35MM STREET IS THE STREET PHOTOGRAPHY BLOG BY AWARD WINNING PHOTOGRAPHER DEREK CLARK. IT FEATURES TUTORIALS, TIPS AND TRICKS AND LOTS OF PICTURES FROM AN EXPERIENCED STREET PHOTOGRAPHER.
The Mutts Nuts
It's been a long wet winter. We get about eight or nine hours of daylight at this time of year in Scotland. By 4:30pm it's dark, but what light we do get is mostly poor. Last Sunday showed a little glimmer of hope with some nice light. Even though it's the middle of winter, there was no shortage of tourists in Edinburgh. Here are a few shots Taken late in the afternoon and into the early night.
Kage Collective :: Now We Are 7
The big announcement today is that we have gone from four to seven members over at The Kage Collective. Our three new members are fellow documentary photographers (in alphabetical order) Vincent Baldensperger fron Toulouse, France, Craig Litten from Palm Beach, USA and Fuji X photographer Bert Stephani from Steenokkerzeel, Belgium. All three of them are great photographers in their own right and we look forward to including their stories in the near future. But for now you can take a look at our updated Members Portfolio section on the Kage Collective site. All seven portfolios are newly updated...so check them all.
It's a privilege to be part of a collective with such a fantastic group of photographers. I would like to single out the hardest working member of the Kage Collective. Patrick (La Roque) created our Kage website and keeps it up to date and running smoothly. We all upload our own content, but everything else is Patrick. He is also the founder and both the magnet that brought us together and the glue that keeps us as a collective. A friend, a colleague and an absolute star.
Verona and Cortina - Italy
First two photos (above and below) are from Verona, the home of Romeo & Juliet, a big coliseum and a lot of strange people. It's a great place to wander round a shoot street photos.
These two shots (above and below) are from the beautiful town of Cortina, which is high up in the Dolomites and not that far from Austria.
Anatomy Of A Street Shot
I was about to post this shot with a few others from the same day, but as it's one of a sequence of three, I thought it might be good to have a look at them together to see the reasons one is chosen over the other. A lot of street photography is about one shot. Someone walks toward you, you take the shot and they're gone, never to be repeated ever again. But sometimes you have a chance to fire of two or three. This was one of those times because the dog slowed things down. I shot this in Glasgow (Scotland) with the X100. It's still my favourite street camera, even though I now have the 23mm f1.4 (35mm full frame) for the X-Pro1. There's just something special about this tiny silent camera. As a side note - the X100s in black was announced yesterday...food for thought.
SHOT 1: I like this street as it has character, but it's not usually busy. I think this was my second shot of the day. I saw this guy walking his dog and I liked the contrast of the long dark coat and the odd wooly dog. I knew we were a bit far apart for the 35mm field of view, but as it was only my second shot of the day, I took a test shot and checked the photo in the viewfinder. If you are not familiar with the Fuji X100 ( and XPro1), the viewfinder has a tiny screen that slides in when you take a shot and let's you see the photo without chimping on the camera LCD. My exposure was ok. The Sky was a bit blown out, but it was a grey day and it was more important to expose for the street. But I knew this wouldn't be a keeper. I knew that before I pressed the shutter.
SHOT 2: I moved closer and he moved closer. I crouched low to get a better angle. This is the shot that works best for me. It has strong leading lines that take the viewers eye to both subjects. It doesn't matter if your eye reached the man or the dog first because the tight lead that connects them also causes you to shift from one to the other. I really like the pose, it's a little stiff with one foot slightly raised and twisted as it leaves the kerb. The expression is good and makes you wonder what's going on in his life. He has things on his mind that might be worrying him. I also like the man walking in the opposite direction on the other side of the street and the 'Beer Cafe' sign seems to suit the overall look of this street too. There's a lot of elements that just work in this shot and it's the one I chose as the keeper.
SHOT 3: This shot is usable, but a lot of the elements that worked in shot 2 are missing. The man on the left has almost gone, the dog lead is hanging loose and doesn't work as well as a leading line. Although the main subjects pose is ok, his expression is nowhere near as good. In this shot he looks more annoyed at me taking pictures than lost in his own thoughts. This is all subjective of course and I realise some of you will prefer shot 3 over shot 2. But for me there is more to keep my attention in the second shot. It's important to take the time to study a shot. We tend to fast forward everything in this digital world, but there's nothing better than sitting down with a cup of tea or coffee and a big photography book.
Street - Fuji 23mm f1.4 - Colour or B&W?
This is a cross post with my blog at Derek Clark Photography for the following reason. When it comes to street photography I've always had my feet planted in the black and white side of the fence as it just looks more interesting to me. It strips away the distraction of colour and narrows the photograph down to composition and content. It also gives street shots a timeless quality. This blog has had only three colour pictures (I think), which were on the earliest posts. Since then it's been B&W all the way and even the post processing has been the exact same home made recipe that I cooked up in Silver Efex Pro way back. But lately I've noticed that some colour street photography has been catching my eye and that's unusual for me. I tend to think colour street shots look a little too bland, but never say never!
So here's the thing. All the shots on this post are in black and white, but you will find the same ones in colour over at DerekClarkPhotography by clicking HERE. They were all shot with the amazing new Fujifilm 23mm f1.4 on the X-Pro1, a pair that hasn't been separated since the lens was released. Have a look at both blog posts and see what you prefer. I'd love to here what you think. Do they all look better in colour? Do they all look better in B&W? Or does it depend on the individual photo?
Have a look at both B&W and colour versions, then leave a comment & use the poll bellow (or both).
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