.A day in Los Angeles....

[pacha mama photography]

...or rather, a pair of hours. Photos from yesterday approximately 5pm-7pm.

Taken in a rectangular area from 5th-9th (north-south) and los angeles st. to

spring (east-west). Comments/critiques VERY welcome. let me know what you think!!!

 

 

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[vivid_earth_photographics]

Wow. You did this in 2 hours? It's inspiring. I look at some portfolios on here and struggle to figure out why they are considered to be so good based on ratings. I look at your shots and find myself scrolling backward to see them again, drawn into them carried along by "stories" they seem to contain, appreciating the compositions and choices you made. The technique is not what clobbers me first--it's the images. I think your work is very poetic. This is, of course, all for whatever it's worth since I often feel I know nothing when staring at some of the highest rated pix on here that leave me utterly cold.

[spanky]

Very nice Chris. I haven't been downtown for any shooting in maybe over a year except for a few taken on Cinco de Mayo. Have to get back there again when the weather cools.

[bwbob]

Great street photos but IMHO would have more impact in B&W. Cheers, Bob Rene

[pacha mama photography]

vin: yep. the only post processing that was done was desaturation. im using the 18-55mm 3.5-5.6 nikon EG. good luck at the parker center, let me know how it goes.

 

kyle: possibly a little more :) i don't remember if i stopped shooting at 7 or 7:30. the last one was taken on my way home, so it throws the time off a bit haha. the photos are in order of the times they were taken though.

 

thank you for your kind words. and i cant agree more with the ratings system here. too often photo-shopped (often times not even good attempts at ps) are what dominate the ratings. there are gems at the top as well but the disgust for the bad ones unfortunately are what usually grabs my attention. eh.

 

Marc: its still amazing to shoot there in early morning (for buildings etc) or late afternoon for the people. wayyyyyy too hot to shoot during the day, but then again the light isnt that great at that time anyway.

 

Robert: i lovvvvee BW. in fact, i never shot color until i got my digital camera. and i still cannot figure out a decent way to convert to BW. im not very proficient with ps so i dont really even know a good starting point. care to shed some light?

[iamkatia]

To me, there's no real interest for these.

People standing, sitting and walking.

Okay. But so what?

I think street photography is about much more than that.

I think you have to look deeper.

You have to find the Magic.

[pacha mama photography]

'standing and sitting' ouchh it kinda hurts when you put it that way haha. im definitely working on my street photography. your right though, i still have not gotten to that point where the photos are complete magic. there are still a couple internal obstacles that i must overcome. but hopefully im a little closer than when i started. thank you for the comment :)

[pacha mama photography]

sitting and walking*

[lovcom_photo]

The best street I've seen on this site in years...kudos to you!

[michael_rodriguez2]

I looked at your pictures and I quickly saw stories behind each. Powerful, very human and sad. Because we are connected to those folks there, I feel their hopes and fears. ***************************************************************************************************************

[orvillerobertson]

Pretty good for 2 hours, especially since I will walk around for hours and not take a picture.

But nothing that interesting either. Too far away in some, no real defineable point of view in

most of them, no glue to tie them in as the work of a sharp photographer. I encourage you to

return, get closer, be unafraid, be bold.

[pacha mama photography]

Dan: im not sure i would say that haha but thank you.

 

Michael:thank you also, that is one of the main things i have been working on lately...pushing my photography above most of the average street stuff and actually telling a story or many stories with them.

 

Orville: i completely understand, im very conservative with the amount of photos i take. which probably has a lot to do with me shooting in RAW haha. its a pain to edit if i take too many. your spot on with your criticism too. the main thing i get from others is that i need to establish stronger focal point and in some cases, get closer! so thank you again for the comments. i really do love when people are critical of my work. thats the only way we grow better right?

 

christopher james.

[lovcom_photo]

Chris topher, what focal length did you shoot with?

[pacha mama photography]

18-55 kit lens. and usually the 18-35mm end of that. sometimes a 50mm 1.8 for portraits. i havent used it lately though.

 

i really want to get a new lens to replace the kit lens. we'll see if the money comes up. :)

[pacha mama photography]

looking into lenses, the 18-70 3.5-4.5 or the 18-200 are at the top of my affordable list right now...the 18-200 might be very interesting for street. anyone here used it for that purpose?

[steve_garza1]

Christopher,

I do use the 18-200 on my recently acquired D200. It is wonderful for street shooting, but it is noticeable and people will have a negtive reaction when you are noticed using it. I much prefer a small rangefinder/prime lens kit for my street work. It forces you to get closer to thre subject and instills compositional discipline. People will hardly notice you and if so, they will think you're using a P/S rather than a serious tool. I also do a little street in LA (mostly downtown) myself. It is challenging to come up w/ meaningful shots. I do like a few of these. In particular, the man on the bench w/ his head down. It's a little disturbing. I like to shoot at Farmer's Market in downtown for nice low-light interior shots. I stay from shooting the homeless. It's a little too easy and feels like I'm taking advantage. You can shoot in monochrome and underexpose a little to add drama to your shots. I still prefer B&W for street.