London street [C&C]

KarmaGarda · 15-11-2009 7:33pm #1

Was out at St Pauls and on Oxford St in London today. Managed to get a few shots in that I was pleased with. There's 1 or 2 I wasn't sure about so thought I'd post them up here for C&C.

#1

<deleted them from pix.ie>

#2

<deleted them from pix.ie>

#3

#4

Thanks for looking!

AnimalRights · 15-11-2009 7:42pm

I'm sure someone will come along and do a more in-depth c&c but....

#1 Shooting peoples backs doesn't normally work but in this case because of his stance and the DoF on the female I like it.

#2 The B+W work on this is all wrong and her face seems blown out or PP'd wrong. Not an expert so I'm curious on others views on this pic.
They also look like models forcing the pose but I'm pretty sure you just captured them.

#3 Clever capture, I would've cropped the distracting black line to the right of the pillar, again the female seems to be lacking detail and this is true especially compared to the poster's female.

#4 I like the composition here and only quibble here would be the Guy's hand is more in detail then the face, not by much but...I too have problems with that btw.

You seemed to use more contrast/blacks on the last 2 pics which I think worked better.

.Longshanks. · 15-11-2009 7:42pm

#3 is excellent! Sorry I can't offer any more comments as street photography is something I've yet to try

KarmaGarda · 15-11-2009 7:47pm

AnimalRights wrote: »

You seemed to use more contrast/blacks on the last 2 pics which I think worked better.

Interesting, now that you mention it the first 2 don't look as contrasty as the second 2 even though it was all using the same settings! I must take another look at those 2, see can I improve them.

AnimalRights · 15-11-2009 7:49pm

What PP app do you use?
I use Lightroom 2 and have a major problem that the pictures are more rich in colour/B+W then when I post them here or in Pixie, so I have to guess a lot.

KarmaGarda · 15-11-2009 7:56pm

AnimalRights wrote: »

What PP app do you use?
I use Lightroom 2 and have a major problem that the pictures are more rich in colour/B+W then when I post them here or in Pixie, so I have to guess a lot.

Using Lightroom 3 Beta. But I've popped those 2 into The Gimp and have bumped the contrasts slightly. I'm in danger of losing the girls face altogether in #2 so not going to over do it.

New #1

New #2

KarmaGarda · 15-11-2009 7:57pm

Just spotted something funny going on in the pavement of #1 there. Might go back to the drawing board on that one....

KarmaGarda · 15-11-2009 8:04pm

Ok, fixed em a bit. *slaps own wrist for working on jpeg and not raw*

AnimalRights · 15-11-2009 8:12pm

You should never tamper with the original pics!!
My c&c looks crazy now lol

It's also harder for people who have just seen the thread to see how you might have improved the pics!!

I am not crazy

KarmaGarda · 15-11-2009 8:27pm

AnimalRights wrote: »

You should never tamper with the original pics!!
My c&c looks crazy now lol

It's also harder for people who have just seen the thread to see how you might have improved the pics!!

I am not crazy

Ohh, you're very strict

. But you're right. I put them back to what they were. Now you look only slightly insane :pac:

AnCatDubh · 15-11-2009 10:44pm

Overarching statement: I like em.

You've gone for street candids (nothing wrong with that in my book) but why didn't you engage with people? I only ask so as to get you thinking yourself.

If I were answering this myself, it would be that i'm not particularly comfortable walking up and engaging with someone I don't know. Why? I keep asking this myself

This is on my personal photographic development plan and will happen at some time when I get more comfortable. What I do find is each time I move onto the streets I become a bit more comfortable with the notion.

The other problem I have with what you've posted is that you haven't included any details as to what you set out to achieve so have you achieved what you intended ? Yes / No / Maybe - Strike all that don't apply!

Considering the series as a whole;

I find #1 to be the weakest of the set due to the lack of a recognisable feature as the focal point. To me someone's back isn't. But who's to say that the lady in the bokeh isn't the actual feature of the image which you intended to be in the bokeh region (again, we don't have enough to go on).

I do like #2 - her highlights on the face on my display is a little blown - to me, just pushed a little bit too far. I'm not sure your PP tool of choice but i'd try add in some blacks perhaps to give a little more on the shadows side of the contrast.

#3 is nicely spotted. Clever natural composure happening there - the similarities is what strikes me. Yet, I don't think it is a fantastic shot. Don't get me wrong I aesthetically pleasing but imho its a little ordinary and cliched. Don't worry about this - everyone has cliched shots. That's what makes them so wonderful. All that being said. I do like it. And the b/w treatment is yummy.

#4 is a great image. blacks on my display pushed right into places that in theory maybe they shouldn't be, but don't let that put you off. It produces a great aesthetic imho. I really like it. The infocus / in bokeh is quite deserving in the image and highlights the feature of the image. Like the noise / grain here too.

Overall a very nice set. Can I suggest that you ask yourself a single question:

How next time that you are out on the streets can you push yourself a little further?

Only with this will you progress (again imho)

Usual disclaimer - all the above only a single opinion. You will be free to cast the lot into the waste paper bin (at least the virtual one!)

Hope the above at least gives a little to consider.

KarmaGarda · 15-11-2009 11:43pm

With critique so detailed it must be respected with a detailed reply!

AnCatDubh wrote: »

Overarching statement: I like em.

You've gone for street candids (nothing wrong with that in my book) but why didn't you engage with people? I only ask so as to get you thinking yourself.

If I were answering this myself, it would be that i'm not particularly comfortable walking up and engaging with someone I don't know. Why? I keep asking this myself This is on my personal photographic development plan and will happen at some time when I get more comfortable. What I do find is each time I move onto the streets I become a bit more comfortable with the notion.

What can I say. Bingo. This was my second attempt at "proper" street photography. Before I shot "snapshots". I believe I'm now at the stage that you correctly described as "Street Candid". I've never been that person who initiates interaction, so street at that level is very much alien to me. I've started to get that little bit more comfortable each time, so now I'm getting past the stage where I don't care about getting caught, or noticed.

AnCatDubh wrote: »

The other problem I have with what you've posted is that you haven't included any details as to what you set out to achieve so have you achieved what you intended ? Yes / No / Maybe - Strike all that don't apply!

Why didn't I didn't include what I went out to achieve? Because in my opinion street photography is very subjective. If you set out to capture a particular emotion/action/situation/composition this should be conveyed in the resulting photograph. But sometimes what you set out to convey doesn't necessarily have to be interpreted in the same way as how you attempt to present it. And that's a good thing. When I see a street photo, I want to "photo what I see". And then I want people to "see what I was seeing". My interpretation of what I saw doesn't have to necessarily match what another persons is. But if I can evoke that emotion or thought from the viewer to convey what he/she sees in the photo then I have succeeded. Have I achieved that here? I don't think so, but I think I'm getting closer each time. For me, my second attempt at street photography wasn't a bad effort if I do say so myself!

AnCatDubh wrote: »

Considering the series as a whole;

I find #1 to be the weakest of the set due to the lack of a recognisable feature as the focal point. To me someone's back isn't. But who's to say that the lady in the bokeh isn't the actual feature of the image which you intended to be in the bokeh region (again, we don't have enough to go on).

I think this is the weakest of the bunch in my opinion, so I'm skipping by this one! Main reason is I can't quite put my finger on why I actually like it.

AnCatDubh wrote: »

I do like #2 - her highlights on the face on my display is a little blown - to me, just pushed a little bit too far. I'm not sure your PP tool of choice but i'd try add in some blacks perhaps to give a little more on the shadows side of the contrast.

Cheers for the advice on this. I agree that it was slightly blown. I might go back to the raw file and see if I can improve that photo. (my tool of choice is Lightroom + The Gimp)

AnCatDubh wrote: »

#3 is nicely spotted. Clever natural composure happening there - the similarities is what strikes me. Yet, I don't think it is a fantastic shot. Don't get me wrong I aesthetically pleasing but imho its a little ordinary and cliched. Don't worry about this - everyone has cliched shots. That's what makes them so wonderful. All that being said. I do like it. And the b/w treatment is yummy.

This photo fell on my lap to be honest. Well, in the fact that I spotted the advertisement and waited for about 30 minutes to see if anyone interesting stood in front of it. She did, and she got photographed.

AnCatDubh wrote: »

#4 is a great image. blacks on my display pushed right into places that in theory maybe they shouldn't be, but don't let that put you off. It produces a great aesthetic imho. I really like it. The infocus / in bokeh is quite deserving in the image and highlights the feature of the image. Like the noise / grain here too.

This is actually my favourite of the bunch. I took 2 photos of the guy to get this (and got caught both times

).

AnCatDubh wrote: »

Overall a very nice set. Can I suggest that you ask yourself a single question:

How next time that you are out on the streets can you push yourself a little further?

Only with this will you progress (again imho)

Usual disclaimer - all the above only a single opinion. You will be free to cast the lot into the waste paper bin (at least the virtual one!)

Hope the above at least gives a little to consider.

Ok, before I answer that question I'm going to back track a bit for you. What exactly did I go about achieving! 1 simple word: Communication.

I had it in my head from another forum and I was wondering how you could portray this in street photography. The first is the weakest because you can't see but she is texting. I still do like it though.

In the second there was a couple openly smooching and canoodling (maybe there's a better choice of words!). So I took a few photos, and managed to capture this. The photo says a lot to me in that so much can be communicated just by a face, a touch, but not a sound or word spoken.

In the third is advertising. Now, I wasn't expecting the particular girl in question to walk in front of the advert in question, so it fell on my lap a bit better than expected. She was also advertising, and if you notice the front of her "brochure" is a photo of a similar woman.

The last is pretty obvious and doesn't need explanation. Funnily enough, we had some form of a "smile and laugh" communication between us when he caught me photographing him. Be pretty hard to convey that though!

Finally, how can I improve or push myself a bit further. I never actually thought about this, so I'm glad you've made me think about it. Firstly, when I photo street, as I mentioned, I want people to see what I'm seeing. Each photo should make people feel like they are there, or feel what that person is feeling. But even better, your points on interacting with them, how do I incorporate this too... I'm going to have to have a think about it! Maybe if (or when

) I come up with something I'll post my next instalment!

Now, sorry if I've rambled a bit! But I thought your C&C justified an involved answer

London street [C&C]

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