MAY 18th STREET PHOTOGRAPHY

The Money Counter

The Walking Man

Guard Dog

MAY 13th

Activity

24

Eye Spy

The Camera Man

PHOTO SHARING ON FLICKR & 500px

A combination of weather, transport and work have kept me away from the physical act of photography for a few days so I've been studying other people's work and developing my presence on a couple of the main photo sharing community sites.

I joined 500px a week or so ago and I really like it. Whilst it doesn't possess the biggest community of photographers in the world, the site is clean and easy to use and displays your work very well. Another nice feature is the opportunity to buy and sell images, either as prints or digital downloads. Simply opt-in and the site takes care of things for you.

The big daddy online, though is Flickr. With over 50 million registered users and 1 billion + images on it's servers it is huge. Getting noticed amongst all this 'noise' requires time and effort on the user's part. It is no use simply to upload a  picture and expect people to notice it; you have to work at it!

That means for each shot you should be adding as many relevant tags as you can think of, including a description and a title and posting in appropriate special interest groups where you will be reaching an audience that will be more appreciative of your work or be able to offer constructive criticism.

Another important way to attract attention is through association with like-minded individuals. Search for other members who produce similar images and add them as contacts. You will be learning and gaining inspiration from them and with a bit of luck they will also add you as a contact and see your new posts when they open their 'Contacts' tab. By visiting their pages you can also see what inspires them by accessing their favourite images and adding these photographers as contacts if they also appeal to you.

That's my brief overview of a couple of the most popular sites and I will return to this subject in the future when I have more user experiences to report on.

My Flickr

My 500px

My Facebook Page

MAYDAY, MAY DAY

Just a few shots taken on a cold and blowy May Day afternoon.

And I've now got my Flickr account set up : Public Places - David Hodgson's Flickr Account

The Drink Seller

The Jewellery (Jewelry) Man

A Helping Hand

On The Move

Itching Eye

That Kitchen Sink Is In Here Somewhere

TIME FOR STREET PHOTOGRAPHY

I'm finding that when I go out it takes me a while to get shooting. Generally, I see very little in the first half an hour, start to take shots in the next half an hour and find more of a rhythm after that. I think it's to do with getting 'in the zone' as I remarked in a previous blog. After a time I find a pace of moving and observing that works and gets results - the best pictures always seem to come towards the end of a session.

I managed to get out today but I had less than an hour to spare before my dinner finished up in the dog.

This was a bit too much of a rush for me. I think a couple of hours produces both greater quantity and quality of output.

Of the limited amount of work that I got through I think these were the most interesting...

Queue Here - Outside a local Health & Fitness Centre

Couple

Trance

HARD DAY AT THE OFFICE

The sun finally shone for a time today and I got out for an hour or so

Despite the existence of crowds brought out by the combination of dry weather and the holiday weekend I found it difficult to find material to shoot and a lot of what I did take was rather blown out by the bright conditions.

Of the limited shots I took these were about the best of a bad bunch and I've attached my own comments to them....

A lower angle would have worked much better.

Neither one thing or the other this. In either silhouette or full light this could have worked. 

Two strangers standing uncomfortably together. It's just a bit flat. 

Born to dance - she was moving out of shot so unfortunately I couldn't get any more of the musician in the frame.

STREET PHOTOGRAPHY - UP AND RUNNING AND "IN THE ZONE"

Anybody living in England will know that there has been a deluge of biblical proportions here for about 3 weeks now so opportunities to go out with a non-weatherproof camera have been limited.

Still, I did manage to get out for a couple of hours at the weekend and get some practice in with the new gear. I live just outside the seaside resort of Great Yarmouth and when it's off-season like it is now we really need decent weather to bring the tourists in for the weekend. Needless to say, this past weekend was very, very quiet. This limited my subject matter and whilst I did manage to take a number of shots I found that when I got home and put them on the computer there were no 'keepers' amongst them. I can blame it partly on my unfamiliarity with the equipment, partly on my own ineptitude and a considerable amount on my lack of confidence and experience at Street Photography. As someone who is happy to melt into the background on any occasion I still felt very conspicuous in my endeavours, although towards the end of this first session I could feel a little bit of confidence starting to develop.

To train myself for the next session I reprised the YouTube videos of street photographers I'd watched previously and these helped. Observing how others deal with the situations that arise with their subjects and how they communicate with strangers is priceless and I would recommend it to all the other novices out there.

It seems to me that there are 3 main ways to photograph strangers in public spaces. 

Firstly, you can ask their permission and a 'yes' gives you a happy and relaxed subject who will probably allow you to take a number of shots which should be well focused and composed. The main drawback is that they will be showing you what they want you to see, rather than the way that they really are. However, if taking profile pictures of interesting faces is your thing then why not.

Second, you can take the picture and then interact with them afterwards. I don't personally like this approach as it confirms what they suspected; that you took their picture and provides them with the opportunity to object. This approach might suit your personality but not mine.

Third is my preferred option - just take the shot and avoid eye contact. The subject is unlikely to be sure you took their picture, unless you're Bruce Gilden and just aimed a flash in their face, and you can move straight past and look for the next shot. To me, this is the easiest technique to learn and eventually master although I wouldn't discount using the other methods as my confidence grows.

Armed with all this new knowledge I ventured out again today and I was far more successful. 

I found it far easier to point and shoot, albeit at a very 'safe' distance to begin with but as time passed by I became more and more comfortable with the equipment and what I was supposed to be doing. Some people I've read talk about being "in the zone" and I think I could feel what they are talking about. After a while walking around you find a rhythm of walking and seeing and shooting which becomes almost automatic. I started to get closer to my subject and became almost oblivious to the people around me. I wasn't in-your-face close but I stopped feeling conspicuous and relaxed.

Today, I bagged some keepers. They're probably not going to win any prizes but it's a start and something to build on and I'll probably upload a few for peer review and criticism (constructive I hope) on the photo sites and on here.