Street Photography in the Souqs II

[dubaiphil]

Continuing from my previous thread, here are a few more shots from around the souqs of Dubai. After a few visits I printed off some shots for the people I'd taken candid photographs of, and went out to find them. After a little hunting the guys were all happy with their prints, and pleased that they could send them home to their families in Pakistan and Oman. These men have been living and working in Dubai for some time and only get home to their families once every two years.

The flip side, after all the tracking down, was that I was very familiar to many people that work in the souqs. Candid photography was therefore no longer an option so I tried my hand at environmental portraits instead. There were many willing subjects, but as you can see from the photography I've posted so far, not many women. This is due to the fact that you are not allowed to approach Middle Eastern women to speak to them, let alone take their photograph, unless you have the express permission of the male relatives that they are with. Women from other countries that visit these areas to shop are generally maids, and accompanied by their boss and family.

Anyway, here are a few more candids:


1. 3 Wise Men. Probably my favourite photograph to date. After walking around the Fish Market for an hour in the early morning heat, I sat to take a rest and drink in the shade. My latest purchase was an 85mm f1.4D, so I switched to that and this was literally my first shot with the lens.




2. Another Threesome, sitting and overlooking Dubai Creek




3. The haggle. An Emirati woman is bargaining hard for her free limes to seal the deal on her morning's fruit purchase. Haggling so hard she didn't notice me getting up close with a 35mm!




4. A porter taking a break in the backstreets around the Gold Souq




5. Two workers rennovating a small shop in the Textile Souq




6. An Emirati man striding towards Dubai Mall from Souq Al Bahar. Not particularly shooting from the hip, but using a tripod and ISO6400 to get the right shutter speed to freeze his motion. Continual High and a remote release let me get the shot of him centred in the frame.




7. This man looked that grumpy even before I'd got my camera ready to shoot!




8. Another one of those shots where you're waiting for a little eye contact. A porter taking a rest in the shade




9. Yet another porter taking a break in the shade, sitting on his trolley with a cigarette




10. An empty lot in Deira, Dubai. A scene more reminiscent of Iraq or Afghanistan than the Dubai you see in the brochures!

[MilT0s]

They all are really really good but 1, 8 & 9 are more than excellent..

[Mike Buckley]

I've had it with your series. I'm ready to book a flight to Dubai! #4 is magical for me. Great job with all of them.

[dubaiphil]

Thanks Miltos!

[dubaiphil]

Thanks Mike - I limited myself on a few of the walkabouts, travelling light with either a 35 f2, 50 f1.4 or 85 f1.4. I love the shallow DoF with the 85mm for the candids, such as shot #4 at f2

[Eduardo Rijo]

Excellent ... all of them ... I love the tone of the photos ...

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Phil,

You do for street photography what Donald does for landscapes.

Excellent conversions, in addition to great captures.

In the forelorn hope of offering some constructive criticism, rather than just be educated myself by viewing youe scenes, I wondered about correcting the perspective of the downward angle on #8, but it's such a minor thing ...

Cheers,

[dubaiphil]

Thanks Eduardo!

[dubaiphil]

Thanks Dave (I think, I haven't stumbled across any of Donald's work on the forum yet!)

Shooting people was something that I didn't exactly have a phobia of, but I used to find it distracting in architectural shots. How things change! A new body last year opened up a new world of high ISO capabilities and I thought 'what the hell, let's try some street candids'. Looking as much as possible like a dumb tourist with a big camera and no idea how to use it makes for some great candid opportunities, as I wouldn't have a hope of blending in around most of the areas I prefer to shoot street at!

[rpcrowe]

You ought to have an exhibition of these wonderful images...

[MilT0s]

I totally agree with Richard. I would love to see these beauties printed. Well if not me at least other people.

You should also write a tutorial on the BW conversion workflow you use or at least give us more details!

[CMP]

I second the suggestion of writing a tutorial of the BW conversion!

Stunning shots you have. I've yet to try street photography myself.

[dubaiphil]

Thanks for your comments Richard, Miltos and Ciorstaidh

I started a blog in March which covered a few of my shots with a step by step run through of my workflow, but I've been severely interrupted by the birth of our first child and the summer heat, so shooting has been limited. I'll definitely keep it updated when the temperatures drop and I'm less sleep deprived!

My workflow is pretty quick and easy really, and involves using Nik Software products (Color Efex and Silver Efex). I've only posted one walk through on my blog so far which was a simple conversion with no blends or layers - www.philpage.zenfolio.com

@ Ciorstaidh - I highly recommend giving it a go - it truly gets you out of your comfort zone! I was so 'anti' taking pictures of people, especially because of where I live and the grey area that surrounds street photography worldwide, let alone in a guilty until proven innocent part of the world. I found that for candids I could make it look as if I wasn't taking a person's photo but taking a photo past them quite easily - as for approaching people for photos and environmental portraits, in this part of the world people are literally queuing up to have their photo taken!