I’m curious: how close to your subjects are you? Do you use a zoom lens? This from someone who still uses a Nikon Coolpix but your photos are so ‘up close’ I just love them.
Thanks so much. I usually shoot from pretty close. My usual lenses for street photography are either a 30mm prime (45mm equivalent) or an 18 -55 mm which I typically preset to about 24mm (equivalent to about a 35mm). In the subway I’ll often shoot with a 19mm prime (about 28mm equivalent). So mostly the images are shot just as I’m approaching or passing people. Sometimes, of course, I’m just too far away from something I want so I’ll zoom in or crop later. And the best pictures, I think, are when I stop and talk to people and ask them for the picture – because then there’s an exchange between us.
I so appreciate your response b/c that was going to be my next question: do you ask them for a picture? Even with my little snaps, I do ask people if I can take their picture. And then they pose……. 🙂
Yes, this is a heated subject in street photography. I much prefer to ask from both an aesthetic and an ethical perspective. But often either I or the passersby are in a hurry or something about the situation makes it seem inappropriate (or they seem unapproachable). From a journalistic point of view, of course, I’m simply recording scenes of (public) life in New York in a particular period and it’s well established in law (at least in the US) and the archives of photography as an important genre. In these days of heightened concerns about security and privacy such photography comes under increasing scrutiny and attack but I still believe it’s a legitimate art form.
I’m curious: how close to your subjects are you? Do you use a zoom lens? This from someone who still uses a Nikon Coolpix but your photos are so ‘up close’ I just love them.
Thanks so much. I usually shoot from pretty close. My usual lenses for street photography are either a 30mm prime (45mm equivalent) or an 18 -55 mm which I typically preset to about 24mm (equivalent to about a 35mm). In the subway I’ll often shoot with a 19mm prime (about 28mm equivalent). So mostly the images are shot just as I’m approaching or passing people. Sometimes, of course, I’m just too far away from something I want so I’ll zoom in or crop later. And the best pictures, I think, are when I stop and talk to people and ask them for the picture – because then there’s an exchange between us.
On Sun, Jul 20, 2014 at 8:38 PM, obBLOGato wrote:
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I so appreciate your response b/c that was going to be my next question: do you ask them for a picture? Even with my little snaps, I do ask people if I can take their picture. And then they pose……. 🙂
Yes, this is a heated subject in street photography. I much prefer to ask from both an aesthetic and an ethical perspective. But often either I or the passersby are in a hurry or something about the situation makes it seem inappropriate (or they seem unapproachable). From a journalistic point of view, of course, I’m simply recording scenes of (public) life in New York in a particular period and it’s well established in law (at least in the US) and the archives of photography as an important genre. In these days of heightened concerns about security and privacy such photography comes under increasing scrutiny and attack but I still believe it’s a legitimate art form.
On Sun, Jul 20, 2014 at 9:22 PM, obBLOGato wrote:
>