Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats
Story:
This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken around Bab Doukkala in Marrakech, Morocco. I had just finished making my way out of the medina and started exploring outside the wall. This actually became one of my favorite spots for street photography in Marrakech. The Grand Taxis, for long distance travel, are all located here and there’s plenty of merchant stands around too. It’s more open so you get good light, the long stretch of Grand Taxis bring a lot of activity, and most of the tourists don’t venture this far out of the medina.
Marrakech is known for being a difficult place to shoot Street Photography. There’s so much to capture here, but most want money first, or they don’t want any photos at all. They are very aware of any nearby cameras too.
While walking down the street, I noticed this man looking up into the sky with a ray of light hitting the side of his face. I knew I’d have to be quick and wouldn’t have time to get any closer before the moment was gone. I also saw there was more going on around him, so I fit it in.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t quite quick enough, as the extremely attentive man on the right put his hand up just as I clicked the shutter. So it’s another “almost” shot, but it probably would have been better closer up, anyway (as cropped below). That’s way too much cropping, in my opinion, but it would have been nice to be able to get up as close as this during the actual shot. That’s Street Photography, though. Moments happen in the blink of an eye and you have to be in the right place at the right time.
Stats:
- Camera: Fujifilm Xpro1
- Lens: Fujinon XF 18mm
- Focal Length: 18mm (27mm full frame equivalent)
- Aperture: f/5.6
- Shutter Speed: 1/500
- ISO: 1600
The actions of the man on the right complete this photo and make it better in my opinion. You then have 3 elements in the frame.
Thanks for the feedback, John! I agree that having 3 elements in the frame is a good thing. It’s what I wanted, but I’m just not a fan of his action. For me, it hurts the photo because it takes away some of the candidness and you can tell it’s an action of waving off the photo. But that could just be me :) Thanks again!
I think it brings tension into the frame. Two thirds is candid and then have a separate but connected element representing a response to your actions. Makes it a more detailed photograph rather than the straight candid.