Far From the Madding Crowd

Sometimes it's possible to be alone in a very public place, as this

woman in a Metro station in Kyiv, shortly after the previous train

has left, the passengers getting off have exited and the passengers

for the next train arrive. Your ratings and critiques are invited

and most welcome. If you rate harshly or very critically, please

submit a helpful and constructive comment; please share your superior

knowledge to help improve my photography. Thanks! Enjoy! John

This is such a beautiful perspective. The symmetry of the background is exquisite and her posture clutching her purse so close to her body gives a sense of vulnerability. You truly conveyed the meaning of your title here. It sort of reminds me of an open shell revealing a delicate pearl.

Wonderful word imagery: a beautiful shell opening to reveal its pearl.

 

Regrettably she's no pearl, but when I get a beautiful model and she's adventurous and willing to shed her clothes in public, I may head there again . . . .

 

'Venus on the Half Shell', Crosley's version.

 

You have greatly added to my ability to describe this photo and sent my fertile imagination soaring.

 

;~)

 

John (Crosley)

Absolutely lovely, Mr. Crosley.

Thank you,

 

Mister was my dad.

 

I am John.

 

Whatever you call me, it's Ok though.

 

Thanks for the compliment.

 

John (Crosley)

:)

Not nearly as pretty as the shell analogy, but as a subway rider for many a year in NYC, I will always look at this type of image and think "inside a worm." We have here a very tiny, microscopic woman organism waiting for transport through a worm's intestines. Told you it wasn't pretty. I did it for 15 years. That wasn't pretty either. This simple, very powerful image does not appear to be staged. How do you accomplish this? Do you test out of sight to get your focus and metering right and then snap so that your subject is unaware? I'm having a very difficult time with "street documentary" in the daylight, nevermind underground. Thanks -

I rode this Metro today, even went through this very station, and it was a rather pleasant experience.

 

Photographing Metros (and subways) throughout the world has been something I have been doing, kind of out of necessity in some cases (Paris for example), because I can't afford taxi transport or a private limousine driver and a personal auto is out of the question in foreign cities.

 

Taking such photos is relatively easy. Notice she's on her 'mobile' (read that 'cell' for US residents) phone, and she is greatly distracted.

 

When I approach a photo opportunity I have predetermined I might want to take, and I have a friend with me, I often ask the friend to stand to one side as though I'm going to take that person's photo, then gently turn toward the subject and take that person's photo instead.

 

It works amazingly well; it's similar to a 'screen' in basketball strategy; my friend(s), are the foil(s) (and always willingly).

 

That included included tonight where I was with one friend in a local McDonald's and said 'on the count of three, duck your head' so I could shoot over the friend's shoulders with my focal point preset and my iso adjusted for the situation, as usual. Result: my subject never realized he had been photographed.

 

If not with a friend, I turn the other way, often, and look down to see where my focal point is set, and reset it if not set as I wish. I also check my iso.

 

I adjust my lens or choose the most likely camera (I almost always have two around my neck).

 

I then quickly turn and frame together most times and release the shutter, often in one motion if pressed for time or I have an 'aware' subject.

 

Sometimes I don't bother when facing distracted subjects, especially in large crowds which 'screen' for me.

 

Here, I don't recall, but I bet if I had a video, you'd see me first turned away, adjusting my camera, then in one motion, turning, raising camera to eye, framing, taking photo (or more than one frame even), then turning and adopting a 1,000-yard stare attributed to war-time sharpshooters who looked far in the distance instead of facing people close up.

 

It's a way of suggesting I'm more interested in distant, far off things in some other direction than the photo I just took.

 

'Did he take my photo?; he must not have, because he's looking intently far down the tracks or down the station in another direction. I must be dreaming or paranoid.'

 

But I did take that photo and do so quite consistently, and sometimes I do it right at people who see it; sometimes I just give a 'thumbs up' sign afterqard if seen to show it was a good shot, other times I ignore, even walk away, sometimes rapidly, and sometimes I waggle a finger and ask a subject that way to come over so I can show them the shot.

 

It all depends.

 

And that's the secret: it all depends.

 

There's many ways to 'skin a cat', and these are just some of them.

 

Thanks for wondering about this; so I can share this tale.

 

Shooting 'street' is not just about getting well-framed photos, it's also about feints and other moves to obtain the photo and to guard one's safety and personal integrity from those who might be offended (and to regale as I did also yesterday as subjects danced with an accordion just for me, offered me vodka and champagne, then an open-faced sandwich of black bread, pickles, salmon -lox- and something else - olives I think.

 

When I went away (not drinking any alcohol -- it's against my rules when carrying expensive cameras, though it may have offended), I found a large slice of apple freshly cut in my warm coat outer pocket, placed there by happy subjects.

 

It just goes to show as Emily Litella used to say (however mistakenly) if it isn't this, it's that, or the other thing.

 

'Street' is a grab bag of surprises, and that keeps the taking of the photos as interesting as the photos I think I produce in my view.

 

Best wishes.

 

John (Crosley)

 

P.S. Oh, and for metering, I usually use Nikon Matrix Metering (almost exclusively) but use 'adjustments' to the meter reading for various circumstances, such as a backlit subject, by making adjustments of up to +/- 3 EVs using the Easy Exposure Adjustment control on my Nikon cameras, and adjust either before or after shooting. Before if I can determine that the subject won't easily be consonant with Nikon Matrix Metering, and after if I find the exposure is a little (or a lot) off. The Golden Rule as in computing: Watch Your Output.

 

JC

Thank you so much for taking the time write such a lengthy and informative reply, John. I do usually have a photo buddy (my husband, who's also the better photographer) and will try these techniques out on our next street outing. And when I'm alone, I will try the distant gaze which sounds very simple yet amazingly effective. My Nikon has many capabilities that I don't use to their fullest extent simply because I forget - like the Easy Exposure Adjustment control. With practice, I'm sure I'll get better at running down the "pre-flight" checklist and engaging all the controls necessary to get that great capture. Thanks again and Happy Holidays!

I was out briefly in intense winter sunlight today before great cold set in, and used some of these techniques.

 

I used another.

 

I saw an old guy on the side of a sidewalk next to a building with a drain pipe making it look like it had poured him out.

 

I wanted a low angle photo of him, and the light was bright, but of course, he would never stand still for such a photo and of course he would change his expression and attitude.

 

I preset controls on my D2Xs, set the aperture to a small enough number (f 8), put my finger on the shutter and with camera held low and pointing somewhat up, walked by at 5 frames per second. I got one very good capture from my clicking camera, as I walked by, and he never knew he had been photographed. I took a chance and got a good enough photo, and interesting because of the low angle (hip shot).

 

'Street' is a never ending grab bag of tactics to get that photo; try it and you'll be surprised at how good my techniques are and how easy they are to pick up; I spent four years learning 'how to' and pass it on for free -- no need for you to re-invent the wheel.

 

Good shooting to you.

 

John (Crosley)