newbie1

August 22, 2009

The last inexpensive wood frames I purchased were from Walmart. I then considered emailing the company and try buy some direct from the manufacturer? I have not tried it yet, Just a thought.

August 21, 2009

had someone call, (using the operator for the deaf), telling me they wrecked their vehicle in Colorado and heard I was the best, (I am and I am in California), and they wanted to transport their vehicle here so I can repair it for him; (not that unusual). However, even though he was paying for the transport the company wanted me to give them my business credit card for security before they would transport the Porsche here......SCAM.....I hung up.

August 21, 2009

I think you have a good eye for street. Getting over being bashfull is easy, it comes with time; the more you shoot the easier it gets. But, your eye is good. As my instructor would say get closer. the girl surprised at the fountain is great, crop it closer and you have a great photo there. The girl passed out at the fountain is another one you can work with. I still get bashfull some times; it blows over.

August 18, 2009

Last Friday night I needed to get away from PEOPLE, work, myself. I grabbed my camera, jumped in my car and drove. I actually went east from the San Francisco Bay Area to the Sierra Mountains to Bode and Mono Lake; took the less traveled roads. I wanted to spend some time shooting the ghost town of Bode, the lake, the sunrise at Mono Lake, anything but people as this is where I started when I picked up the camera again in March of 2008. I spent Saturday shooting and decided that THE STREET, THE TENDERLOIN, THE PEOPLE, THE TOURISTS the unknown, the natural expressions, movements is where I belonged. I am not putting down all of the other shots to take; I am just stating that "I" feel at home on the street and with shooting the street, the people on the street, tourists, locals, homeless, aged, young.

I left the sierras Sunday am and went home to the "city"; I felt much better. I pulled out my camera and breathed a sigh and smiled. I was back where I belonged.

August 12, 2009

Thank you. I do not have a problem with the down and out; I have a problem with the people who look at me badly when I will put my arms around these people and hug them. Yes many of them are on drugs, but yes many of them are not. Many of them are mentally ill; it is just that the State will no longer commit the mentally ill, unless they commit a crime, now that makes no sence to me.

Now look, a family member had a mental illness and he would end up on the streets alot. We would go out there searching the streets and hospitals for him to bring him home, clean him up and get him medicated properly. We begged and begged but the state would not commit him. He commited suicide and for nothing but that we could not get anyone who gave a shit about him. So, when I see these people who are begging for attention and help, I sure as hell will give them my shoes rather than just walk by them. They are people, they are human, sometimes holding them means more to them than money you would give them. and if it were not for our own breaks in life we would be out there with them so I will never condemn them for how they look or what they wear or if they are talking to themselves; just think of it, they could be your son or daughter, or sister or brother also. One was mine. So it will not hurt anyone to drive by and hand out something to them, a blanket, to the shelters, to the charities, in these hard times anything helps. I love these people and will not turn my back on them, no one should since the governments have. The state, the state told us many times that if he would commit a serious crime then the judge could commit him to a hospital and we could get him help. Go figure, here is the state social workers telling us to have him go get arrested and put in jail so he can be hospitalized for his illness, that is the only way they will help him???? Yeah right, so what happens, he dies, we loose.

Sorry, I get angry and all worked up.

August 10, 2009

Thank you. Much of the coats were winter coats and sweaters. Many pants were winter pants, jeans, cords etc, but many were slacks and suit pants also. Much of the clothing was yes designer which did include suits. I was just very angy and upset because they were so thrown to the grass and dirt, (womans scorn). However, you are correct and I do mostly give to the Catholic charities, Good Will, etc. to help. I have just become inchanted with some of the charities that I give clothing to due to workers picking through for the good stuff that I wanted the people on the street to get. I would speculate that by now, a day later it has all filtered through the Tenderloin through bartering and dealing between each other. I doubt too many of the homeless would want to keep suits, they would spin the wheel I am sure.

I will say that there is no way I would ever condem charities, Not a chance, so I do not want to be taken wrong here. I am pro charities 100%. I do not toss anything, it goes to charties, just this one time I wanted to and had to give it directly to those who have accepted me into their world as "jim the photoman" as I am called there. They do look out for me and protect me when danger is around. I have grown to learn their world and many people in it. Their rules, their laws, their way; it is so much different than our own. it is somewhere that I do not ever want to live or spend time in other than during the day with people I know.

I commend you for your work and your dealing with the life on the street.

I know this is long, but what the hey.

I was talking quite extensively with one of my street friends who dances on Market for tips. He stated to me, and I have never thought of this before, that he used to meet his own tip quota in a couple of hours, then he would leave and the next street person who had the location would go for his tips. He stated that due to this bad economy there are much fewer tourists and shoppers and now it will take him sometimes all day to meet his quota and many days he does not meet it. I then spoke to other street people about the economy effecting them and they all had the same thing to say.

So it is not that the economy is so bad it effects the every day Joe of the every day charity or our jobs, it is so bad that it has trickled down to the street and even effects whether or not they will sleep on a bed tonight or under the overpass. Think about it. We have to quit eating out every Friday, but some of these people have to quit sleeping on a cot in a shelter and have to sleep on the sidewalk.

We all need to look at what we have and wonder do we really need it sitting in the garage collecting dust or will someone else really need and use it? That is the question.

See my photos. I somewhat have a passion for these people.

I am done rambling.

August 10, 2009

Very intersting story here. For reasons I do not wish to disclose, I had many garbage bags of my clothing to deal with. As much of this clothing was in fact designer cloths, Armani, etc. and shoes I chose to take them to the people on the street in San Francisco, California USA rather than give them to a Goodwill store or charity. ( I have given clothing to these charities only to walk in and find people there had taken them and were wearing them). I loaded up my pickup and went to the tenderloin in San Francisco where I unloaded all of the bags for disturbition amongst the homeless. Needless to say they swarmed over them like vultures on a carcass. The clothing was gone within an hour. See photo here.

One thing I never thought about was these people then went down market to do their daily hustle of tourists for change. A couple of hours later while shooting at Powell I noticed one street person, dressed in a designer coat and very expensive shoes hustling quarters, surrounded by 4 police officers who were thinking he had boosted the clothing. I approached the officers and told them he did not and that I gave them to him and a pick up load to the street people.

I had not thought about how it looked a street person dressed in expensive designer clothes hustling for quarters???? Quite the site really.

The police officers thanked me and went down to where I had given the clothes away.

Maybe I should have given them all to a food bank, but, I just think that they clothing will work its way around the tenderloin where it is needed without going to someone elses home. I am for giving and donating, so do not get me wrong and I will continue to give to charities as they are seriously in need of donations. It is just this time I had to do it myself.

August 7, 2009

Public property, public place. You have every legal right to take your shots. You might have added the people trying to stop you in the photos that may have added to the photo value. They had no legal right and you could have complained to the police about their obstruction and won. I am sorry but in a situation you were in I would have taken the shots. A photographer is a photographer and if you had the camera take the shot. As you said those who did were rewarded and you taking the shot would have and did have no effect on the rescue efforts or outcome of the incident.

August 7, 2009

FREMONT CALIFORNIA USA STREET FESTIVAL

August 7, 2009

This is NOT a hip shot. At the same time it is NOT posed, leaving the moment undisturbed. I used a longer lens so as not to intrude on my subjects that day and captured this boy singing and dancing with the street performers. Had I approached him and shot him close I would have lost that moment and his energy I believe. The point is capturing the moment while NOT posing the subjects.

August 7, 2009

I like the photo Maciek, it shows the family being theselves; ie; not posed in anyway. I believe that had you raised the camera to your face your subjects would have possibly posed themselves or ran for cover. Now, raising the camera to your face while using a longer lens may have achieved these results or even better. But, the point is you took the shot as it appeared; you captured your subjects being themselves, not posing. To me, in my opinion anyway, that makes the photo. You captured the moment undisturbed.

August 7, 2009

Speaking with somone who had been there when it occurred gives a much more graphic and detailed account of what had happened. I spoke to one of my uncles who was in the army and on a ship off the coast waiting for the drop; he was 16 at the time. He told me there were no more men to draft in the Us so they were taking boys to war. I believe he said there were many on the ship as young as 15 and 16. They were on the ships waiting for the bomb to drop. After the bomb was dropped they were deployed to land to go in and see what was left; he said he waded waist deep in ashes, including human remains and ashes, ( He is sure when we spoke they were radioactive). He spoke of what he saw graphicly and emotionally. Most who know him say he never recovered from what he saw when they went ashore. He apparantely came back withdrawn, silent, cold, would break down when alone preferred solitude. He then went into the garage, pulled out his "hidden" bottle of vodka sat alone and drank. He would not finish his story; it was very emotional.

August 5, 2009

Good Stuff Josh: I think this will be great. Maybe local camera clubs can start posting their dates here. Good.

August 4, 2009

Laura:

See, I told you all of these photographers are terrific. Everyone here is just great and will provide you with a lot of good valuable advise. Experiment and use it and you will ENJOY A VERY GOOD TIME.

August 4, 2009

I back up to a 500 gig hd AND a DVD disk both. I keep photos on my computer 500gig internal disk only when I am editing them or recent photos. This three way gives me some peice of mind and it is no big deal to do it this way.

August 3, 2009

1) you might first view the critique forum, street photos. then you might go to and view some members portfolio's, such as Tom Mestrom's or Brad's maybe. This will give you an idea. I think everyone has their own opinon about what lens works best for them. My favorite is my Nikon 80-400 VR AF lens. I also use my 18-200 Nikon lens. Your 70-300 would do quite well I think. Think of the subjects you might wish to shoot, then start walking and shooting. the longer you are out there the more comfortable you will become. You may find more comfort in shooting what you see at a distance, then as you get more confidence you will move in closer, natural.

Focus, you stay focused, do not get distracted, you will miss that one opportunity. I love street portraits of people being themselves much more than posed portraits. This is why I love my black and white street portraits. However, to achieve this I must stay focused all the time, even while talking with someone I may suddenly just raise my camera and start shooting in the middle of a conversation because that one shot appeared.

Be comfortable, relaxed, go with the flow, you may be cautious at first, but then you will be comfortable and fluid. You will find what part of street photography you like and are most comfortable with.

2) and the MOST IMPORTANT THING OF ALL OF THEM.... HAVE FUN! Shooting street photography is all about having fun. Do not make it work, make it a joy!

there are others here on this forum that are great street photographers and they will all be more than happy to advise you. They advised and helped me and and I love it.

August 3, 2009

When I hit the street, and this will vary as the lighting changes or I go from sun to shade and visa versa, I will hit the shutter and check my photo in the viewfinder. I will adjust my settings depending on the light I have on the street. Then if I find a subject I want to shoot, I am ready for the shot. I will check my view finder after and during my shoot, and will lighten and darken the photo at will as I shoot. But, the point is I try to always have my camera settings ready for the subject as he or she appears. this is not necessarily for the hip shot that I may run across, but for all of my street shots. I wish to capture the moment and do not want to be concentrating of my camera settings and loose the moment because I did not keep on top of the settings as the light changes.

August 1, 2009

Shooting from the hip is seeing a shot, grabbing the camera and start shooting, not raising it to the eye to perfect the shot, grab and shoot and hope for the best so you do not miss it. I had no idea I got the shot untill I was at home and put my card in my computer. Luck??? Shooting from the hip is pure luck you are correct.

July 31, 2009

Many of my street shots are shot from the hip. I do very little of it anymore as I have more confidence in the street photography. I do however, prefer shooting on the street opposed to models and sets as I prefer shooting people being themselves; I think they are very beautiful. the photo here was shot from the hip. It is a homeless person sitting on a crate with his bags around him. he was sitting in a dark doorway and looked fabulous as I passed. I dropped my camera, aimed it in his direction and shot as I passed; I did not want him to move or see me as he appeard perfect as he was.

July 29, 2009

Be very specific as to your own description or definition of candid. Precisely.

July 27, 2009

Josh:

I wish to thank you for your efforts are hard work here. You have, I see corected the bogus, childish ratings I had received and I wish to thank you for that.

But, mostly I wish to express my appreciation for you as you have always shown what hard work you put into this site. Many of us, especially myself, do express ourselves when we feel things are not correct. However, that is never a reflection on you or the site itself.

thank you very much Josh Root. You are gentleman, a photographer, a scholar I guess you would say.

July 27, 2009

PS:

I like what Mr. Cooper has suggested regarding critiques and ratings.

1) I think rating photos annonomously is good as it is done. Some will not want to rate openly. I think it is flawed though.

2) I do think it is a good Idea to require critiques with a rating. To me the critiques, should be a requirement of some sort for a rating, even if it is so many a month in order to rate.

July 27, 2009

It appears that I have received possibly 25 3's in the last few days, I have not tracked the 4's. I see what is going on with my ratings. It is quite apparent. When I receive ratings that will push my portfolio into the 5's, "immediately" I am hit with ratings on photos to drop it down below a 5, at least to a 4.99; then the "questionable" ratings will cease untill I go over a 5 again, then they appear to return. It is almost automatic. One can look back at my ratings history and see this occurring.

I am sure that if you others who are apparently getting hit this was will recognize it if you look. Some of the bogus ratings actually hit immediately upon posting photos, even before I get back to my workspace.

It maybe that someone is really pissed off at me because of something I posted here, or I critiqued and in my opservation rated a photo of theirs to not what they apparantely viewed it as; so of retaliation so to speak.

either way, I remember doing things like this in 1st grade in school. I will just go back to posting and not having my photos rated until the problem is again resolved. I am sorry Josh you have to deal with this kind of childish pranks all of the time. I am sure you have much more to do that chase down these pranks.

thank you Josh for your hard work on this site. My comments are not intended to be in any way against you or this site and I, WE ALL, know you work hard here in providing us the best site that exists. I just want to say that. You and the other administrators do work hard here and I thank you all very much for the site and for putting up with us.

July 27, 2009

It appears that I have received possibly 25 3's in the last few days, I have not tracked the 4's. I see what is going on with my ratings. It is quite apparent. When I receive ratings that will push my portfolio into the 5's, "immediately" I am hit with ratings on photos to drop it down below a 5, at least to a 4.99; then the "questionable" ratings will cease untill I go over a 5 again, then they appear to return. It is almost automatic. One can look back at my ratings history and see this occurring.

I am sure that if you others who are apparently getting hit this was will recognize it if you look. Some of the bogus ratings actually hit immediately upon posting photos, even before I get back to my workspace.

It maybe that someone is really pissed off at me because of something I posted here, or I critiqued and in my opservation rated a photo of theirs to not what they apparantely viewed it as; so of retaliation so to speak.

either way, I remember doing things like this in 1st grade in school. I will just go back to posting and not having my photos rated until the problem is again resolved. I am sorry Josh you have to deal with this kind of childish pranks all of the time. I am sure you have much more to do that chase down these pranks.

thank you Josh for your hard work on this site. My comments are not intended to be in any way against you or this site and I, WE ALL, know you work hard here in providing us the best site that exists. I just want to say that. You and the other administrators do work hard here and I thank you all very much for the site and for putting up with us.

July 26, 2009

They are probably reading this forum and laughing at us. So Sad......Jealously.....Maybe.......childish pranks I assume. I am sure Josh will check it out.

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Posts posted by newbie1