Street photography composition and cropping.

gazmorton2000 said:
Threads about street photography always pique my interest, particularly when modern street photography is concerned. 200mm lenses and subject isolation rarely provide great images, IMO. If we study the greats pf street photography, and we don't have to go back very far to do this, they often used 35mm lenses or wider (sometimes 50mm perhaps) ...
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I took this photo with a DSLR , and a 50mm prime lens.
 
jonbeeza said:
Yes true, the lens of choice was 35mm or 50mm, and it worked. But today there is personal space, and a lot of people do not like it being invaded. When you see photographs from way back in the day, in some photos you can see lots of people looking at the camera with interest. When word got out there was a photographer in the street, people would come out in their hordes, trying to get in the photos, or just general interest.
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With all respect, Jon, that's both incorrect and probably an excuse used by most for not getting the images that they would love to create for a number of reasons, one of which could be fear of confrontation. However getting close doesn't have to mean being in the face of your subject. Look at the works of Elliott Erwitt for examples. If I recall correctly, it was him who said about capturing the moment before you are noticed because people immediately change their behaviour when they notice the camera.

Ultimately, it all depends on what iamges you want to create yourself and if youre happy with telephoto images on the street, then that's fine, however lamenting the reasons that they fail and not embracing the responses that have been proven correct from years of practical advice is somewhat silly. There lies one of my many problems with forums in general which is people arguing just for the sake of it. Not saying that that's the case here for you personally, but there are several threads you have strated recently about street photography, film photography and the crossover of both that are littered with excuses to not do the things that you may want to. I can recognise them as I am one of the most guilty for trying to find excuses for my photographic failures, however recently looking inward and realising that a high percentage of time, the problem is me has helped.
 
Perhaps we should seperate "street performance photography" from pictures taken to show people in the street. Aggressively sticking a 35mm lens in a stranger's face is the former. Quietly recording interesting people and events from a distance without disturbing them is the latter.
 
gazmorton2000 said:
With all respect, Jon, that's both incorrect and probably an excuse used by most for not getting the images that they would love to create for a number of reasons, one of which could be fear of confrontation. However getting close doesn't have to mean being in the face of your subject. Look at the works of Elliott Erwitt for examples. If I recall correctly, it was him who said about capturing the moment before you are noticed because people immediately change their behaviour when they notice the camera.

Ultimately, it all depends on what iamges you want to create yourself and if youre happy with telephoto images on the street, then that's fine, however lamenting the reasons that they fail and not embracing the responses that have been proven correct from years of practical advice is somewhat silly. There lies one of my many problems with forums in general which is people arguing just for the sake of it. Not saying that that's the case here for you personally, but there are several threads you have strated recently about street photography, film photography and the crossover of both that are littered with excuses to not do the things that you may want to. I can recognise them as I am one of the most guilty for trying to find excuses for my photographic failures, however recently looking inward and realising that a high percentage of time, the problem is me has helped.
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Probably a bit like blaming camera gear, not having the right lens for the job etc. I know all the cameras I have, are capable of capturing the decisive moment, just a case of knowing what is best for me to use, with my limitations. ;)
 
I wrote a little blog post about how I do my street photography, (not actually selling my Q2 just now)
https://danielcook.com/2020/02/06/street-photography-catch-up/

it's 28mm

Plan your composition in advance, wait for the subject to get into it.
Or fill the frame with your subject.

If you're going for something 'arty' I'd avoid getting common cars and common shops in photos.

Look for interesting people, interesting moments and the more dots you can connect in a scene the better it gets - light composition subject interaction mood

London Street by Daniel Cook, on Flickr

Q2 - Le Monde by Daniel Cook, on Flickr

Q2 - London by Daniel Cook, on Flickr

I used a hasselblad X1D II for these shots, which is not a fast camera - so it forces me to slow down and plan my shots

X1D II - XPAN by Daniel Cook, on Flickr

X1D II - XPAN London by Daniel Cook, on Flickr

XPAN - London by Daniel Cook, on Flickr
 
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dancook said:
I wrote a little blog post about how I do my street photography, (not actually selling my Q2 just now)
https://danielcook.com/2020/02/06/street-photography-catch-up/

it's 28mm

Plan your composition in advance, wait for the subject to get into it.
Or fill the frame with your subject.

If you're going for something 'arty' I'd avoid getting common cars and common shops in photos.

Look for interesting people, interesting moments and the more dots you can connect in a scene the better it gets - light composition subject interaction mood

London Street by Daniel Cook, on Flickr

Q2 - Le Monde by Daniel Cook, on Flickr

Q2 - London by Daniel Cook, on Flickr

I used a hasselblad X1D II for these shots, which is not a fast camera - so it forces me to slow down and plan my shots

X1D II - XPAN by Daniel Cook, on Flickr

X1D II - XPAN London by Daniel Cook, on Flickr

XPAN - London by Daniel Cook, on Flickr
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Reading your blog now. Thanks Dan (y)
 
The important part to remember is that there's no such thing as the right way to do street photography, there's just your way. If you capture a scene of humanity in a non-natural setting, you've got a street photograph. Everything else is ascetics. Focal length, subject isolation, colour, black and white, movement blur, people, no people, eye contact, no eye contact, staged, unstaged, none of those define a street photograph, they simply describe a particular street photograph ascetic.
 
jonbeeza said:
I don't tend to think about story telling, but more of what they looked like at the time. So I look back at photos in a few years time, it does make me happy.
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Given time your 'messy' photos of the streets will have asimilar effect. I went through my negatives from the late 70s and early 80s last year. Pictures which aren't very good have become interesting because of what they show rather than how they show things, and can record things which seem as though they'll be there forever - but aren't. This precinct was roofed over and modernised some years ago.

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I bet Lime Street has changed since this was taken. Cars certainly have.

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This subway was closed a couple of years after I took the photo.

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Try to forget the notion of 'street photography' and concentrate on taking pictures of things, places and people which interest you. Think more social documentary than art. Regardless of how 'great' the pictures are they will still have interest for you and others in years to come. But when you can combine the two you'll have something special.

It's tricky to find Tom Wood photos on-line but his work might be worth a look because some of them can look a bit 'messy'. https://paper-journal.com/tom-wood/
 
Ed Sutton said:
Given time your 'messy' photos of the streets will have asimilar effect. I went through my negatives from the late 70s and early 80s last year. Pictures which aren't very good have become interesting because of what they show rather than how they show things, and can record things which seem as though they'll be there forever - but aren't. This precinct was roofed over and modernised some years ago.

View attachment 268588

I bet Lime Street has changed since this was taken. Cars certainly have.

View attachment 268589

This subway was closed a couple of years after I took the photo.

View attachment 268590

Try to forget the notion of 'street photography' and concentrate on taking pictures of things, places and people which interest you. Think more social documentary than art. Regardless of how 'great' the pictures are they will still have interest for you and others in years to come. But when you can combine the two you'll have something special.

It's tricky to find Tom Wood photos on-line but his work might be worth a look because some of them can look a bit 'messy'. https://paper-journal.com/tom-wood/
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The thing with photography such as street photos for example, sometimes it seems a little contradicting. I am sure I have contradicted myself a few times, on various subjects on this forum. But that is true, sometimes a messy photo can have something interesting in them. Some of my very old photos, yes some are a messy jumble. But I do like looking at them, as it amazing how clothing fashion changes, even hairstyles. I have also caught a good few shop frontages, that have long since closed down.


Your Lime street station photo: I do remember the station looking like that, if you had not included the parked cars, I would not have remembered I used to park there, when picking or dropping someone off. I used to even park there, when nipping in quickly for something. Can't recall if it was pay to park, but traffic was nowhere near as bad as it is today. Your photos have managed to bring my memories back, cheers. (y)
 
dancook said:
I wrote a little blog post about how I do my street photography, (not actually selling my Q2 just now)
https://danielcook.com/2020/02/06/street-photography-catch-up/

it's 28mm

Plan your composition in advance, wait for the subject to get into it.
Or fill the frame with your subject.

If you're going for something 'arty' I'd avoid getting common cars and common shops in photos.

Look for interesting people, interesting moments and the more dots you can connect in a scene the better it gets - light composition subject interaction mood

London Street by Daniel Cook, on Flickr

Q2 - Le Monde by Daniel Cook, on Flickr

Q2 - London by Daniel Cook, on Flickr

I used a hasselblad X1D II for these shots, which is not a fast camera - so it forces me to slow down and plan my shots

X1D II - XPAN by Daniel Cook, on Flickr

X1D II - XPAN London by Daniel Cook, on Flickr

XPAN - London by Daniel Cook, on Flickr
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Just looking at your photos again, and I am still seeing things I failed to notice before, but you obviously managed to see the whole thing at once. The first photo for example, at first I only saw the man walking, at second look, I saw the two people looking at the walking man. I mean, how do you manage to spot that?
 
My personal view on street photography is not the same as others, for me aesthetics is just as important as content - I don't care so much for just documenting life as it is today, I want to add imagination and create wall worthy art.
 
jonbeeza said:
Just looking at your photos again, and I am still seeing things I failed to notice before, but you obviously managed to see the whole thing at once. The first photo for example, at first I only saw the man walking, at second look, I saw the two people looking at the walking man. I mean, how do you manage to spot that?
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I didn't, not at the time - I took the photo because he was on interest to me. I'm walking, he's walking - there is not time enough to take in the whole scene - just go with instincts.
 
dancook said:
I didn't, not at the time - I took the photo because he was on interest to me. I'm walking, he's walking - there is not time enough to take in the whole scene - just go with instincts.
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I thought you were going to say "I was waiting patiently, for all the components to come together". ;)
 
jonbeeza said:
Your photos have managed to bring my memories back, cheers. (y)
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For me this is one of the magical things about photography. :)

It seems to me that for amateur photographers it's better to create a record than to try to create art. For one thing we are all perfectly placed to document our living space and acquaintances. Things which are likely to go unrecorded. If some of the photographs we take also manage to be good pictures (which as people who are at least trying to be visually litterate should raise a majority of pictures above the level of snaps) then that's a bonus.

When it comes to creating memories with photographs content trumps form every time. Besides, as Duane Michals said, “Don’t try to be an artist. Find the thing within you that needs to be expressed. You might find it is art.”
 
Ed Sutton said:
For me this is one of the magical things about photography. :)

It seems to me that for amateur photographers it's better to create a record than to try to create art. For one thing we are all perfectly placed to document our living space and acquaintances. Things which are likely to go unrecorded. If some of the photographs we take also manage to be good pictures (which as people who are at least trying to be visually litterate should raise a majority of pictures above the level of snaps) then that's a bonus.

When it comes to creating memories with photographs content trumps form every time. Besides, as Duane Michals said, “Don’t try to be an artist. Find the thing within you that needs to be expressed. You might find it is art.”
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But, what is Art? I could take a snapshot of my messy bed, and I could call it art. No idea why anyone would pay a fortune, for a messy dirty bed. :eek:
 
jonbeeza said:
But, what is Art? I could take a snapshot of my messy bed, and I could call it art. No idea why anyone would pay a fortune, for a messy dirty bed. :eek:
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Damn. I mentioned the 'A' word. :exit: :LOL:
 
I think "Would you hang it on your wall?" is a good benchmark for "what is art?"

unless it's a room sized sculpture..
 
dancook said:
My personal view on street photography is not the same as others, for me aesthetics is just as important as content - I don't care so much for just documenting life as it is today, I want to add imagination and create wall worthy art.
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I don't think that's different from others, certainly, the best street photography says something and is pleasing to look at. My point earlier was that the only true requirement for a photograph to be street is for it (in my view) to contain a human element in a non-natural setting. As one example, the choice about 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, 110mm, 300mm focal lengths doesn't make it or stop it being street. They may result in an ascetic people don't personally enjoy, but it doesn't stop it being a street shot.
 
EightBitTony said:
I don't think that's different from others, certainly, the best street photography says something and is pleasing to look at. My point earlier was that the only true requirement for a photograph to be street is for it (in my view) to contain a human element in a non-natural setting. As one example, the choice about 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, 110mm, 300mm focal lengths doesn't make it or stop it being street. They may result in an ascetic people don't personally enjoy, but it doesn't stop it being a street shot.
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I agree with your point. I think what Was trying to say earlier is that the original point of the thread was that Jon wasn't pleased with his street photographs and put it down to the equipment which, in my opinion, is the last place to look. If you are producing images that aren't pleasing to you, looking inward should be the first point of call. I am the worst for being self critical which is why very few of my images ever make it public any more. I would love to share, but I just don't think they are very good.
 
gazmorton2000 said:
I am the worst for being self critical which is why very few of my images ever make it public any more. I would love to share, but I just don't think they are very good.
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Overly harsh self critique is, like perfectionism, deadly and destructive. Think about sharing anyway and allow others to make up their own minds.

Said in a spirit of care and understanding.
 
gazmorton2000 said:
I agree with your point. I think what Was trying to say earlier is that the original point of the thread was that Jon wasn't pleased with his street photographs and put it down to the equipment which, in my opinion, is the last place to look.
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Yep, I agree with that.

I think there's a line of thinking as well though, that if you don't enjoy using a piece of equipment or if it gets in the way of enjoying the photography it might not be the right choice. I have an EOS M6 with the add on viewfinder, and for some reason, I feel self conscious using it. I can't say why. I hated pointing it people to take shots. But my DSLR, or my EOS M50 with the build in viewfinder, no problem at all!
 
this is an excellent set (y)(y)(y)


dancook said:
I wrote a little blog post about how I do my street photography, (not actually selling my Q2 just now)
https://danielcook.com/2020/02/06/street-photography-catch-up/

it's 28mm

Plan your composition in advance, wait for the subject to get into it.
Or fill the frame with your subject.

If you're going for something 'arty' I'd avoid getting common cars and common shops in photos.

Look for interesting people, interesting moments and the more dots you can connect in a scene the better it gets - light composition subject interaction mood

London Street by Daniel Cook, on Flickr

Q2 - Le Monde by Daniel Cook, on Flickr

Q2 - London by Daniel Cook, on Flickr

I used a hasselblad X1D II for these shots, which is not a fast camera - so it forces me to slow down and plan my shots

X1D II - XPAN by Daniel Cook, on Flickr

X1D II - XPAN London by Daniel Cook, on Flickr

XPAN - London by Daniel Cook, on Flickr
Click to expand...
 
dancook said:
I wrote a little blog post about how I do my street photography, (not actually selling my Q2 just now)
https://danielcook.com/2020/02/06/street-photography-catch-up/

it's 28mm

Plan your composition in advance, wait for the subject to get into it.
Or fill the frame with your subject.

If you're going for something 'arty' I'd avoid getting common cars and common shops in photos.

Look for interesting people, interesting moments and the more dots you can connect in a scene the better it gets - light composition subject interaction m

I used a hasselblad X1D II for these shots, which is not a fast camera - so it forces me to slow down and plan my shots

X1D II - XPAN by Daniel Cook, on Flickr

X1D II - XPAN London by Daniel Cook, on Flickr
XPAN - London by Daniel Cook, on Flickr
Click to expand...





Ed Sutton said:
photos of the streets will have a similar effect. I went through my negatives from the late 70s and early 80s last year. Pictures which aren't very good have become interesting because of what they show rather than how they show things, and can record things which seem as though they'll be there forever - but aren't...



I bet Lime Street has changed since this was taken. Cars certainly have.



This subway was closed a couple of years after I took the photo.

Try to forget the notion of 'street photography' and concentrate on taking pictures of things, places and people which interest you. Think more social documentary than art. Regardless of how 'great' the pictures are they will still have interest for you and others in years to come. But when you can combine the two you'll have something special.

It's tricky to find Tom Wood photos on-line but his work might be worth a look because some of them can look a bit 'messy'. https://paper-journal.com/tom-wood/
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Two styles of street photography, are there more? :thinking:

I do like the arty style, capturing a moment within a street. But I also like capturing the whole street, documentation style / type. As I do like to look back on things, just how things used to be. Capture it today, tomorrow it will be history, sort of thing. Deciding what I would like to capture, can you do both side by side, or will it get messy and confusing, not knowing what I am trying to say with an image?


As a photo capturing the whole street documentation style, has no story. People on here always say, "what is the story, what are you trying to say with the photo?". Sometimes when we take the photo, we might not be trying to say anything, other than capturing the street how it was on the day.
 
jonbeeza said:
Two styles of street photography, are there more? :thinking:

I do like the arty style, capturing a moment within a street. But I also like capturing the whole street, documentation style / type. As I do like to look back on things, just how things used to be. Capture it today, tomorrow it will be history, sort of thing. Deciding what I would like to capture, can you do both side by side, or will it get messy and confusing, not knowing what I am trying to say with an image?

As a photo capturing the whole street documentation style, has no story. People on here always say, "what is the story, what are you trying to say with the photo?". Sometimes when we take the photo, we might not be trying to say anything, other than capturing the street how it was on the day.
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Do whatever you like. No reason why 'street' (or any other genre) has to be restrictive. Take arty shots, documentary shots, candid or posed shots. It's all PHOTOGRAPHY. (y)
 
Photography is how you see and what you see. Its completely depends on your observation power. If you cannot see well, you will not be able to photograph. Look carefully and explore forms, shapes, lines, color and light of the planet around you. What quite people are around? What’s the vibe of the place? Are people rushed and busy and or are they relaxed and idle. Observation goes beyond the visual. Be mindful of your emotions. If something is triggering strong feelings within you, it'd also be a topic for strong photograph.
 
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