Practicing can be a frustrating exercise. Not in a sense that it’s difficult but that the results don’t mean much to me. I’ve been shooting people as close-up as I possibly could and dared, which was close. And these shots ended up being just shots of people, mostly looking at me in surprise or irritation, while there was no composition to speak of. Of course not, no time for that. Doing this I was losing the fun in photography and that’s not the way to go. Continue reading “What to shoot?”
Happy
I’ve just been watching a video of Joel Meyerowitz talking about his photography. Impressive, inspiring and deeply moving. Just be patient and watch the whole 75 minutes.
Yesterday I was practicing with the 35mm lens on my camera and getting up real close. To hell with it! I just hate that 35mm angle of view! Joel Meyerowitz’s video made me think of a photo I made earlier and to which I keep coming back. Still happy with this one.
Practicing
Yesterday I decided to practice, getting up close to people. I put a 35mm on my camera to force me to get up closer. And with the adrenaline racing through my veins I kept shooting, again being constantly surprised that so few people seemed to bother. Continue reading “Practicing”
Unripe
This picture is from two days ago and I know now that this means it’s unripe. Continue reading “Unripe”
No explanation
In the first version of this post I explained why I took this shot. I now edited that out: if I have to do so, the picture obviously doesn’t work. Upon revisiting older shots I decided to show this one after all, even though it’s not perfectly sharp. Hope you like it; be sure to click on it for a larger view.
Early
Yesterday I decided to go out early, hoping to catch somewhat different scenes. Less people on the streets and some restaurants weren’t open yet.
People garnishing the scene
In earlier photographs I put people in a street more as a garnish than anything else, until it became clear to me that I wanted people as the main subject so against my ratio I was heading for street photography as the real deal.
Still sometimes it worked for me, here’s an example.
Encounters
This time I focussed (pun intended) on encounters: people having interactions with each other in a way that made me smile, if only just a little.
Being more relaxed now, I don’t mind if my subjects take note of my pointing a camera at them. It gives me more time to take a picture, even watch composition, check on focus and take more shots if I want to. When noticed I smile, pretend I was photographing something else by looking away after shooting, just walk on or whatever. Your own behaviour is crucial in a way I’m only beginning to slightly understand. Key to this is experience, experience, experience, I guess.
Minolta RF Rokkor 250mm 1:5.6
Every Minolta collector knows about this lens and will probably own or want it; at least I did, but the exorbitant prices for this thing always put me off: there’s no way I’m going to splurge a thousand euros for it.
Continue reading “Minolta RF Rokkor 250mm 1:5.6”
Rain is nice!
“Nice weather today, good to go out and make photos!” I get that often and people are amazed when I pull up my nose: nah, too much haze, look at the whitish-blue sky. Cloudy weather is easier for street photography and rain creates subjects of its own. Continue reading “Rain is nice!”