I spent New Year at Southbank, as the last firework faded from the sky the rush for the gates began with the crowd slowing to a crawl at the gates. Thousands of people slowly rushing to spend the first hour of 2007 stuck in traffic.I spent a lovely couple of hours wandering around when the crowd had thinned and I learned some valuable lessons
* Trying my hand at street photography at night wasn't the best idea I've ever had. The flash was too intrusive and shooting people at iso 1600 and a slow shutter yields very ordinary results.
* No matter how small the camera or how cheap and nasty the tripod, people have more respect for a photographer with a tripod.
*It's great fun to have a shooting buddy, I went with a friend and we had a blast.
* Street photography is scary and great fun. I met some wonderful characters that I wouldn't have met without my camera to break the ice.
* Some people politely decline to have their photo taken, lots don't mind, sleeping people don't know or care and some people just love the chance to perform.
I am now looking forward to learning more, improving a lot and enjoying the very real moments that this project promises to bring.
9 comments:
Thank you for this hints. I'm very much afraid to go to the streets, so I usually shoot at home (lousy results) or in remote places, where nobody will offend me. You are brave :)
It worked well to make this black and white - kind of cool with just people's legs. I agree with the other comment you got about being brave. Wish I could get more comfortable asking people to take their picture. I also envy you for having a warm New Year's Eve. People are wearing shorts! I checked out your link to Southbank, but it's broken. Anyway, nice image for the new year. Good luck with your photo a week project, Bobbie!
You're awfully brave for taking on this theme for the year... hopefully you can learn a lot and teach the rest of us a few things along the way!
I like the way you have just the legs here... it really conveys the idea of the masses of people leaving the event. Looking forward to more of your adventures in street photography. Happy New Year! :)
I too, like the legs... I believe that the heads would have been too distracting... I hope you are going to keep it mostly black and white too... you just capture "more" of people that way... you aren't distracted by colors so you really have to look at what the photographer is showing you... I look forward to learning from this blog. I have never done street shots (don't even have a studio at home) and tend to stick to the nature around me :) Bravo on your first post!
Great start for your PAW project. Your theme will be very challenging, it's something that I'd love to do but living in a smalll town would make it even more difficult. I'll be back to see more of your work.
All the best.
Street photography is huge fun. As you progress you will become more comfortable with it... become a part of the action rather than an observer and you will advance quickly :)
great picture, and excellent narrative. this is going to be a great set of images...
I echo everyone else's words and sentiments. I like street or candid photography but often wrestle with the moral implications of using someones image without their direct consent. However, by capturing "people without faces" you get past this dilemma - way cool!
I wasn't to crazy about this image at first. I kept thinking 'what if that were me?' but I realize that you captured NORMAL people doing normal things without identity at all. I doubt the people in the shot would even recognize who they are.
I am not a people person. People really scare me! With my camera in hand I have actually learned to approach a few people and strike conversations with total strangers. I am not to comfortable with the dirty looks yet. I thought about this challenge because it would really push me out of my comfort zone but I chickened out. Kudos for choosing it and taking that plunge on something less than comfortable for you.
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