>>> Street Photography eXchange #148 <<<

xtoph said:

sam, I'm glad you got the allusion. Sal, that is a very seattle-savvy comment... Indeed stores are not supposed to offer plastic bags here (though in practice some still do). This was probably construction debris, however.

Thanks both of you for commenting-

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Chris, thought your title was just a coincidence.

skanter said:

xtoph said:

sam, I'm glad you got the allusion. Sal, that is a very seattle-savvy comment... Indeed stores are not supposed to offer plastic bags here (though in practice some still do). This was probably construction debris, however.

Thanks both of you for commenting-

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Chris, thought your title was just a coincidence.

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have you ever shot video?

Thanks for the helpful comments, Mr. Fellow Seattlite

i'm a little surprised no one has commented on this one. it has excellent geometry (concrete), and interesting textures (leaves), and a moody atmosphere.

i don't see any reason not to nudge the verticals ccw a little bit.

morepix said:

Thanks for the helpful comments, Mr. Fellow Seattlite

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there's surprisingly many of us on this forum for some reason. i noticed the geometric stand of trees from golden gardens in another poster's pic...

skanter said:

skanter said:

have you ever shot video?

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i have. i did a fair amount of ethnographic and other video recording in the 90's, until i lost my treasured sony pdx10 and most of my recorded tapes to a home robbery. at that point i decided i really just didn't like video that much. (not to make myself, anyway.)

since then i've still done some music venue and documentary work with dslr video, but not if i can help it. i hated that feeling of holding your breath (figuratively) during a long take, and then you know you have to spend 3x that time just to properly review and log it... besides, i prefer the contemplative mood of still photos more in general. what benjamin says about movies, that dictatorial inexorable timeline, yields to the viewer's choice in still photography.

of course, that often works out to be something less than a second for many viewers...

i think so far you have an idea, but not a finished work. this is a relatively easy sort of thing to shoot; there's ton's of material in any city, it's endlessly repeatable, and it's very anonymous. so, more like portraiture or studio work, there's a high bar to designate an image that stands out from the crowd (sorry, couldn't help myself there). what's decisive about any of these moments?

of the shots you've shown here, i would say version II is the most promising; with the hidden leg, there's a sense of surprise or something unusual, at least. i am not sure the overall framing supports that theme very well, however.

i can get the appeal of making these sorts of photos, but afterwards you still have to step back and ask yourself, what did i capture in the photo?

sorry if you wanted to hear more appreciation; i still like the idea, i just think that you can probably get something much better, if you give it another week or two.

Roman



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The man appears hesitant, perhaps overawed by the signs and graffiti. Lost in a modern world.

Wonderful.

Alan.,

This is somehow very haunting. His body language, the scene. A wonderful image.

Sal

A man from another time and a city around him that he has not changed with... Nice

Alan, Sal and Easy Rider - thank you very much all for such wonderful comments!

xtoph said:

i think so far you have an idea, but not a finished work. this is a relatively easy sort of thing to shoot; there's ton's of material in any city, it's endlessly repeatable, and it's very anonymous. so, more like portraiture or studio work, there's a high bar to designate an image that stands out from the crowd (sorry, couldn't help myself there). what's decisive about any of these moments?

of the shots you've shown here, i would say version II is the most promising; with the hidden leg, there's a sense of surprise or something unusual, at least. i am not sure the overall framing supports that theme very well, however.

i can get the appeal of making these sorts of photos, but afterwards you still have to step back and ask yourself, what did i capture in the photo?

sorry if you wanted to hear more appreciation; i still like the idea, i just think that you can probably get something much better, if you give it another week or two.

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I may be the only one, but I really like looking at this photo. What do I like?

i like geometric patterns and angles of the the white lines.

I like the gritty textures of the cement, and the cracks on the lower left in the first white line.

I like the mettalic sheen of the curb.

I like the cigarette butt!

I like the way the feet are not really the subject, but are a small but essential part of the image.

I like the way we can begin to see the rest of the street, cars and people, but only a small glimpse.

I like the way it all fits together, and that I captured it.

It would be nice if others connected with it, and I am always gratified to get positive feedback from people I respect - but this is not my aim. Often with photography (and music) what I consider my mediocre work is most popular, my best work is unnoticed. Cest la vie!

well, ultimately, we only need to satisfy ourselves--though it is nice to have a sense that even when we might disagree about liking or not a picture, we can at least share a vision of it... one wouldn't think it would be so hard, but people see the same things really profoundly differently. shared vision may be even more mysterious than shared language (and that's very mysterious).

i think that more precise control over focus would likely help me to feel like i could see what you may be seeing in these. also, in this pic (iii), the car wheels mess with the unity of the rest of the picture--i think it may actually work better for me with a slight crop down from the top.

the color and exposure are very fine. maybe just raise the arm a tiny bit so that we can see the horizontal shape across the body, but still shades of black.

i don't usually very much like 'timed' shots, juxtapositions of passersby in front of static elements, but this is perfectly executed, and his look balances the magazine cover girls' just so.

fun picture-

morepix said:

While C-B was photographing that fat man out back

--
David
pbase.com/morepix

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--
David
pbase.com/morepix

xtoph said:

well, ultimately, we only need to satisfy ourselves--though it is nice to have a sense that even when we might disagree about liking or not a picture, we can at least share a vision of it... one wouldn't think it would be so hard, but people see the same things really profoundly differently. shared vision may be even more mysterious than shared language (and that's very mysterious).

i think that more precise control over focus would likely help me to feel like i could see what you may be seeing in these. also, in this pic (iii), the car wheels mess with the unity of the rest of the picture--i think it may actually work better for me with a slight crop down from the top.

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Thanks for the comments, Chris, I'll try your idea. You've certainly been helpful in the past...

Actually, the first post is sort of an error too. Ignore both.

well, okay, but now i am curious to know why you think the first post is an error...

i don't get the relation to hcb's puddle jumper, personally.

This woman was standing next to me taking a photo with her phone. Because I shot with film since 1959. I often see better in b&w. I also process better in b&w, using what I learned in the wet darkroom. Here I am trying to emphasize the woman and what she is doing. I have darkened some parts of the background, and the white shirt in the lower right hand corner.






Now if I wanted to make a statement about the color blue, this would work. Look how many items are in this that are blue. But now my eye wanders around the frame. Not so much in the B&W

Both work, some of you are going to like the color and some the B&W. I would guess my camera club would like the color best, as b&w has a hard time winning anything. Street photography escapes most of the members, as to why we do it. A few are also very concerned about noise in the image.




This was taken during a protest in Charlotte. I wanted to make you look at the woman with the sign, and darkened the man on the left side of the image. I hope it makes you look at the two woman.






Not a bad image, but my eye wanders around it where the b&w takes my eye to what I wanted you to look at.

Great art? I don't think so, but I do have fun doing this. The wonder of shooting on the street is that you have an original, no one is going to ever take that same image.

www.photosbypike.com