Portaits of strangers on the street

[meltimtiman]

That is a superb image. You've got right into the soul of the subject.

Hi Donald. All my "models" have a story to tell. This person is an ex soldier and unfortunately had psychological and physical damage after an encounter with insurgents in Mindanao, that's the southern part of the Philippines. He can no longer speak and wanders around the city asking for food and money. We were eating at a very small sidewalk street cafe when we saw him. We invited him for lunch and man, he ate a lot. After having lunch, I asked him if I could take his photo and yes he allowed me to and this is the result.

Thanks for the comment, Donald. I appreciate it a lot.

Regards from Manila, Philippines.

Mel

[meltimtiman]

He has a resemblance to Hollywood actor (I won't mention the name hehe), can you guess? BTW the feast of the Black Nazarene is soon I bet your camera would be very happy to capture this event.

Hi Al. Yup, my camera club, Grupo Potograpika, will be there to cover this monster of an event. A sea of people moving in one direction. Hope to meet you soon.

[meltimtiman]

Hi Mel

Very nice work you did on these images. I'd like to take pictures of strangers, but I don't feel comfortable asking strangers to pose for me. How you do it? Did all of them agree to pose for you? The man on the first pictures looks like saying "don't you dare to come closer..."

Also I find all your subjects to be similar... are there not young subjects in Manila?

Toño

Hi Tonio. Sorry for the typo. you have to teach me how to type the "n" with the line on top of it.

Regarding your question, I've been asked so many times about my subjects and I call them "my models." I always answer them in this manner. Most photographers like to take pictures of pretty girls dressed up in expensive gowns or dressed down in skimpy bikinis or undies, their faces and hairs fixed by a hair and make up artist. I am not into this type of photography. My "models" are the "regular" people on the street, carved on their faces are stories of survival, trials, tribulations, and life's challenges. I find their stories hard to believe but unfortunately, they are very true and real.

As for the question on how I make them pose, it took some time and a lot of practice talking to them. Before I started this passion, a 2 out of 10 ratio is good enough for me. Now, I get 8 or 9 out of 10 posing for me. I ask them if I can take their photos. The usual answer is "why and what for?" I usually tell them that I love the shape of their faces and would love to take his/her photo. Once they approve, I bring out my camera with a 70-200mm lens. Yup I am one of the very few who do street shooting with a long lens ( do I see eyebrows rising?). I never ask them to move from one place to another for a much better light source. I never ask them to remove anything like a hat, a scarf, a towel. I never ask them to pose, I shoot as they were. I move around "my models" taking around 10 shots in different angles or perspectives. And just like any photographer shooting a pretty model, I talk to them while I shoot.

After the photo session is done, I spend a few minutes talking to them, asking their names and if they are talkative, I also ask a little how they are how life is treating them.

I think I said so much already. If you have the passion to shoot strangers, it will be easy after a while. Just to show you how easy it is, I just came home from another photowalk with friends and have 5 new "models" to share just from today's walk.

[meltimtiman]

[acsky]

Thanks for your extensive reply Mel, I appreciate it.

To type the ñ when you don't have it directly on your keyboard you should press the ALT key + 164

I am also not interested in taking pictures of beautiful girls wearing only their panties. My self preservation instinct tells me that my wife would not appreciate that so much

I'm interested in taking pictures of strangers, but not necessarily portraits. I want to get better in taking good candid pictures that tell some story. That is one of the reasons I got my 55-250 mm lens, so I can take pictures of people in their natural behaviour, not thinking they are posing for some photo.

But I really like your approach, and I think it is a good idea to talk to them and have their permission to take the picture. Actually I just did it once, and I had the excuse that I wanted the picture for a photography contest, which was true. The difference is that I used my Olympus point and shoot to take the shot. I truly believe that pointing to someone with a SLR is more intimidating for the subject, isn't it? What is your experience? Do you think most people gets defensive when you ask them to pose for you?

[meltimtiman]

Thanks for your extensive reply Mel, I appreciate it.

To type the ñ when you don't have it directly on your keyboard you should press the ALT key + 164

I am also not interested in taking pictures of beautiful girls wearing only their panties. My self preservation instinct tells me that my wife would not appreciate that so much

I'm interested in taking pictures of strangers, but not necessarily portraits. I want to get better in taking good candid pictures that tell some story. That is one of the reasons I got my 55-250 mm lens, so I can take pictures of people in their natural behaviour, not thinking they are posing for some photo.

But I really like your approach, and I think it is a good idea to talk to them and have their permission to take the picture. Actually I just did it once, and I had the excuse that I wanted the picture for a photography contest, which was true. The difference is that I used my Olympus point and shoot to take the shot. I truly believe that pointing to someone with a SLR is more intimidating for the subject, isn't it? What is your experience? Do you think most people gets defensive when you ask them to pose for you?

I believe pointing any camera at a stranger without getting their permission intimidates them a lot and sometimes, it starts a heated argument. Shooting from across the street with a long lens is better for me. No arguments, all candid, and as you said, in their natural behavior. By nature, "regular" filipinos like their picture taken. If they get a bit offensive, I show the LCD of my camera and they just smile.

Here is an example. I saw this street toughie in one of those "not so friendly area" in Manila. I wanted him to see me so I went down and knelt for a much lower perspective. He approached me with that eagle eye and when he was about 3 meters away, I showed him the LCD of the camera. He smiled and giggled and said, "that's a very nice photo. I like it." I went back to the area a week after and gave him a print. We are good friends now and even told his groupie that if they see me and other people with cameras, they should not touch us and not to have any interest on our cameras.



"ñ". YEAH!!! I got it Toño. Thanks for the info.

[meltimtiman]

[meltimtiman]

Just giving in to Toño's comment if there are younger subjects. Yup there are. Here's a sample of pretty stranger.



Didn't know her name but I gave her my card and told her to try to find me in Facebook so that she can download the photo.

[Squidgy]

Just giving in to Toño's comment if there are younger subjects. Yup there are. Here's a sample of pretty stranger.



Didn't know her name but I gave her my card and told her to try to find me in Facebook so that she can download the photo.

Mel, your pictures are wonderfull, did you PP this one using the Orton effect?

[meltimtiman]

Hi Nigel. I didn't use the Orton Effect here. In fact I didn't like how the black part of the hair looks. It appears smudgy. Here's a much better rendition of the pretty stranger.

The original photo, shot in raw and converted to jpeg so that I could post it here



Here's the edited version



If you are up to it, this is what I did:
- In Camera Raw, adjusted the contrast, clarity, and white balance then opened it in PS CS5
- In CS 5, adjusted the levels
- Sharpened using Unsharp Mask
- Sharpened using High Pass, inverted it and colored the hair, eyes and lips in Black to soften the skin without affecting the hair, lips and eyes. Did this twice.
- With Nik Software Color Efex 3.0, used the Polaroid Transfer but adjusted all the sliders to further soften the skin. Colored the hair, eyes, and lips so that they are not affected and black areas like the eyelids, nostrils and hair don't get smudgy.
- Adjusted the Color Balance (shadows only to negative values) and Hue/Saturation ( to negative values) according to my taste.
- Cleaned any blemish that distracted me like the mole near her right eye and the pimple on her chin using the healing tool.
- With Nic Software Dfine, I removed the noise.
- save the output and posted it here.

I dont know about you but I loved the output.

As for the Orton Effect, here's my rendition

http://www.geofflawrence.com/photopo...649/ppuser/789

[Squidgy]

Thanks for the detailed reply Mel and for the link. I think your pictures are excellent.

[Dave Humphries]

Fascinating thread Mel and Toño (hey, it works)

Thanks for a lot of insights, this is something I'd like to try and it has been interesting reading of your different approaches and that are both successful

Cheers,

[acsky]

I'm so glad you managed to type the ñ =)

Talking about the new pictures, the one of the tough dude is a nice one, great expression on him!

I'm also glad that you found a young subject. The portrait on post 28 is very nice. For some reason the edited version of the pic on post 30 looks unnatural on my monitor =( The tone of the skin does not seem to be right, especially when compared with the original image. The rest of the processing was well done =)

[meltimtiman]

Thanks for your comments and critiques, guys. Its a never ending experience, and learning process. Maybe that's why I would always stay a newbie forever.

Regards, all.

Mel

[meltimtiman]

[meltimtiman]

[Nat]

You obviously have a gift, of gab and of lens....LOL! Your character shots bring out emotions in the viewer. Well done. You are also in an area where people who have led rich lives are on the street. I don't see many faces like these where I live. But then, I haven't really been looking. I will from now on, if I could get anything near this good. Thanks for sharing.

[meltimtiman]

Thanks for the kind words, Nat.

My photo buddies and I went out recently for some landscape shoots. While they were busy shooting the pretty landscapes, I was busy shooting my "models." I love this one. His name is Jose and he drives a trike to bring children from their homes to school and back.



A trike is motorcycle with a sidecar and can accommodate 3 people. Its a very common means of public transport here in Manila Philippines.

[meltimtiman]