Nov
02
See on Scoop.it – Fuji X-Pro1
Sometimes, I think I’m a bit of a masochist. I actually like to shoot difficult subjects, and increasingly of late I’m also starting to write a lot about difficult topics. Today’s article seems like a very simple question to answer: what is street photography? The more I try to nail it down – and I spent a considerable amount of time on this before the Finding Light workshop – so I would know what to cover, and more importantly, what my students would expect me to cover. The first point of confusion comes when you try to decide what is ‘street’ and what isn’t: what about public spaces? What about museums, galleries, fora etc? Stairs? Restaurants? Hawker centers? Public transport, like the Underground? And here’s another question: does street photography always have to have human subjects in the frame? And when does street photography turn into travel reportage? You can see how this becomes confusing. I’ve decided that in general, the genre is loosely defined around several broad guidelines (at least for me; your mileage may vary). Let’s take a closer look at these.
Street photography is unplanned.
If you’re controlling any of the elements in the scene, then it starts to become a conceptual or even outdoor studio shoot – posed models in public definitely do not count as street photography: the photographer knew (or should have known) exactly what poses, look and lighting he wanted before beginning the shoot. (You certainly wouldn’t hire a model and get shooting permission if you had no intention to shoot there, would you?) There is also a reactive element to it – spontaneity and the ability to anticipate are both critical tools for the street photographer. You really never know what you’re going to get on any given day, and that’s what draws photographers to the genre: a never-ending source of material…
See on blog.mingthein.com
Okt
31
See on Scoop.it – Fuji X-Pro1
Shooting Street Fashion Sydney (SFS) is all about getting the image as quickly and efficiently as possible. Its about getting a great portrait, a great shot, often in as little as three or four frames. There’s not much room for error or messing about with equipment; your attention is on the subject who you don’t really know and who out of kindness and courtesy (and maybe knows the blog) is now allowing you to photograph them. You want to respect that kindness with a clean sharp shot that stands out as much as the person you are photographing. And while I had been doing pretty well with my little point & shoot and on occasion with a DSLR I could see that if I wanted to keep SFS up with the fashion blogging pack it was time for a camera upgrade. Thanks to Fujifilm Australia SFS is now shooting with the Fujifilm X-Pro1 and this is the story, a review if you like as to what this camera is like to use in the galleries, in the street and in the studio too. The first thing everyone notices about the X-Pro1 is its great retro styling. It’s a Range Finder style camera where you can use the offset eyepiece as either an optical or video viewfinder or you can use the LCD screen on the back as you would with a point and shoot. The camera has all the old school knobs and dials, shutter speed on the top of the body, F-Stops on the lens barrel along with a silky smooth and responsive manual focus ring. The body and lenses are a minimalist shiny black on metal and these distinctive good looks are a real advantage when it comes to catching someone’s attention when I ask them if I can take their portrait. While the X-Pro1 has the options of Aperture/Shutter priority or Programme, set with the red A on the Speed and Aperture Dial I like having the traditional layout of apertures on the lens not on a command dial and the same goes for the shutter speed knob on the body. This is a camera that you work with like a traditional film camera and for me that has had positive results in having me think more photographically about what I am doing when I make my shots……
Okt
30
See on Scoop.it – Fuji X-Pro1
Back in 2006 I wrote a .pdf about purism and street photography and posted it on deviantart.com. I featured not only my own work but many of my street-shooting friends from all over the world. Having wrote that it was always in the back of my mind that I wanted to update it. Yes, I could have written something yet I really wanted to do it with video. Until the Canon EOS 5D Mark 2 came about — and with the most recent firmware update — i couldn’t have achieved “the look” i wanted. Over the course of two months this summer I enlisted the help of some friends to shoot … I dunno … the next volume or whatever this is. In this video you’ll see my work and that of photographers Severin Koller, Frank Jackson and Mario Anzuoni, all with different perspectives for shooting street photography.
There are too many people to thank; please read the credits at the end of part three. I hope you enjoy it. I know that I had an amazing time shooting and editing it….
See Part 1 on vimeo.com
See Part 2 on vimeo.com
See Part 3 on vimeo.com
Okt
30
See on Scoop.it – Fuji X-Pro1
Coming from the X100…there is a learning curve for me…Have to think on my feet more…X100 images seem sharper out of the camera in RAW…which is what I am shooting with the Xpro1
Visit Richard M. Smith’s Website:
http://www.photographybyrichardmsmith.com/
See on forums.dpreview.com
Okt
27
See on Scoop.it – Fuji X-Pro1
As promised – here are some more shots from yesterday. I must have made a couple of hundreds of images on maybe five different locations with the two models. Looking through them I didn´t succeed nearly as well with the girl as with the boy when it comes down to picking my favourites, although her best is one of the top five. Since I started out with her, I think I will have to get into the right set of mind faster. I thought I would wear out of inspiration before shooting model number two, but it seems that the opposite happened. Anyway – this set of images have been processed a bit more than the ones I posted yesterday, including Aperture, Topaz B/W and PS. Nothing fancy, but each step adds to the final result. I went for a Grit & Grain style with a tone of lavendel here, which I think serves the settings and the models pretty well.
See part one:
http://sthlmstreet.com/2012/10/14/a-tunnel-vision/
See on sthlmstreet.com
Okt
19
See on Scoop.it – Fuji X-Pro1
Yesterday I spent a great day wondering around London with a few of my photographer mates doing a bit of street photography. I love street photography, it is unpredictable, exciting, challenging but most of all fun. It improves your observational skills no end, you learn to not just look at what is in front of you but to really see what is in front of you. You are constantly looking for colours, shapes, light, emotions, and of course ‘the decisive moment’. We began by visiting an area of London I’d not ventured to before, Brick Lane and Hackney. Venturing onto Covent Garden and more central London later in the day. One of my friends Pete is a born and bread east ender and is extremely knowledgable about street art. He took us on a fascinating tour around Hackney and the surrounding areas showing us art by various different writers. I absolutely love how Graffiti has finally been recognised and has now become accepted and in fact encouraged as professional street art, with building owners paying huge money for people to come and produce works of art to adorn their properties. I shot for the majority of the day with my absolutely new favourite combination. The Fujifilm X-Pro1 fitted with the official Leica M mount and the great Voigtlander 25mm f/4 Color Skopar. This manual focus range finder lens, built for use on Leica range finder cameras works so well on the X-Pro1. It is very sharp, easy to use and is absolutely perfect for street photography. I chose to focus the lens using zone focusing. To do this I set the aperture of the lens to f/8 and the focus scale to 2m. This gave me a near focus distance of 1.33m and a far distance of 4.1m, perfect for capturing people going about their business on the street. When I wanted to focus on buildings and other bits in the distance I set the focus scale to 3.89m, the hyperfocal distance at which everything from 1.9m to infinity was in focus…..
Sep
26
See on Scoop.it – Fuji X-Pro1
What is creativity? We like to think of it is as something we are born with–something that is innate. For example, certain children when they are young are deemed “creative” while others aren’t. But how can this be? “creativity” in itself isn’t a genetic trait like height, eye color, or body type. Rather, creativity can be explained by being able to “connect the dots” between the things that you know. Whenever we think of “eureka” moments, it isn’t sudden moments of inspiration that come out of nowhere. Rather, it is all the knowledge that you have accrued and learned over the years — with the sudden connections in-between igniting when we are resting. It has to do with the right side of the brain (that makes connections between the things that we know). Whereas the left brain is more for processing data and ideas in our mind. ? Creativity is a combination of work done between the left and right side of your brain. The right side of the brain helps us make sense of connections in life, such as stories and metaphors. Some tasks also associated with the right side of the brain include spatial abilities, facial recognition, visual imagery, and music. This is why in studies of people who have damaged right sides of their brains don’t understand metaphors (but can still function regularly). The left side of the brain manages more calculations such as processes involved with language, math, and logic….
See on erickimphotography.com
Sep
19
See on Scoop.it – Fuji X-Pro1
Photos from the mean streets of Singpore – an incredible location for street photography. Speaking of incredible – all of the photos are taken with my Fuji X Pro 1, and the 18mm lens – the only lens and only digital camera I have, as I travel around the world. I’ve chosen to shoot all the Singapore street photography in black and white. The streets of Singapore are more colourful than most, but I feel a strong connection with black and white images. Or maybe I’m just yet another poor tormented artist? ;) Maybe you could decide for yourself…
See on www.yomadic.com
Sep
14
See on Scoop.it – Fuji X-Pro1
Here’s a couple of interesting characters on the streets of Edinburgh during the Fringe Festival. I think the guy in the foreground might be Slash’s (Guns & Roses) sisters friends cousins uncles neighbors step-son…but I could be wrong!
See on 35mmstreet.com
Sep
04
See on Scoop.it – Fuji X-Pro1
What makes a photograph memorable? What makes a photograph so powerful and so magical that it burns itself into our memories? Why do certain photographs withstand the history of time? Why do certain shots that are perfectly composed and framed are easily forgotten or dismissed? What makes a great photograph? How much of it is subjective vs objective? Is there a “science” behind making a memorable photograph? These are many questions and thoughts that constantly revolve in my mind. Although there are no definite answers to any of these questions, many things I have been learning in sociology, psychology, and cognitive science have been giving me some clues. While there is no certain “magical checklist” in what makes a certain photograph memorable, I will apply some studies to a hypothesis which could help you create more meaningful and memorable images from some thoughts from cognitive science…..
See on erickimphotography.com
