critique pls on some street photography

[qaz]

an attempt at street photography, i hope top get some brutal criticism , not looking for the feel good factor, just suggestions as to improving the appearance of it now its taken.

and where it u think it stands in terms of quality etc, in the category of street photography

it is a crop and taken from raw

thanks

[Manfred M]

Mark - the first question you should ask yourself when viewing any image is "what is the subject in this shot?". If that is not clear or obvious, then there is likely a problem with the image.

The second question you should ask yourself is "what is the first thing my eyes are drawn to in the image?".

If the answer to the second question isn't the same as the first one, chances are that the image has a problem.

So, what are the answers to my two questions?

[Geoff F]

Perhaps I should refrain from comment on the subject matter. However, the photo looks good.

Possibly I would selectively add just a fraction of brightness in the shadows and a little bit of saturation near the top; but that would merely be a bit of fine tuning.

[qaz]

well. subject and what im drawn to seem to me to be the same , the main women. yes thats very good advice regardless., anyone think thats not the case?

the increase saturation and brightness seems right too. that involves a brush i think ...but it will get done. . its meant to be a slice of life, at least in the city, not a criticism

thanks both

Mark - the first question you should ask yourself when viewing any image is "what is the subject in this shot?". If that is not clear or obvious, then there is likely a problem with the image.

The second question you should ask yourself is "what is the first thing my eyes are drawn to in the image?".

If the answer to the second question isn't the same as the first one, chances are that the image has a problem.

So, what are the answers to my two questions?

[Shadowman]

Definitely a worthy subject, perhaps under different lighting you could gain more mystic, atmosphere. What in particular did you find interesting about the subject?

[Manfred M]

well. subject and what im drawn to seem to me to be the same , the main women. yes thats very good advice regardless., anyone think thats not the case?

the increase saturation and brightness seems right too. that involves a brush i think ...but it will get done. . its meant to be a slice of life, at least in the city, not a criticism

thanks both

Question 3 - Do your eyes get drawn to the subject, or do they tend to hunt around the image? If the answer is that they stay on the subject, then the composition is strong. If your eyes move around because of other material, then you need to look at strengthening the composition.

I thought that the woman might be the subject, but it is not completely obvious. It could have been something else too.

Our eyes tend to be drawn to the brightest areas in the image, and you have a number of those. The woman in the white blouse or the one in the bright dress draw my eyes as well. The two people in the trailer distract to some extent as well. The light colours in the trailer, on the tent and especially in the sky draw my eyes away from the "main woman". Her being dressed in black does not help and as she is is facing away from the camera also does not help.

If it were my image, I would crop out some of the distractions and put the subject on / near one of the "thirds" as per the "rule of thirds", for example:






I'd also work the white and black points and drive up the contrast as well as the clarity and vibrance, just to make the image look a bit less muddy and to give it more "pop".

[qaz]

Manfred Mueller. yes s the new crop looks promising , i always thought of the photo as a scene with several subjects a bit like a stage/play. maybe it is destined not to be a strong image, but more of a casually observation with several players in the scene competing for attention...is there such a category

the sky is a certainly a niusense, will also get fixed

John. what i like is the seemingly complete immersion of the players in the their eating habits...again not in a negative way, perhaps its a bit of voyeurism. it could be made more mystic which would give different quality completely to it, but i knew it would be a kind of cheesy, bright pic when i took it

i wish id done close up too as the crop looks promising , its already cropped too much for quality. it was also a grab shot.

[Manfred M]

i always thought of the photo as a scene with several subjects a bit like a stage/play. maybe it is destined not to be a strong image, but more of a casually observation with several players in the scene competing for attention...is there such a category

In street photography, there is no rule suggesting that you need to limit yourself to a single subject. In fact, your subject can easily be one, two or more people. What is important is that the subject has to draw the viewer's eye into the frame.

One of my favourite quotes is by the famed photojournalist, Robert Cappa. "If you image isn't good enough, you're not close enough". Street photography is highly opportunistic and recognizing a scene or shot and reacting to it within a few seconds, in order to capture it takes practice.

Here is the link to a recent example of street photography I posted here, with multiple subjects:

Street scene - a couple of Hindu priests standing around - Guwahati

It has been cropped a tiny bit.

[Geoff F]

I was thinking about a tighter crop, Mark, by holding some card to the screen. Something similar to Manfred's version, possibly even tighter at the top. But thought that woman on the far right who is walking forwards does add something to the overall scene. If she had been facing the other direction then definitely a tighter crop.

Also, I did wonder about a crop from the left instead. Which would get closer to the main action, but do you want the wording which tends to provide a natural caption to that scene?

[dubaiphil]

The crop works better, but we still need some interaction going on - through timing and anticipation (as in a cash exchange for the food, exchanged glances between the stallkeeper and the customer). Then we need to be able to see the interaction better - a different viewpoint, getting closer, seeing more of the faces of the people involved

[Shadowman]

Manfred Mueller. yes s the new crop looks promising , i always thought of the photo as a scene

John. what i like is the seemingly complete immersion of the players in the their eating habits...again not in a negative way, perhaps its a bit of voyeurism. it could be made more mystic which would give different quality completely to it, but i knew it would be a kind of cheesy, bright pic when i took it

i wish id done close up too as the crop looks promising , its already cropped too much for quality. it was also a grab shot.

Mark,

A study of their eating habits would indeed need more of a closeup image, perhaps multiple shots to convey, and with at least one or two of the women facing you.

[tao2]

Hi Mark,

Soon as ah looked, ah thought "this should be in b+w" then the woman's dress pattern would have become one point of focus in the photo. In colour, the clothing is muted, even the woman's trainers attract the eye in b+w. Also would have got closer tae see more facial features but mainly tae eliminate the rubbish in the foreground.

"Fill the frame" was something ah was taught early on.

Had ye been closer, the bin could have been left out as well, giving the whole van frontage more space, as below. Obviously, ye have tae imagine the left-hand side extended more than shown...



Ah think that the b+w, immediately makes the women appear tae be more of a group...



Chopped off the foreground as it was distracting and cluttered. Ye need tae think more about cropping "in-camera". If ye have time, look round the whole viewfinder - twice, tae make sure there's nothing there that ye don't want. Aim at framing the shot without having tae redo it PP. Wider angle lenses (28/35/40mm), afford more options in cropping afterwards.

Re. interaction - that just comes with practice and experience. Seeing the possibilities and already lifting the camera tae the eye, in anticipation. Ah really don't worry very much about histograms, focus points, and the minutiae of my camera's abilities (since ah mainly shoot film). Zone focusing and "sunny 16" are the bywords for street shooting.

Ah very rarely use my DSLR in the street, preferring wee rangefinders or a compact. Street candids are about capturing the moment not looking at rear LCD screens etc. If yer looking down at the camera, yer probably missing the $ shot. Trust yer judgement. Ye'll soon learn tae wait 'til the guy supplies the food (mebbe with a grin) and catch that, or the women come together and catch that - sharing out the takeaways or walking off with them together or whatever other opportunities avail.

[qaz]

Hindu priests standing around - ....nice pic

Boab. most interesting comments, i probably will do a b&w copy now, in a similar crop. have just calibrated my monitor for first time ever 2 days ago so im able now to make worthwhile adjustments.

i used to be quite good at being able to crop in camera when i printed b&w from film as i liked the black borders u got from printing the whole neg....so, yes i understand the importance, but in this case there was no time to step closer or wait for more interaction, although i agree this would have made a better photo...it really was grab shot....however i was pleased about capturing the main women's lovely large curvy shape which probably wouldn't have been repeated.

if could re shoot id hide that bin for sure. if anyone's interested it was the bristol st pauls festival [like a smaller notting hill carnival]. all kinds of Caribbean food and music , plus the inevitable fast food .

thanks

[dubaiphil]

Zone focusing and "sunny 16" are the bywords for street shooting.

Ah very rarely use my DSLR in the street, preferring wee rangefinders or a compact. Street candids are about capturing the moment not looking at rear LCD screens etc. If yer looking down at the camera, yer probably missing the $ shot. Trust yer judgement. Ye'll soon learn tae wait 'til the guy supplies the food (mebbe with a grin) and catch that, or the women come together and catch that - sharing out the takeaways or walking off with them together or whatever other opportunities avail.

Celtic phonetic typing does my head in! LOL!

Don't rule out DSLRs, especially if you're sticking to the sunny 16 rule. Zone focusing is useful, yes, but not the be all and end all. Shutter speed matters creatively and sticking at f16 can hamper that. The key when learning and getting practice is to work the scene and the shutter button - then afterwards see what worked and what didn't. I'd wager that if you worked the scene from different angles and viewpoints here, you'd come up with at least a few shots with more human interaction and at least views of their faces.

[qaz]

some confusion here, by mistake i seem to have deleted a post by Phil which [i think] reminded me that i asked for and therefore should accept criticism. i was trying to delete only my own duplicate post

sorry for the deletion if its gone from other peoples view

not sure if got this right, can someone clarify pls

[dubaiphil]

Another thing to try, rather than just blasting away, is patience.

Look for a scene that you think may unfold, pre focus and be ready. Then if things align you may have an interesting image.

Here are a couple of shots of mine (which I think are interesting, anyway!!!!!)

I saw this lady waiting outside an office in the early morning near Bank Underground Station in London. At that time in the morning I knew that there were lots of pedestrians walking by and she may attract the attention of one or some of them.

Because of the background and other pedestrians I didn't want the viewer to be too distracted from the subject so I set my 50mm lens to f2 to give some shallow depth of field and focused on the woman when she wasn't looking. Then I waited for around 5 minutes until it happened. A quick burst from the hip (so as not to be obvious) and I had my shot. Not framed exactly how I would have liked, but I had the interaction between subjects that I was after.



Another thing to wait for - eye contact. This was another candid, shot at f16 and zone focused with a 35mm prime. I was ready for the shot, and had to wait for eye contact before anything interesting happened. The lady's eye contact over the magazine, combined with her physical closeness to her husband yet being in a different world and the finger position (!) make for an interesting image



There are many different styles of street photography, and it's well worth trying out. Spraying and praying at f16 isn't the be all and end all - you may have a couple of keepers but you'll have a lot of trash. Over time and with experience you'll be more selective with your shooting. Be highly critical of yourself and don't be afraid to post on here as you're shooting for critique. The big thing to get over is apprehension - you can either try to be subtle and risk feeling like a bit of a voyeur, of be a bit more self assertive and positive. Then if a subject questions you you may be able to talk them into a portrait or at least explain your motives as shooting street photography for a personal project.

[dubaiphil]

some confusion here, by mistake i seem to have deleted a post by Phil which [i think] reminded me that i asked for and therefore should accept criticism. i was trying to delete only my own duplicate post

sorry for the deletion if its gone from other peoples view

not sure if got this right, can someone clarify pls

I deleted it, Mark! The forum was hanging a bit and I posted but wrote incorrectly in my reply. I've deleted and reposted above!

I misread Boab's comments as yours and only realised once the message was posted! Quickly retracted

[qaz]

Phil .i think your pics work well. would you mind seeing my post number 15 above as id like some clarification on something i think you said but got deleted before i could finish reading it

connection trouble here so cant post a pic i wanted to show you

[qaz]

heres one u may find of interest, took it observing the techniques you mention above, [from the hip and waited for the moment with camera pre set etc] only thing was she spotted me and later came over and asked if i had taken a photo, i gave her a card and reassured her it was not for publication on social networking sites

i think it highlights the generation gap, and in some ways the sad preoccupation with electronic communication that kids have

[dubaiphil]

Mark - I'm going to suggest a Christmas present. Santa's bringing one to me this year. The 2014 edition of Magnum Contact Sheets.

It shows many iconic images, the story behind them and the shots in the roll that didn't make the cut while the photographers worked scenes.

It shows their thought processes and sometimes the fact that not every shot is exposed correctly or in sharp critical focus - the greats are/were mere mortals too.