Lost my virginity on Bourbon Street

I've been following this forum and the "Street" gallery for some time.

I've been really impressed by many of the photos posted and wanted to

try my hand (and eye) at street shooting. This past week, I was in

New Orleans for a business trip. I thought what better place to have

my first street shooting experience than Bourbon Street. I was

traveling light, had no flash, and little time for shooting. Most of

the photos were shot at night at high ISO, handheld, with 105mm lens

(my fastest). I also had a fever and the shakes. So...I tried to use

motion blur as an advantage. I don't know if this approach was very

successful. I'd appreciate any feedback from some of you more

seasoned street shooters.

 

Here's a link to my Bourbon Street folder

http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=504392

 

Thanks for any advice or guidance.

I heard a report on the news today, where they rated the 'heathiest cities in America to live in'. New Orleans came in last place. With as much alcohol as I consumed the last time I was there, as well as the great(fatty) food. I tend to believe the report. I cannot remember being anywhere where I'd rather have a camera though...

Glen, That report doesn't surprise me. Of course, on Bourbon Street, there's quite a police presence so I felt reasonably safe there.

 

Despite being sick (fever, cough), I still managed my share of alcohol and delicious food. The combination of heat, humidity, sounds and smells can make the city a bit tough to bear without a nice cool daquiri(aka medicine) and plenty of interesting characters to watch.

Laurie -- let me start by saying I'm a beginnerish street photographer as well. So take

whatever follows with a truckload of salt.

 

I think this is a good bunch of pictures, especially as a first outing. My favorite is the

saxophone player. The limited color palette gives the photo a lot of punch. There's also a

theme of circles that I like.

 

I tend to be allergic to photos of drunks and derelicts. Half of street shooting, to me, is

having the guts to actually do it. When your subject is powerless and/or passed out, it

feels like a cop-out to me. Also, I have feelings about "exoticizing" poverty. I don't mean

to be preachy; these are my personal feelings, and if you don't share them, that's fine with

me.

 

The photos as a group are somewhat all-over-the-map stylistically, but I think that's only

natural when starting out. The same criticism has been leveled at my photos, not without

reason. :-)

 

Keep shooting and good luck.

Thanks Ben. My "first" was certainly fun if not entirely successful. I agree that things were across the board stylistically. I wish I could say it was intentional. The reality is that without a flash (a real one anyway), once dark, I was stuck shooting with whatever shutter speed I could muster. Without a tripod and with a fever, camera shake was an added challenge. Several of these were at 1/8th of a second.

 

Still, I was glad to have the opportunity to shoot on Bourbon Street. I wasn't quite as intimidated since there were so many tourists snapping away. The street performers expect it. They also expect a "donation" which was offered on most occasions. I now feel brave enough to give this type of shooting a try in other places where I might not be as welcomed. I'll make sure to have all the right tools next time.

Laurie - I think this is a great collection of shots. Congrats.

 

Reed

pretty good for 1st attempt. but, you haven't quite lost your virginity yet. do this again, with a nice 24mm f/2 (or faster) lens hooked up to that D70. Shooting at a film equiv of 150mm I tend to do head shots mostly, but down at around 35mm (film equiv) at about 7 feet away is where most of us usually shoot. Gives a nice intimate feeling to the subject plus more of the surrounding area due to the wider angle.

 

the two person red background blur (sans the white bg intrusion) is pretty effective. You can probably burn (make darker in your photo editior) that white down a few shades to help. One thing to remember, you are shooting at night. You DON'T have to a have a white (except for actual lights).

 

I'd try the 24mm fast lens and ISO 1600 before I resorted to flash though..........yeah, I know they aint cheap, but that is where you need to be. Sigma has one a friend of mine uses on his Nikons........he loves it. I'm Canon, so I needed to get a 20mm f/1.8 version (due to 1.6 vice your 1.5 crop factor), and at 1600 in my Canon it's where it's at for night photography in a reasonably lit area.

 

enjoy...........it's great fun doing night street.

Pretty good start for street photography. Take a look at the Street/Doc forum and you'll see some good stuff by the "regulars." My 19 year old daughter just completed a year at UNO and worked in the French Quarter. She loved it. She says everybody in New Orleans "is crazy." They all drink too much and smoke. And that's just the locals. The movie that just came out with John Travolta, "A love song for Bobbie Long" is set in New Orleans and really gives the flavor of the characters that gravitate to that city. Great movie too.

Oops, you're in Street & Doc. Sorry.

I agree you should try a wide angle lens and get in closer. Not

sure about 7 feet specifically; I tend to find myself somewhere

around 12 feet from human subjects pretty often, but something

close like that anyway is the idea, depending on what you feel is

working for you. Wide angle lenses bring more depth of space

into the photo and will tend to give a feel of being there instead of

being distant.

 

Also keep looking at good work here and in books, etc. Take a

look at photographers like Winogrand, Robert Frank, Salgado,

Nachtwey, Alex Webb, and lots of others. See how they put

photographs together not just with a central subject and left over

space, but with the entire frame being important. The subject is

the photograph, not just an isolated portion of the photograph.

 

Be aware of quality and angle of light and develop a sense of

what kind of light illuminates the subject in a way you like to see

it.

I like your subject choice and way of seeing, and i agree with all who told you to try to get closer to have a more "live" shot, with the feel of a real presence there. I really think that many shots you have chosen would have looked great even in that way, since you have a good eye.

Hey Laurie, there is some very good work in your Bourbon Street folder. What I like most about it, individual shots aside, is that you have captured the atmosphere of Bourbon Street. It has been done before but it was worth it. There is a directness and lack of pretention in your photographs. Definately you are a street photog virgin no more.

Laurie, these are wonderful shots. Your photo's capture the character of the French Quarter very well. I enjoyed them.

 

Cheers

Laurie - I've been shooting street portraits in San Diego for over ten years and I think your shots in New Orleans are great. Canning

Thanks to all for the great feedback and support. I agree that a wider faster lens would have made life a lot easier (and the photos a bit more interesting perhaps). I'll be checking prices on a good used one!

 

I really enjoyed shooting these. It's so different from my normal shooting experience, which almost always involves a tripod. I've been wanting to try it for a while but felt a bit intimidated by the idea of just pointing at strangers and snapping away. Now that I've gotten my feet wet, I'm looking forward to trying some more.

 

I've noticed street shots in general don't get much respect here on PN. I find it odd since many of the street shots I've seen in this forum and in the gallery are some of the most interesting or compelling. I hope I can acheive a few images that come close to the emotional impact I've had when viewing the work of some of those who regularly post here.

 

Thanks again for all the feedback!

Laurie, forget the received wisdom of 'wider' and 'closer' ... to me it looks like you have the right lens for your approach. Not suggesting you should never change, but this session clearly worked well.

I agree with Sandeha.

Sandeha and Alex...Thank you! I'll continue using my 105mm for these shots but will also experiment with different focal lengths. There were a few shots I passed up because I didn't have the right lens for the job. Options are always a good thing. That said, I doubt I'll ever carry more than two lenses when doing this type of shooting. Traveling light was very liberating.

Individually, they are nice run-of-the-mill French Quarter shots. Collectively, they are a superb group. Don't pay any attention to all these suggestions of how you need shorter or faster lenses, etc. You're doing great with what you've got. Just keep doing what you've started here.

Thanks Bill. I appreciate your vote of confidence. I'll probably try different lenses but I did feel comfortable with the 105mm. In good light, I have several focal lengths that should work just fine. I just got a new D2X so I'll be a shooting fool for the next few weeks!