Luminous Landscape Forum

The Art of Photography => User Critiques => Topic started by: armand on June 14, 2011, 12:17:00 am

Title: "Street shots"
Post by: armand on June 14, 2011, 12:17:00 am
Seeing so much writing about street shooting I thought I should give a try. Honestly most of my shots just look like simple snapshots that anybody could take, as I had the impression that many of the street shots that I saw look like. My entire try was in New York, so plenty of people on the streets. I got a glimpse of what I needed to do but I'm not sure I can get to look how I wanted.
Anyway, here are few shots that might be called street shots
Title: Re: "Street shots"
Post by: Jeremy Roussak on June 14, 2011, 03:32:22 am
Seeing so much writing about street shooting I thought I should give a try. Honestly most of my shots just look like simple snapshots that anybody could take, as I had the impression that many of the street shots that I saw look like. My entire try was in New York, so plenty of people on the streets. I got a glimpse of what I needed to do but I'm not sure I can get to look how I wanted.
Anyway, here are few shots that might be called street shots
I have the same feeling whenever I look at or try to take "street" shots. I like your third, though: it's sufficiently quirky to be interesting.

Jeremy
Title: Re: "Street shots"
Post by: Eric Myrvaagnes on June 14, 2011, 09:05:54 am
Yes. My favorite is also "trees and knees."

Eric
Title: Re: "Street shots"
Post by: louoates on June 14, 2011, 09:31:21 am
I think "street" photography is so difficult because of the rareness of success. You really have to look at the content very closely to see what works. For example the knees and trees work fairly well because the lower legs serve the same function as the tree trunks. And there is no other visual diversions from seeing that relationship. The woman next to the books would be so much more meaningful to me if she were immersed in her cell phone. The clock shot would work for me if the person in the scene would be asleep or somehow more related to the passage of time. The garbage scene would be much better if the other elements would be the landscapes behind or more focused on the couple that seems to be lying in the background.
  I have tons of street shots from Chicago but very few I consider successful. Maybe 1%. Maybe. The key is to keep shooting and keep looking for those contrasts and conflicts within each frame.
Title: Re: "Street shots"
Post by: RSL on June 14, 2011, 11:05:04 am
Armand, #3 is the keeper, though IMNSHO it's better like this. The clocks in #2 would make a good background for a street shot if you could get something in the foreground that relates to the clocks.

Keep it up. Be critical of your own stuff. When you're doing street, never get hung up on the beauty of color because color rarely is important in street shots. (If you were watching, you saw Eric catch me out on that last week.)
Title: Re: "Street shots"
Post by: Eric Myrvaagnes on June 14, 2011, 02:17:54 pm
Yup! I prefer "knees and trees" in BW, too.

Thanks, Russ.

Eric
Title: Re: "Street shots"
Post by: Jeremy Roussak on June 14, 2011, 03:21:17 pm
Yup! I prefer "knees and trees" in BW, too.
So do I. Now why didn't I think of it? I'm usually so keen to suggest b&w conversion.

Jeremy
Title: Re: "Street shots"
Post by: armand on June 15, 2011, 12:43:16 am
I actually like both the color and the bw. In color you notice the legs immediately, while the bw has better mood but less separation of the legs.

Few others from the same theme and location.

Title: Re: "Street shots"
Post by: armand on June 19, 2011, 12:53:55 am
Few more, not necessarily street shots but from the same trip and I don't want to start a new topic.
Anyway, even if my success with street shots was limited a did force myself to do several experiments, such as using exclusively my 35mm (52 in DX) for one day and half even if I carried all my other lenses with me (except the telephoto which I regretted not taking it in the first hour)