Question about street photography

[simplephotography]

A good tele photo remains a good telephoto.
And Simplephotography's 1st one is good thanks to these two interesting men.

First of all: those two you posted here are fantastic street images. Love 'em!
Now, I also like that first one I posted, and it's probably better than the second one, but the second one is more dynamic.
Let me show you another one that I took with a wide angle lens, but not up close. This is something you can never accomplish with a telephoto lens:




Well, to go short: I like telephoto, but after some time, you've seen every type of head, every beautiful woman, and you get bored. At least I did.
Then try expressive photography with wide angle lenses
For me personally, the following goes:
Telephoto is good if I want to make a street portrait, or interaction between two, maximum three people, with emphasis on the upper parts of their bodies.
Wide angle is absolutely needed if I want to show a situation, or people doing something, or to bring a lot of depth in my image. Telephoto will compress the depth in an image, while wide angles show a lot of depth.
Consequently, you need interesting backgrounds, also because your DOF will be a lot wider as well. Your subject has to stand out in another way then being the only thing in focus. I mostly try to do that by putting it in the foreground.

Moreover, I find street photography with a wide angle lens much more difficult.
With a telephoto lens, you make sure that your subject is in focus and that your background is blurred.
With a wide angle lens, you have a foreground, a space where your subject is, and a background! So I try to either put my subject IN the foreground, OR I try to create an interesting foreground, then my subject, and minimize the background, OR make sure it's interesting.

Interesting foreground (at least to my taste ), subjects in the middle, relatively simple background:



Subject in the foreground:




Make the foreground interesting, subject in the middle:

[blondeanarchy]

So why wouldn't your opinion count just as much as anyone else's? Because you have less experience?
Let me tell you that I learn every day. I get lots of mail from beginning street photographers, who want to know certain things about my own work. Well, they often have very fresh ideas. They are full of motivation and enthousiasm. Anyone who says that your opinion is less valuable because you only start out, is too high with his nose in the clouds. I just adore to spend time with beginning street photographers. They inspire me all the time.

I think I was trying to say more that my technical knowledge is very limited, so my opinion on what kind of lens to use for certain types of photography isn't very informed.

Your pictures are amazing, by the way! Thanks for the kind words.

[simplephotography]

You're welcome! Keep faith in yourself, be passionate, and you'll get there. I never got any course in photography, but asking questions here is better than any course you can get.

[garth_wunsch]

I really appreciate this thread, but would like to take it one more level, even though my question is not strictly "artistic", I just don't know where else to post it.
What legal ramifications re privacy and model releases etc do you folks see in this area? I know there are different laws for different jurisdictions and probably differences if we sell the images. Many street images are definitely art and the artist might have the opportunity to sell them. It is a dilemma!

[sheila]

There is always going to be a debate regarding street photography. Is it invading folk's privacy or not? Can one sell images of people in the street? It all depends on where you live. In Australia, its not illegal to snap folk on the street (but you need a model release to sell the image for advertising purposes but not editorial). In France, I believe that its illegal to photograph its citizens which I find quite odd! I use various lenses to shoot on the street and have a gallery dedicated to it.

http://www.pbase.com/sheila/streets_of_sydney

Cheers
Sheila

[sean_mcr]

It's fine to shoot people on the street in the UK. It's very rare that you'd need a model release in the UK even if the shots are to be sold. It's a safty net to have one . What you can't do is defame somebody in a photograph, no matter how that shot is to be used

Sheila

It's quite sad that you can no longer shoot the street in France (well you're not meant to) when you consider that it's one of the homes of street photography

Anybody that has any love or interest for shooting the street should watch this short film on one of its masters

http://www.jimarnold.org/downloads/winogrand/flash/

[wmk]

Interesting thread, indeed.
I've just noticed that many (or most?) street photographers make BW pics when using wide lenses.. It looks like BW forces viewers to focus on the subject and that background which is so hard to be found...

PS. I prefer telephoto lenses for shooting people.
http://www.pbase.com/wmk/image/85677127/large
-- they have no chance to notice the photographer, so they always look natural (I hate posed shots In addition blurred color background always makes the photo completely different than any other portrait with a deep DOF, easy to made with any point-and-shot cam.


cheers!
wmk

[jerseyfinn]

I'm not a pro or a pro-am. I simply enjoy photography and I find street photography to be especially satisfying because it is spontaneous and requires you to connect with what's around you in a fraction of a second.

Photography is both a science and an art, but truth be told, I simply try to gauge my exposures without spending too much time fretting over them and I immerse myself more with the people around me and the moment at hand. I'll not suggest that a telephoto lens is taboo for street work as it is nothing but a composition tool which is at your disposal when the situation dictates it. But I do believe that if one shoots purely telephoto, they deprive themselves ( and frequently your audiance ) of the spontaneity and true essence of your subject.

I've not read anything about how to do street photography until I peruse the links in these many threads. I agree with some of them and disagree with others.

For me, it's more about an innate feeling that you get as you stroll slowly along and someone pops up before you, grabbing your eye and attention for some aesthetic or emotive reason. It might be how they are dressed, the colors they're wearing, something they're carrying, their expression or mannerism or their beauty, physique, or simply their eyes. In any case you react personally to them and you have seconds to capture it to film or pixels.

I shoot with my standard lens ( and before I broke it, a 28mm WA lens ). I don't take the time to composite or frame. My camera is held in my hand near my chest and I simply see it, feel it, and shoot. If I capture the essence I felt, then great. If not, it's like that fish that got off the hook -- you cast the line for another one. With some practice you can guesstimate how to aim and get pleasing composition. But you do miss a lot of shots this way.

I also rely upon my wife to help me. I want my subjects as I feel them and I really don't want them to feel my camera intruding upon them so I'll brace my camera while we walk and I slowly pause for a step as I snap the shot while looking towards my wife or pointing towards something. I'm not afraid of being caught as much as I'm trying to see if I can turn that moment into pixels.

I'm a relativist who feels that you're either meant to get the shot or you weren't. I miss a lot of shots with this technique. But being there and feeling the moment is something you still get to take with you even if you don't get the image.

Above all, I want people to feel what I felt for a second when I encounter my subject. I do know that when I look at my street photos, they bring back warm memories of our travels

My PBase London People Gallery ( http://www.pbase.com/jerseyfinn/london_april_2007 ) and My London Chinese New Year Gallery ( http://www.pbase.com/jerseyfinn/london_chinese_newyear demonstrate my approach.

Can't say that it's the best technique, but I think that some of the images take one on the journey that we experienced first hand.

I guess that the best advice is to simply get out there and mingle with the crowds.

Barry