derrick_sorensen

On 11/23/2023 at 10:13 PM, hjoseph7 said:

For Pure street photography you can't beat the 50mm(or equivalent) , but sometimes you can't get close enough and sometimes you can't take in enough...

I’ve been shooting a 35 1.8 on an apsc cam for the past few months. People tell ya when you shoot one focal length for a period of time you start to see the world that way…. Not the case for me. Often I can spot the frame I want and have to position myself accordingly after the fact. Legs=zoom. Point is often the 35 isn’t tight enough or wide enough but when it’s the right length boy is it so good. The small amount of time that it’s right makes it worth it for me. Might try and play around on a 20 or 28 though. 

I’ve taken so many pictures in south east Asia over the last 6 weeks. Hard to pic what ones to post. So here are a few from last night. 

Sunrise somewhere in northern Thailand….. iPhone15 pro untouched. 

Tons to shoot in Bangkok 

6 hours ago, richard_ said:

Where ya at Richard? 

iPhone 15 pro 

  Really struggled to find a picture I liked this week 

On 3/13/2023 at 6:50 PM, William Michael said:

I like the way you capture people going about day to day life in street environs.

I recommend you re-think your Shutter Speed choice for (any) Street Work.

I interrogated four images: Man with coffee; man smoking; man and woman with red wine; woman on mobile phone. The reason I looked closely at these four images was because on my Studio Monitor the Subjects appeared soft yet the plane of focus was sharp. Tell-tale Subject Movement Blur.

EXIF revealed the four images mentioned were pulled at 1/100s - I think one was 1/125s. All were shot a about ISO100. What I mean is there was plenty of light and bumping to ISO 400~800 or thereabouts, places you in a better range of Shutter Speed (and Aperture) selection.

WW                 

Appreciate you taking the time to go through those images William! I agree that the images are soft, I suppose cameras have gotten a lot better and I shouldn’t be scared of higher an iso. My main focus is gonna be to avoid those softer images I’ll go get some shots and update ya! 

On 3/13/2023 at 11:51 AM, dcstep said:

Welcome back. You people shots are generally very strong, interesting and well composed. That first shot really sucks, but might be rescued a bit by raising the shadows.

Are you shooting in RAW? Generally, many of your shadows are covering details. Shooting RAW will give you another stop of DR. In RAW conversion you can raise shadows and lower highlights. Research the technique of ETTR (Expose To The Right). Basically you raise exposure to get details in shadows, being careful not to blow out highlights. Then when you convert to JPEG, you adjust to taste and preserve the shadows that your eye saw but the camera can't see without help.

Hey DC sorry for the late reply seems like I’m on here once a year when I’m traveling and taking pictures again lol! Thank you for the helpful feedback! I wanted the light to pop and there’s nothing in the shadowed area that really adds to the image. I will look into that technique, and yes everything is shot in RAW. My editing capability’s are that of Lightroom mobile and what I can see on my phone screen. I’ll give it a shot with the images I capture on my upcoming trip to Asia next week. Cheers! 

11 hours ago, mikemorrellNL said:

Thanks for posting! Yes (sometimes), I agree with you. As in your photo.

More generally, Contrast is one the ways of making subjects stand out against a 'background'. Contrast between light and dark (as in your photo). Sometimes Contrast in Color (subject background) and often Contrast in Sharpness (subject sharp, background unsharp).

FWIW, photographers often distinguish between:

- subject separation (from the background): making the subject stand out from the background, and

- making a photo (as a whole or in part) 'pop'

In both cases, one or more forms of 'Contrast' are used. Both 'in camera' when choosing (and designing) a subject/background or scene and in post-processing.

So photographers might ask a 'model' to wear brighter clothes to stand out against a more neutral background. They may use a focal length and aperture that brings a subject into sharp focus while the background is less sharp. They may use Lighting techniques to make sure that their subjects are 'lighter' against a darker background,  Landscape/Cityscape photographers might choose a scene (and weather conditions and time of day) that is rich in light/dark and/or color contrasts. Often, photographers of people and things tend to look for 'uncluttered' (or at least unsharp) backgrounds against which their subjects will stand out. Street photography is often a fast, dynamic interaction in photographing a 'subject' against the background.

One thing I noticed in your photo as a whole is that its 'histogram' covers about 2/3 of the 'greyscale range' (0-255). So it's generally 'underexposed'. I don't know whether or how you post-process photos. But moving the 'white point' on the histogram to the left in post-processing brightens up the whole photo. 

I'm not sure what the resolution is of the original photo but you could consider tighter cropping around the doorway and man. The only part of the man that's visible is his upper body and thigh. So perhaps you don't such a large frame that includes the whole motor scoot, chair and railing. Up to you.

Mike

PS. I occasionally download a copy of a photo for critique to take a closer look in Photoshop. I always delete these immediately. Yours too!

 

Wow thank you all so much! Back when I joined photo.net this type of  feedback seemed more regular, all super helpful! It’s nice to see that people are willing to put together such helpful critiques. I did play around in Lightroom Mobile, this is an adjusted and cropped version of the original, might have to go back in and play around now that I’m armed with a better understanding. The light was pretty flat when I took it so we will see what I can do. Composition wise I like this one but you all hit it right on the head I think. 

Sometimes shadows really help make a subject stand out. Thoughts? 

On 1/10/2023 at 2:20 AM, antonroland said:

OK, so the old square vs rectangular image idea…

I feel that a square format capture needs more deliberate composition and IF a portrait or landscape crop can be made out of it that is a total and rare happy coincidence…

Your thoughts?

Thanks!

Think it depends on composition and subject matter. One isn’t better than the other in general but one could be better than the other depending on what you’re trying to convey and shoot. To me a crop is a just a crop. I make the picture and then crop it in a way that does the most to make it better. I do think more often you can go from rectangle to square easier. 

15 hours ago, antonroland said:

👆🏻What he said👆🏻

Photography is (and SHOULD IMHO) often a very personal thing in that the image you create is what you saw and felt at the time.

By all means follow some guidelines if necessary and appropriate but never force your style into someone else’s opinion.

After all, the norms of today was very likely very wrong at some stage and what is THE stuff today and next week might be a total cliché next year…

OK, mini-rant over😂😉

Less of an issue with style and more that some of these photos were shot “from the hip” on the move so they were slightly out of focus. To me B&W increases the contrast and gives it that more grungy style (when paired with some softer focus) I guess what I’m trying to say is I’m not sure what my style is or if these fall into a certain style but I like these shots more in black and white! Cheers! 

On 1/9/2023 at 2:05 PM, jc1305us said:

Hoboken, NJ has some cool details, this being one. I couldn't get a head on shot, as there were telephone lines hanging down in front which would have ruined the shot. Thought about making this black and white but the colors won out. Thoughts?

Sony a7ii, ISO 320, f 5.0 200/sec

See above post 😂😂😂 I goofed 

I feel like black and white is often best when there are good dramatic shadows and lots of contrast, I’d have to see it in black and white, but I think you made the right choice with color. Something I’ve been trying is using things that I think might “ruin” a shot and using them to frame the image. Depending on the lens and angle you could get on this maybe a real tight shot of just the faces with the power line in the foreground out of focus could be cool? Or even a wide shot? This image is the best I can find to give you an example of what I mean. Hope it helps! 

Thanks jc! Over all I’m happy with these shots (hadn't touched a camera in about ten years prior to these) B&W does help when the lighting isn’t right but it’s even better when it is!