Street (images thread)

[kevinparis]

thanks Rick

 

[ZoranC]

The 20 to 40 mm range is where I like to be for FourThirds street work. 50mm and up tends to be a little too tight most of the time, forcing distances which cut intimacy. Sometimes I like a little wider too, but for your desired FoV range 25 to 40 mm is just right. Speed is important too as much of the indoor street scenes are rather poorly lit.

The two lenses I use this are the Summilux 25/1.4 and Konica 40mm f/1.8. The ZD 35 is sharper than the 40mm and allows autofocus when that's useful, I use it a lot too, but sometimes that extra stop of speed is very useful.

Thank you!

 

[Godfrey]

Communicating #6

Olympus E-5 + Summilux-D 25mm f/1.4 ASPH
ISO 1600 @ f/1.8 @ 1/10 second​

thanks for looking! comments appreciated.

 

[Tesselator]

I have a question for everyone:

If you were choosing between 50, 70 and 100mm effective focal length (25, 35 and 50mm on m43 body) for outdoor and indoor (bars and similar) "street" photography that is mainly focusing on individual rather than a scene (often focusing on torso and closer) which one of these focal lengths you would consider best fit most of the times?

Torso? Ya need more than 50mm in most cases. It depends on the density of the crowd (ie. the approximation to the individual) but usually 85mm lenses (170mm equiv) is about right I find. Unless of course you don't mind capturing the scornful looks as you get in people's faces with your camera. 50mm is about right for full body or groups of 2 or 3. 35mm is about right for segments of a crowd. 24mm gets you nice scene-width crowds. Wider lenses than 24mm are too difficult to control composition in a crowd or busy street. Something like the 7-14mm Lumix can be fun for street but it's spray & pray pot-luck photography at best. But that may be what some people like too - just depends...

 

[Godfrey]

Torso? Ya need more than 50mm in most cases. It depends on the density of the crowd (ie. the approximation to the individual) but usually 85mm lenses (170mm equiv) is about right I find. Unless of course you don't mind capturing the scornful looks as you get in people's faces with your camera. 50mm is about right for full body or groups of 2 or 3. 35mm is about right for segments of a crowd. 24mm gets you nice scene-width crowds. Wider lenses than 24mm are too difficult to control composition in a crowd or busy street. Something like the 7-14mm Lumix can be fun for street but it's spray & pray pot-luck photography at best. But that may be what some people like too - just depends...

You have to be much further away from your subjects than I for a 170mm EFL lens to be "torso only". For the distances I like to work, torso only is 25-35mm on FourThirds.

 

[Godfrey]

Communicating #7

Olympus E-1 + Konica 40mm f/1.8
ISO 400 @ f/1.8 @ 1/80 second​

thanks for looking. comments appreciated.

 

[Streetshooter]

Philly, Pa

 

[Streetshooter]

Philly...January 1st, 2011

 

[woodmancy]

Streetshooter - you have a wonderful eye

The second one looks like a giant concrete cliff that you could fall in to.

The first one is too close to home for me - we see this in Toronto all the time. Doesn't seem that society is getting more humane and caring.

Keith

 

[Streetshooter]

Keith, Thanks my friend.
I'm doing work with some lawyers at a Homeless Advocacy organization.
They have been using my streetwork for a few years.
I see the situation worse here in Philly than it was 40 years ago.
It won't go away and neither will I...

 

[Streetshooter]

Philly, January 1st 2011

 

[Streetshooter]

 

[Godfrey]

Communicating #10

Olympus E-5 + ZD 35mm f/3.5 Macro
ISO 1250 + f/3.5 + 1/10 second

"Communicating 2011" lightbox display: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gdgphoto/sets/72157625844414410/show/​

Thanks for looking, comments appreciated.

 

[bbodine9]

Godfrey,

I like this photo quite a bit, could you have taken it with the E-1 and the same lens in your opinion?

 

[Jorgen Udvang]

Godfrey,

I like this photo quite a bit, could you have taken it with the E-1 and the same lens in your opinion?

He could, but at ISO1250 and 1/10s, the E-1 would produce a rather grainy and somewhat blurry result. I used to take photos of temple interiors with the E-1 because of the silent shutter, but I never went beyond ISO800, and even then, exposure had to be spot on. With the 11-22, it was mostly possible to hold the camera still enough to shoot at 1/10-1/15s, but with a 35mm, it's another story.

Oh, and very good photo btw. Wonder what she suddenly remembered.

 

[Godfrey]

He could, but at ISO1250 and 1/10s, the E-1 would produce a rather grainy and somewhat blurry result. I used to take photos of temple interiors with the E-1 because of the silent shutter, but I never went beyond ISO800, and even then, exposure had to be spot on. With the 11-22, it was mostly possible to hold the camera still enough to shoot at 1/10-1/15s, but with a 35mm, it's another story.

Oh, and very good photo btw. Wonder what she suddenly remembered.

Jorgen hit it on the nose. If I'd been there with the E-1, I'd have been at ISO 400 or 800 and shooting with the adapted Konica 40mm f/1.8 wide open. And even then, it would have been a grainier image. Nothing wrong with that, but it is a different photo. I do that too as I still love shooting with the E-1.

Thanks for the compliments, both of you!

 

[cokids]

I live in Maine, so this is a close I get to any street,

 

[cokids]

This is as close as I can get to street photography living in Maine as I do...

I think those specs are dirt in the snow...not on the sensor.

 

[cokids]

Here's one that almost applies!

Old Fashioned soda fountain in Damariscotta, Maine. Should it be in B&W?

Seems most street photography is done in B&W.

 

[Godfrey]

Here's one that almost applies! http://www.pbase.com/cokids/image/131870519.jpg

Old Fashioned soda fountain in Damariscotta, Maine. Should it be in B&W?

Seems most street photography is done in B&W.

I think it would look good in B&W or in a properly adjusted color rendering. As it is, the colors of the principal subject matter are flat and dingy yellowish, which distracts rather than adding an "old timey" feel.

Most street photographers do seem to like B&W (myself included), perhaps harkening back to images they admire from the work of Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Frank and others, and the newspaper photos of the last century. But by no means is all good street photography rendered into B&W: there is a lot of excellent work done in color too.