Editor's note: This is part two of Italian photographer Sara Lando's three-part series on photographing people. Part one is here.
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By Sara Lando — So you got yourself a willing subject, everything is ready, you’re pumped up and ready to shoot. Your doorbell rings. Woo hoo!
Slowly put down that camera and breath: we don’t fire yet. Now we welcome. Read more »
Editor's Note: This is the third in a three-part series by Italian photographer Sara Lando on photographing people. The series begins here. I asked her to select some of her favorite images to illustrate this piece.
By Sara Lando — The model is gone, your studio is a mess, you’re tired but still a bit excited about the shooting and can’t wait to see your pictures on your big monitor.
Some might call it a day and go grab a beer. But there’s still a couple of things you might want to do before wrapping it up. Read more »
To photograph the resort area of Sharm El Sheikh, in Sinai, Dubai-based photographer Toufic Araman spared no effort.
He lit the hills. He lit—individually—the area under the area under each of the dozens of umbrellas on the normally dark beach. With an ingenious hack, I might add. He even lit the boat.
And he did it all without a single strobe, as he all but apologized to me later. That's right, this is all done with continuous lights. And it wasn't easy … Read more »
Not all stoppers are over-the-top lighting tours de force. Some stop you with quiet, elegant confidence. Or great composition. Or a strong connection. Such is the case with photographer Bret Hartman's portrait of human rights activist Chad Griffin for The Washington Post.
Honestly, as an online reader I barely even notice The Post's print edition anymore. But sitting on the kitchen table, Hartman's section-front portrait stopped me in my tracks.
As an LA-based freelancer for The Washington Post, Hartman is always auditioning for the next assignment while he is shooting the current one. Which is very different than being a staffer. Here's what that's like. Read more »
Too cheap to consider the Bounce-Wall, even before they announced the price? (UPDATE: They have since announced the price.)
A mere four days later, there is already a page up on how to roll your own version… Read more »
This post is written by James Maher – author of The Essentials of Street Photography – an eBook currently onsale at SnapnDeals (25% off).
Pushups, Rucker Park, Harlem.
Growing up I obsessed with basketball.
I would skip school; I would play in light rain and sometimes snow; I occasionally failed classes and always fell asleep in them. From age 8 until 22, it’s pretty much all I did and all I wanted to do.
The best players were often reserved, relaxed, and mentally tough and focused. The intense look in the child’s eyes above explains it all and shows how innate this mentality and focus can be.
So how does this story relate to you taking a ‘great street photograph?’
I want to share with you what I have learned, because it has nothing to do with tips, tricks, or techniques. The techniques are necessary to be able to take a technically good photograph but they are not the reason why you take great photographs.
Great street photographs say something about life; they speak to us; they fill us with an emotion; or they give us insight.
They are not about light; they are not about shapes or forms; they are not about faces. Light, shapes, and faces can only aid in the success of a photo; they cannot be the reason for it. When you look at a great street photograph you should not leave it saying, ‘Wow that light was amazing.’ You should leave it saying, ‘Wow the emotion or story in that photograph really hit me – AND the light was amazing.’
A great street photograph is one that makes a person think or one that brings up a specific feeling, story, or idea.
For a quick example, you shouldn’t be trying to capture a face; you should be trying to capture an expression.
If Only For A Moment.
“If Only For A Moment” – A fleeting moment with a story. No faces, subtle blue lighting, and no spectacular forms that stop you in your tracks. What is here is the subtle body language of the pass and that split second ‘what if’ thought going through their minds. This photo leads you on a mental journey through all of those ‘what if’ moments in your life and youth. It makes your heart beat.
So how do we create these photographs with meaning? Aren’t we at the whims of randomness and our surroundings in street photography?
Not necessarily.
The answer to this comes back to you and it is the reason for the personal stories in this article.
Street photography is a form of self expression. We go out and we search for the type of content that means something to us. When we are out there we are basically photographing ourselves, and searching for people, ideas, stories, and thoughts that we relate to and want to share.
Look at the body of work of any street photographer and you will be able to get some consistent insight into their personalities and how they see the world. They, like us, were at the whims of their surroundings and everyday randomness, yet this meaning still broke through in their work.
That is why you cannot copy another photographer’s style. You can only learn from them and their techniques and apply them to your own way of shooting and your own personality. Style isn’t about a look; it is about meaning.
It is about you.
Street photography is about exploring the world through our eyes and sharing the insights and stories that we see and find. It is showing the viewer how we see and think about the world.
The best photographers are not just interested in photography; they have an interest in people, in life, in social issues or cultural issues. They read and they explore new places and new ideas. They are curious both about others and about themselves. They have a good eye for design, but more importantly they have a good nose for the ideas that are floating around them.
Guess in Red.
“Guess in Red.” – I grew up with a serious case of Attention Deficit Disorder, which luckily subsided as I got older. Even simple stimulations would lead my mind way off track. Because of this and over time, I became very sensitive to advertising and how it intrudes on our attention, because it would break mine constantly. Walking around the streets was like a sensory overload. It’s led me to become fascinated with advertising and their intrusive nature and influence on our lives.
Is the above photo a coincidence or is it the result of influence?
If you want to take better street photographs, figure out why you are shooting and what you want to capture from it. What do you relate to most? Is there a specific type of content or person you are attracted to? Are you attracted to specific emotions or are there cultural issues that you want to show us? There are an infinite amount of ideas that you can go out and capture.
To better understand yourself and your work, study you archives and search for themes. Group similar photographs together. You might notice some ideas that you had previously missed.
It’s not easy.
Think about what your personality is like and how that relates to what you see out there. Maybe you can start by photographing a specific aspect of what life is like in your town or street.
Just because you live in an unpopulated area doesn’t mean you can’t do street photography. Give us insight into what it’s like to live where you are. You don’t even have to leave your home and it doesn’t matter if people are in the photographs or not. If you live in a town without a lot of people, then perhaps out of a series of twenty images, only 5 to 7 of them should actually have people in them. Photograph that sparseness. Let us into your world.
I can’t think of many things that sound more interesting than that.
Waiting in Grand Central.
New York is a city where there are a lot of people, a lot of stimulation, and a lot of things happening all at once. However, it is also a very lonely city. Living here, you feel like everyone is competing with you and that everyone is moving so fast that you can barely keep up. This shot was my way of portraying these feelings visually.
A great street photograph is one that comes from your soul and explains how you see the world. Light, faces, composition, and forms are all part of the recipe but they are not the reason why you click that shutter.
And you can create better street photographs by better understanding yourself and your world.
What are your thoughts about what creates a great street photograph?
This post is written by James Maher – author of The Essentials of Street Photography – an eBook currently onsale at SnapnDeals (25% off).
Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.
Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.
What Makes A Great Street Photograph and How Do We Create Them
Happily, I am shooting high school football again this fall. Meaning I have come full circle from where I started nearly thirty years ago, except this time I am not shooting on deadline for a newspaper.
Which means I am free to shoot some of the facets I normally would have had to pass up, and to experiment with different ways of using flash. This past weekend, that meant a single speedlight, an OCF cord and a grid spot… Read more »
UPDATE 9/25/12: Upon testing, the D600 appears to have a pretty sweet sensor — if the issues noted below are not a concern for you.
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Nikon has just officially announced their long-awaited entry-level full-frame body. Full spec reports are everywhere, as Nikon seeds lots of sites with advance info and embargoes them until the hour of release. So I won't duplicate that content here.
But for lighting photographers, the camera has two issues that are of concern. One is minor and (sadly at this point) expected.
But the other is major and quite unexpected. Read more »
Sara Lando is back with two follow-up posts from her earlier series on photographing people. Today: What it's like being on the other end of the lens.
Photo © Charlie Chipman
By Sara Lando — When I was living in Los Angeles working on my graphic novel project, I received an e-mail from some guy wanting to take my picture.
On a daily basis, I’d rather be covered in spiders while raccoons gnaw at my feet (just like everybody else), but Los Angeles based photographer Charlie Chipman really seemed a nice person. And after googling his work and making sure he actually wasn’t some GWC with a portfolio full of naked girls biting a finger, I agreed to meet him over cake. I like cake. Read more »
See that little hole? That's a ?" (3.5mm) sync on the just-announced Mitros flash from Phottix. It's starting to happen, people… Read more »
