Today- Brighton Street Photography

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lukewoodford

FYI, I am Luke Woodford.....by Luke Woodford
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Luke Woodford
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Cayley and her friend decided to go to Brighton today in this grotty weather so I decided to jump in the car with them for some Street Photography. My second proper go. I love it, its a real buzz. Im getting more confident aswell and I love the fact that you never know what your going to get. I cant wait for the London Challenge!!

C&C very appreciated

1 Crossing Paths
BrightonStreet001.jpg



2 Reflection
BrightonStreet002.jpg



3 Gaze
BrightonStreet003.jpg



4
BrightonStreet006.jpg



5 Oi! Im trying to clean my shop!
BrightonStreet009.jpg



6 Deep Thought In the Rain....
BrightonStreet010.jpg



7 Singing In The Rain
BrightonStreet022.jpg



8 Contrast- Sun And Rain
BrightonStreet029.jpg



9 Yummy
BrightonStreet033.jpg



10 I Told you to save some for me!
BrightonStreet034.jpg
 
Some great stuff there. Street is my favorite type of togging. Excellent.
 
The masterful art of Street Photography as demonstrated by Luke on his D700... great set there Luke. I like this lot a lot!
 
theMusicMan said:
The masterful art of Street Photography as demonstrated by Luke on his D700... great set there Luke. I like this lot a lot!
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Thanks for the comments so far. I have to say I did miss a few good opportunities to not being quick enough or hesitation. I do love #5 though.
 
#8 for me Luke if I had to choose.

Great set though, and though I love my E-3, I do envy you that D700 :)
 
theMusicMan said:
#8 for me Luke if I had to choose.

Great set though, and though I love my E-3, I do envy you that D700 :)
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To be honest with these it wasn't the D700, its all my skill. Only messing, its the Sigma 50mm 1.4. I love this lens, its so sharp wide open :D.
 
I love them all. I really want to get out there and do the same when i gat a chance! As you say you never know what you're going to get which i think is better than knowing.

Did you get anyone upset at you taking their photo?
 
AndyWest said:
I love them all. I really want to get out there and do the same when i gat a chance! As you say you never know what you're going to get which i think is better than knowing.

Did you get anyone upset at you taking their photo?
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I think the only person that might have minded was the guy in #5 but when I took the picture I smiled and put my thumb up at him and he looked fine. The guy with his arms crossed was done when I was eating in live view so he didn't see.
 
Nice set Luke, some good actions, reactions and storys going on (y)
 
Nice set Luke, some of the PP is a little dark for my taste, but #5 stands out for me, probably because it's the most daring, well done.
 
Excellent photos and great processing.
#5 is my fave.

Did the couple in the restaurant notice you or were you hiding somewhere?
 
78seconds said:
Excellent photos and great processing.
#5 is my fave.

Did the couple in the restaurant notice you or were you hiding somewhere?
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No they didn't I was down a small alley leaning against the wall. I put the camera in live view and aimed. I was trying to make it look like I was just checking my pictures on screen. They didn't look at me once which was suprising. If the window had been facing a normal path with an open view I think it would have been alot more obvious.
 
Can someone please explain what so great about this set? I just can't see it. Number two has photographic merit, iI like the composition, but the rest are simple snaps with, to me at least, no reason for anyone to look at them.

I'm sorry, but people eating their lunch/walking down the street/standing in the rain are dull subjects. Unless there is a compelling reason to challenge that, any shot of people dong these things is going to be dull. I see nothing to challenge this ergo these shots are dull.
 
NorthernNikon said:
Can someone please explain what so great about this set? I just can't see it. Number two has photographic merit, iI like the composition, but the rest are simple snaps with, to me at least, no reason for anyone to look at them.

I'm sorry, but people eating their lunch/walking down the street/standing in the rain are dull subjects. Unless there is a compelling reason to challenge that, any shot of people dong these things is going to be dull. I see nothing to challenge this ergo these shots are dull.
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Ill happily give you my imput. Its each to their own. I find nothing interesting about taking pictures of cars going round a race track but some people do. Street Photography is HARD. It is very nerve racking trying to catch people in their everyday lives. Also ones like the girls standing in deep thought in the rain is good. I hope someone else can try and explain aswell. If its not your thing then cool, as I said each to their own :)
 
Street photography is exactly my thing (though I'm not claiming to be any good at it yet) but I would agree with NN on the whole here.

#5 held some interest for me as a portrait, and I do quite like the processing on it.

#8 while not great, has the repeated shapes in the whirly thing, bike wheels and umbrella. As well as the obvious contrasts (in the title).

#13 is an interesting moment, and I like the figure in the background being 'split' by the post. Again he holds some parallels to the couple under the umbrella, with the upright and shelter.

The rest I personally would classify similarly to NN. Good to see more people are getting out and giving 'street' a good go though. And I wish it'd rain a bit more on the streets of Melbourne. :D
 
Jayst84 said:
Street photography is exactly my thing (though I'm not claiming to be any good at it yet) but I would agree with NN on the whole here.

#5 held some interest for me as a portrait, and I do quite like the processing on it.

#8 while not great, has the repeated shapes in the whirly thing, bike wheels and umbrella. As well as the obvious contrasts (in the title).

#13 is an interesting moment, and I like the figure in the background being 'split' by the post. Again he holds some parallels to the couple under the umbrella, with the upright and shelter.

The rest I personally would classify similarly to NN. Good to see more people are getting out and giving 'street' a good go though. And I wish it'd rain a bit more on the streets of Melbourne. :D
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Athough the ones you have mentioned are probably my faves along with 2 others Street Photography for me has NOTHING to do with repeated shapes, parallels and even processing. But thats the thing, its such an open subject and everyone has a differen't take on it.
 
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NorthernNikon said:
Can someone please explain what so great about this set? I just can't see it. Number two has photographic merit, iI like the composition, but the rest are simple snaps with, to me at least, no reason for anyone to look at them.

I'm sorry, but people eating their lunch/walking down the street/standing in the rain are dull subjects. Unless there is a compelling reason to challenge that, any shot of people dong these things is going to be dull. I see nothing to challenge this ergo these shots are dull.
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I like and enjoy streetphotography because these photos show everyday life. These shots are not "manipulated" by posing or somehow other prepared in advance as in many other photos.
There are so many things to discover in streetphotos. Things you see everday but you simply don´t realize or pay attention to can be looked at and discovered.
It also makes me feel like somewhen in the 50s when streetphotography was quite popular.
 
lukewoodford said:
Ill happily give you my imput. Its each to their own. I find nothing interesting about taking pictures of cars going round a race track but some people do. Street Photography is HARD. It is very nerve racking trying to catch people in their everyday lives. Also ones like the girls standing in deep thought in the rain is good. I hope someone else can try and explain aswell. If its not your thing then cool, as I said each to their own :)
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The thing is, I love good street photograpahy, which is why I commented on your set. The reason I hate this kind of 'street photography' (other people definition, not mine, I don't think this is true street) with a passion is that it purports to be street photography, but offers nothing stimulating to the viewer. If you want to record everyday lives, then you need to look at reportage and reportage invariably has a theme or a story behind it. If you want to create memorable street photography then you're going to have to do as I said in my first post, challenge the fact that most subjects in the street are dull. The difficulty of street photography isn't that it's 'nervewracking', it's being able to spot the shot when 99.99% of people would just walk on by.

Also ones like the girls standing in deep thought in the rain is good.
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Looking at this example, your subject is in profile so we can't see the majority of her face, her face is a little washed out (on my screen) further diminishing detail, she's lost in thought, but she's also lost in a really cluttered background which includes an umbrella bisecting her face. For a 'girl lost in thought' shot to work, there would have to be more to it than just some lass staring into space. A calm face isolated in amongst a crowd of blurred people rushing around might do just that for example. Photographically, to me this shot just isn't very good, and just because it may be hard to take photos in the street doesn't mean that you can ignore all the basic components of a good photograph.
 
78seconds said:
I like and enjoy streetphotography because these photos show everyday life. These shots are not "manipulated" by posing or somehow other prepared in advance as in many other photos.
There are so many things to discover in streetphotos. Things you see everday but you simply don´t realize or pay attention to can be looked at and discovered.
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CCTV shows everyday life and is not manipulated, would you sit and watch it for hours on end? Street photography is not simply the recording of everyday lives, there has to be something visually stimulating about the image too.
 
EDIT: This post is in reference to post#21 by lukewoodford. I type slowly. :)

Street photography for me isn't about any of that either. They were the specific points that made each image what it was to me.

Of course it's an open subject, but so is all photography. And street photography is still that, photography, it has to stand up to the same principles all disciplines do. I fear too many people (not saying you're one of them of course) think that almost anything on the street is good to go. They will say it's the 'moment' or some such guff.

Yes it's about moments, interesting, well composed moments. :)

So to get back on topic; the images I mentioned above, had those various things going for them, to my eye. If street isn't about that to you, what made you take them? If you don't mind my asking.
 
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NorthernNikon said:
The thing is, I love good street photograpahy, which is why I commented on your set. The reason I hate this kind of 'street photography' (other people definition, not mine, I don't think this is true street) with a passion is that it purports to be street photography, but offers nothing stimulating to the viewer. If you want to record everyday lives, then you need to look at reportage and reportage invariably has a theme or a story behind it. If you want to create memorable street photography then you're going to have to do as I said in my first post, challenge the fact that most subjects in the street are dull. The difficulty of street photography isn't that it's 'nervewracking', it's being able to spot the shot when 99.99% of people would just walk on by.



Looking at this example, your subject is in profile so we can't see the majority of her face, her face is a little washed out (on my screen) further diminishing detail, she's lost in thought, but she's also lost in a really cluttered background which includes an umbrella bisecting her face. For a 'girl lost in thought' shot to work, there would have to be more to it than just some lass staring into space. A calm face isolated in amongst a crowd of blurred people rushing around might do just that for example. Photographically, to me this shot just isn't very good, and just because it may be hard to take photos in the street doesn't mean that you can ignore all the basic components of a good photograph.
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But I like the fact of the umbrella because it shows the rain. If you don't like them then thats cool. Im not saying this set is fantastic but there are a few I really like. I think I know the type of shots your on about, the tall colthing was an attempt which didn't work, I should of shot lower to make him look short. I do go for more street portraits though. There is a famous New York photographer on youtube (which is round here somewhere) who just got up in peoples faces in the street taking pictures of them. That is Street Photography. There are lots of different forms.
 
NorthernNikon said:
CCTV shows everyday life and is not manipulated, would you sit and watch it for hours on end? Street photography is not simply the recording of everyday lives, there has to be something visually stimulating about the image too.
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Ok, that´s everyday life but with moving pictures that change every second and everything you see change at every single second.
With a photo you can "freeze" a single moment and discover.

A good streetphoto ( my definition ) is not about a perfect set, perfect light or all the other things you would take care of while you´re doing portraits for example.
It´s about catching a single moment that is not arranged, a special view of someone, a sad and dark photo with someone in focus who shows a appropriate mood.

This is the streetphotography section of a big fotocommunity: Streetphotgraphy section
and I agree 95% of the photos are not streetphotos neither are they good. Just a very very few are good.
 
Jayst84 said:
EDIT: This post is in reference to post#21 by lukewoodford. I type slowly. :)

Street photography for me isn't about any of that either. They were the specific points that made each image what it was to me.

Of course it's an open subject, but so is all photography. And street photography is still that, photography, it has to stand up to the same principles all disciplines do. I fear too many people (not saying you're one of them of course) think that almost anything on the street is good to go. They will say it's the 'moment' or some such guff.

Yes it's about moments, interesting, well composed moments. :)

So to get back on topic; the images I mentioned above, had those various things going for them, to my eye. If street isn't about that to you, what made you take them? If you don't mind my asking.
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I never went to college so I never learnt about parralles and stuff so for me its impossible to bare those things in mind when im taking photos. I just take what I FEEL is good. Alot of the time its not, im always deleting ones after I take them if I don't feel they work. These I felt did, some alot more than others. In the Street Photography Challenge thread look at the ones that got picted out by the judges. I took a picture of a man in lloyds lift but one of the judges liked it. Im going out now so not going to debate anymore. If we continue this just revive the 8 page whats street photography all about thread :)
 
First off Luke, please don't think I'm have a real personal go at you, because for one, it's great that you're going out and shooting. The thing is though, that if street portraiture is your thing, then don't forget all the things that make a good portrait and equally importantly, all those which detract from one. The really hard bit about any type of potraiture is getting a connection between the subject and the viewer. It's easier when the subject is well known, or has face full of character and is sitting especially for the photographer, but if the subject is a stranger and is unaware that they're being photographed at all, then the photographer has to really work hard to engage the viewer with the subject.
 
NorthernNikon said:
First off Luke, please don't think I'm have a real personal go at you, because for one, it's great that you're going out and shooting. The thing is though, that if street portraiture is your thing, then don't forget all the things that make a good portrait and equally importantly, all those which detract from one. The really hard bit about any type of potraiture is getting a connection between the subject and the viewer. It's easier when the subject is well known, or has face full of character and is sitting especially for the photographer, but if the subject is a stranger and is unaware that they're being photographed at all, then the photographer has to really work hard to engage the viewer with the subject.
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Yeah thats true. This is one of my fave photos I have taken

Homeless015.jpg


From the set #5 is my fave along with the eating ones and the guy with his arms crossed. Thats probably because what I had to go through to get the shots and its a real sense of achievement. I only had an hour and I wanted to find some stuff like
London2174-2.jpg


Not that thats the best one in the world but you get the point :)


My fave street shot from a forum member is the one on www.egopimp.com where the guys is waiting at train station posing like Richard Branson.
 
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A great set! You have captured how damp, grey and miserable the British weather can be although that may or may not have been your intention. :)
 
First of all after reading all this stuff about street photography, whether this is or isn't, i would like to say that i think that could be classed as an attempt at street photography. snap shots are exactly that, someone just walking along streets taking photos without thought are snap shots. These were taken with a bit of thought, therefore i would class them as street photography. If the pictures were meant to tell a stroy surely they would be documentary not street. I think it is an ok set with a couple of photos that show promise.
I think the problem arises because these are things we see every day and therefore hold little interest as a subject matter, now if these were taken in China or India, iexpect the reaction would have been slightly different.

p.s impressed you managed to get the shot inside churchill square, i have been told off so many times, even when i had a letter to say i was allowed to take photos.
 
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