Downtown

Jack,

Surprising street portrait. I wonder how you did this, it must have to do with that what you radiate and makes people trust you? The women and the men seem totally confident and relaxed and so they nearly pose. And hence let you do your work. Good composition, sharp and immaculate black and white. Until now, at least for me, the best street portrait ever seen. Congratulations, beautiful moment in time.

Herman

This is a great street shot, Jack!!

Regards,

Mário

Old and Young and I could photograph her anytime.

Jack, I agree with the remarks of Herman. I wonder also your place of shooting. Is it possible that you stay lower on stairs near the entrance of a metrostation for example? Nice composition!

Thanks for the comments on this picture, much appreciated. This particular day I was experimenting with low angle shots in a crowded, downtown section of Osaka. I've been shooting on the street for a long time and I've developed a lot of little tricks to make myself as invisible as possible. Things I've learned: Don't hold your gaze on the people you want to shoot; don't go through the usual series of motions people associate with having their picture taken, i.e. the camera is aimed at eye level and held in shooting position, the shutter pressed, the photographer looks up - voila!, a photo has been taken. If you keep the camera in motion (with just the briefest stop to actually snap the picture), people don't realize that they have been photographed. Don't stop and look up which is the usual habit when the picture has been taken. Finally, (and Marco I'm surprised you didn't pick up on this) my camera was the Olympus XZ2 with a viewing screen that can flip out from the camera body at a 90 degree angle allowing you to shoot from the hip with a good degree of accuracy and without confronting your subjects directly.

This is a beautiful shot and your commentary is as interesting as the photograph itself.  The flip down screen is an attractive added tool to your street photography techniques that you no doubt developed from long ago.

 

The young woman in this photo looks like she is posing and glad to see you.  The guy in back looks pensive.  

 

I've found that as a gaijin it is impossible to be invisible in Japan.  I've always tried to look preoccupied with something other than my subject and shooting blind.  

 

This is truly the exact moment the shutter button should have been pressed.

 

 

It's interesting that these people looked this way. It almost seems like a commercial. Anyway, it is a good photo on several levels. The composition is good, it's interesting, and unique. I like it.

Jack, Thank you for your explanation. I don't have such a screen on my XZ-1.

I really enjoyed reading your explanation as to how you captured this image. Good pointers to those doing a lot of Street Photography. I really like the 'intimacy' this POV brings, especially with the woman. She seems totally unaware you are taking a photo. It's really nice to see folks 'carry on as usual' - the relaxed expressions really bring the photo to live. The tight crop is really effective.

Great Image Jack! Nice technique on the street too, I'll have to give it a try. I do often do some of that of which you speak... don't look at the subject and look the other way when you push the shutter, then move on as if in another world. I do this while shooting from the hip with a fairly wide lens though and crop later. I do most of my street shooting with an Olympus pen camera, the Epl5 which also has the flip screen so I may have to try using it in your way. Shooting from the hip is more than a bit of a crap shoot it is and one doesn't know what one has got until later, which at times is a disappointment but at others a time of joy at the 'happy accident' result.
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Jack... I shall soon do that for which you chastised me for... upload a batch of pics in one fell swoop. Time to unfollow me again and then, hopefully follow me again as you have recently done... and you thought I didn't notice :=} I'm just incorrigible I am.

-r-

You sly dog, you. You caught my little shenanigans. But it's a reasonable solution to the problem, no harm no foul and everyone's happy. I'll probably do it again and I'm sure you'll understand. But of course I'll sign up again; your stuff is too good to miss.