lonleylight

St Mark's Summit near Vancouver. Hike I did yesterday.

Hi guys. So as of my recent trip to Hong Kong I believe I've caught a bit of a street photography bug lol. I've long shied away from street photography because I didn't feel my skills were up to the task. But I decided to dabbled in some on my trip and surprised myself with the quality of some of the images I managed to capture (see my portfolio here). This is something I wish to explore more. I've realized though that the lens I have now, while very good, is perhaps not the best for this kind of shot; frankly neither is my camera since it's large and bulky, but it's fantastic otherwise and not changing lol. I would perhaps be better served with a fast wide angle prime. As well, looking through my photos through the years I realized that a lot of my best shots could easily have been shot with a wide prime as well. Thirdly after doing some reading up recently on technique it's occurred to me that if I want to get better at this hobby, which I have a lot of passion for, a telephoto is actually hindering me. I have a good eye for composition and lighting but my technical skill is lacking and a telephoto simply offers too many variables. Often when learning constraining yourself is key, it also often helps greatly with the creative process as well. With a fixed angle a lot of the other variables for getting better shots become fixed as well. As in the title I am shooting with a D7200. The current lens I'm using is the Nikon 16-80mm f/2.8-4E a lens I love and will continue to keep with me of course. I'm looking for something nice and wide, preferably very fast. Also APSC because again I'd prefer not to have to worry about the crop factor at this point in learning. What would you recommend? :P

Thank you for all the input everyone!! Some of the things I suppose I'm also neglecting to remember is that for decades and decades before lightroom and photoshop came along heavy darkroom editing was done by many a skilled photographer and indeed many if not most of the tools in today's moderns digital packages owe their names to the processes they used "in analogue. Things like burning, dodging, heavy cropping contrast adjustments, unsharpen mask and much more were once all dark room techniques. I look forward to seeing what I will be able to capture and produce in the future as my skill and eye grows, with the help of my fellow photographers :) Indeed I'm looking to join a local photographic society in the next week or so and I'm in the process of trying to pick out 4 images to submit. Yes in this case I will have to read over the rules carefully to make sure I know what they are looking for and not. I'm not expecting to win or anything but it's exciting (and more than a bit nerve racking) just to meet other amateur photographers in person and to have a chance to have my work critiqued by judges, and more than anything to get tips and techniques from others!

Good to hear I'm not alone :) I've struggled with anxiety or depression most of my life but over the last 5 years or so I've made some good progress on these issues. A telephoto is definitely one of the next lens purchases I'm eyeing closely. The other being either an ultra wide or a macro. It's difficult for me to choose because I enjoy a wide variety of shots. Currently I shoot with a Pentax with a fairly good 16 - 80 F2.8/4 lens. I think 16 is probably wide enough that I may not get a LOT more out of an ultra wide so I may go with a telephoto for the reasons you mentioned here. It allows you to be able to get nice and comfortably back from your subject be it people or wildlife without disturbing them or yourself. The other way to do street photography would be to have a much more compact camera or one with a top down viewfinder which I honestly only recently learned about. But of course money being nowhere near infinite I can only restrain myself to a few things. I've found saving for the absolute best I can get in a lens instead of compromising to get more lenses to have payed off nicely with the lens I have now and is something I will continue doing in the future.

Nice shot. Am I correct in guessing that the last 2 were taken somewhere far out west in China? I'm guessing because the Muslim influence I see there is something you see much more of out in the far west of the country. For the first 2 when you captures these did you use a telephoto to remain at a good distance so as not to be seen. Or were you just quick about it? Or I suppose also if you had a very compact camera that makes it easier as well?

Nice shots! I particularly like these two! The first for the freeze frame of that moment in time, a joke being told. The second for those neat coils of hose which make nice subject. I could go on about Asia forever. I lived in Asia a s a kid from the age of 2 to the age of 6. My parents taught English and my years in Asia during those formative years instilled something of a love for the "place". I put "place" in quotations because Asia is such an enormous concept as to be almost impossible to categorize. However I lived in Malaysia, China and Taiwan in different cities so I got to see more than a bit of a flavour of different places. Something about the chaos and the culture that arises from it speaks to me, there are aspects of it that feel like home to me. Even though I've mainly lived in NA since the age of 6.

Ok so this isn't a large competition,but I saw a sign for a local Photographic society and I really want to join. Mostly to be in the company of other photographers, to talk about our shared hobby etc. As a member you get to submit photos to their projection and print nights where your work can be seen and also critiques by professional photographers. They also have presentations by photographers about technique and you get to see their work as well. As much as anything it's an interesting social event to try out. But while I'm submitting photos and prints I might as well try to submit my best. You can see the site here and past winners. I am able to submit 4 photos. 2 for the projection night and 2 for the print night events. 2018 North Shore Photographic Challenge - North Shore Photographic Society Obviously subject mater wins the day so to speak and that's down to the eye of the judges and my own skill level and not something I can really control. But as far as picking the right shots to submit the main technical problem I see with the shots I actually love the most is a lack of tack sharpness. The problem being those that are technically executed the best may not be the most interesting. The first photo here is actually one of my favourite shots, but then that's often not a very good reason to pick something. I think the subject matter is good but again the lack of tack sharpness and narrow range of contrast may hurt it. I list the rest in my own rather haphazard ranking of what I think might be good ones to submit. Just looking for critiques not necessarily of the photos themselves but of which one of these you would submit if you were choosing them for this reason. Oh and if you have time I have other shots here, maybe I glossed over one that might have qualities I shouldn't have discounted? Also the lack of tack sharpness I mentioned may only be apparent on the larger versions here: The Lonely Light

Thank you! Have you been to HK or Asia before? Obviously if so you know what to expect. If not it's a crazy fascinating city! I lived in Asia as a kid from the age of 2 to 6 and developed something of a love for Asia's particular brand of chaos. I'd been to HK before but only as a young kid hence I didn't remember any of it. But I do remember my times in Malaysia and China and it surprised me how much of that flavour this brought back. Although it was more like old school Asia married to an even more chaotic and helter skelter Asian version of New York. The city honestly had blade runner vibes running through it lol.

I've never done any street photography to speak of before but I've always highly admired those who do it. It takes a lot of skill, patience and a willingness to be accidentally seen yourself. As someone who has struggled with social anxiety I have tended to shy away but I've been slowly tackling that and other things in my life. On a recent holiday to Hong Kong that I just returned from I made a conscious effort to take more street shots. I'm happy to say that they turned out much better than I had hoped, once I got into light room with them. This is definitely now something I want to explore more. BTW I would love it if anyone has time to take a look at the other shots I took as well on my trip. :) Hong Kong | Photo.net