Critique First go at Street Photography

LewisHall

LewisHall

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Lewis
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Had a trip to Southend Seafront today and thought i would try something different and have a go at Street photography, but feel as though im going wrong somewhere. I find all of them look better in B&W and would appreciate any feedback and comments thanks guys

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LewisHall said:
...........................thought i would try something different and have a go at Street photography, but feel as though im going wrong somewhere. I find all of them look better in B&W and would appreciate any feedback and comments thanks guys ....................................
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Nothing wrong with B&W - some folk believe it is the highest form of photography.

Re your feeling - are you clear why you are wanting to have a go/what you get out of it. Eg

  • - What would you say if some of the people challenged you for taking (?sneaky) pictures of them (which is how they might see it:))?

  • - Did you think of asking anybody if you could take their picture. If not why not?

  • -And what would you have said if someone had asked you to take their picture?

If you are clear on what you are trying to do/get out of it then you are in a better position to judge if you have achieved it or not, rather than having a feeling about it.

(Yes I know ....... standard management text book stuff but there is something in it:))
 
Elines said:
Nothing wrong with B&W - some folk believe it is the highest form of photography.

Re your feeling - are you clear why you are wanting to have a go/what you get out of it. Eg

  • - What would you say if some of the people challenged you for taking (?sneaky) pictures of them (which is how they might see it:))?

  • - Did you think of asking anybody if you could take their picture. If not why not?

  • -And what would you have said if someone had asked you to take their picture?

If you are clear on what you are trying to do/get out of it then you are in a better position to judge if you have achieved it or not, rather than having a feeling about it.

(Yes I know ....... standard management text book stuff but there is something in it:))
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Thanks for the reply Elines

If someone did ask then I really don't know what I would say tbh I think I would just make up some rubbish and say it's for a photography course I'm doing and the subject is street photography lol

The only person I asked was the man walking up the steps as i saw him keep walking up and down and got chatting to him and he was saying how he goes there everyday and walks up and down the stairs 30 times!!

If someone asked me to take their picture I would happily take it as it saves me the efforts of being abit sneaky I guess haha

Tbh I'm still new at photography so it's just a hobby,but lately I've been out more and more and just think the street photography is great as it shows peoples emotions/feelings and the picture says it all.
 
Pics are just fine. No law against taking street photography shots. Better to get people unawares/in the moment anyway.
 
BIGEYE said:
Pics are just fine. No law against taking street photography shots. Better to get people unawares/in the moment anyway.
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Thanks, gives it a little bit of an edge to it to because you don't particularly want them to see you taking the photo so you have to be abit sneaky lol
 
Some good shots. I think you've captured some every day folks!
The guy who goes up and down those steps thirty time a day needs to have his picture taken, how many of us lot out there could or would do that?
After about ten i'd be seeing our good old lord!!! Take my photographic hat off to him!!!
Well done for a first time attempt...
 
In my (worthless) opinion the problem with them - the missing X-factor you can't put your finger on - is the subjects. They're not terribly interesting. The photographs look nice, but nothing about them stirs any deeper interest for me. There's no sense of "what's going on here?" or "I want to know more about these people..."; this is the stuff that makes great street photography great. These photographs are all just pictures of everyday people doing everyday things in an everyday manner. I don't find myself caring about or interested in any of the people you've shot here. With the possible exception of the stairway man, that is, although you had to add the context.

I think a lot of amateur street photography (mine included) falls into this trap.

Just my two cents.
 
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Sorry don't agree
ghoti said:
In my (worthless) opinion the problem with them - the missing X-factor you can't put your finger on - is the subjects. They're not terribly interesting. The photographs look nice, but nothing about them stirs any deeper interest for me. There's no sense of "what's going on here?" or "I want to know more about these people..."; this is the stuff that makes great street photography great. These photographs are all just pictures of everyday people doing everyday things in an everyday manner. I don't find myself caring about or interested in any of the people you've shot here. With the possible exception of the stairway man, that is, although you had to add the context.

I think a lot of amateur street photography (mine included) falls into this trap.

Just my two cents.
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Sorry I don't agree with you? The blind guy on the beech reading the paper! Now that's worth a story or two! :)
 
Also it is a worthless opinion you have.
I hate xfactor, nothing but mindless idiots driven by fame and corrupted money ....
First time photography is a life time of learning, not one minute here in the spot light then gone in a tuneless song!!
 
Dinozorr said:
Also it is a worthless opinion you have.
I hate xfactor, nothing but mindless idiots driven by fame and corrupted money ....
First time photography is a life time of learning, not one minute here in the spot light then gone in a tuneless song!!
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I'm sorry, you've lost me.
 
I'm still getting there myself but I remember that when I started taking street shots I was feeling pretty nervous about it - because I wasn't quite sure what I was trying to do. Consequently I snatched shots and didn't give any real thought to composition.

I even tried taking pictures with the camera held low down, in one hand, with a finger on the shutter release and generally aiming the camera at people. But it didn't feel right. (and haven't got a clue what I would have said if some big burly guy - or woman- had noticed and challenged me.)

I then started asking strangers if I could take their picture.

This all helped me get my head clear on what I was trying to achieve with candid shots (which in my case was trying to take interesting pictures that happened to have people in them).

For me, this type of objective gets over the issue of 'why re you taking a picture of ME?'

Answer - I'm not- you just happen to be a person in the picture and I can delete it if you want.

(I don't think the legal right to take pictures in the street is much help if confronted by an angry person.)

Anyway - it works for me and may not for you. But I still think you need to be clear what it is YOU are doing and why.
 
Tbh I'm pretty much the same I just love street photography and want to take interesting pictures of picture which stand out to me.

I like the answer to taking a picture of them too ;) lol
 
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