2.8, as this is non-VR I assume it doesn't really offer me much over my 18-55 with VR...? Or maybe the Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4 DC OS HSM Macro at £180?

Or should I go for the Sigma 17-50mm f2.8 EX DC OS HSM, which is more money (c.£300) but seems like a better bit of kit.

Thanks!
 
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beercan said:
Alternatively, what zoom lens (I like the versatility) would you recommend for street, particularly in evening/night light?
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As much as I like zooms in the daylight, I'd probably always go with a fast prime at night. Just looking at some of my night photos in Lightroom i'm shooting at f1.8, ISO6400 and 1/100 to 1/200. Shooting at f2.8 with a zoom and your either dropping shutter speed and possibly getting motion blur, or bumping ISO to 12800+
If you haven't already got the Nikon 35mm f1.8 DX for your D7000, get that. It's cheap, sharp and fast.
 
Thanks. There's one in my lcs so I'll pop in tomorrow and try it out for focal length etc.
 
I'd agree a fast prime will do wonders both for low light performance, and for improving composition (you will have to work harder and therefore ultimately get better results). Sticking my 2p in, I'd say that you need more subject isolation, there is too much going on in the background, and whilst I understand the setting of a scene, the amount of movement in the background is a distraction. For something like number 10, IMO the right hand half of the image is unnecessary and doesn't add anything, and it reduces the size (impact) of the main character in the frame (to see what I mean, look at a couple of crops, one just to the left of the lamp-post, and one taking out the standing couple to the left of the lamp-post, see how much more impact your subject has). The same with number 11, the girl taking a selfie is a distraction, as is the girl walking in from the left. - this is all IMO of course.

I would get a fixed prime, take a handful of 'brave' pills and get in closer!
 
Ste_S said:
If you haven't already got the Nikon 35mm f1.8 DX for your D7000, get that.
Click to expand...

I took the plunge and after a quick test, have to say I've been pretty impressed.
Definitely adds to the effort level when you don't have the ease of a zoom, but I guess that's what legs are for! [emoji23]
Looking forward to putting it to the test next week.
 
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