Shooter Files by f.d. walker

Street Photography Tips, Interaction, Travel, Guides

Joining The Street Collective

joining-street-collective

For any readers that don’t already know, I’m excited to announce here that I’ve personally joined up with The Street Collective as a new member, along with Yves Vernin. Other members include Fabian Schreyer, Dmitry Stepanenko, Gabi Ben Avraham, Vineet Vohra and Mats Alfredsson.

The photo collective was founded in early 2013 as an international group of street photographers, with members coming from different home countries. So, I’m happy to now represent the USA. Although, judging from my photos I need to spend some time there :) It’s a very passionate group of street photographers and I’m looking forward to what the future will bring working with them.  

Nothing will change with the blog and my 100 city goals, but there might be some interaction included here. Also, our collective is not only about us, but offers other photographers the possibility to contribute to different public projects. So below, I’ll go over a couple of the community activities you all can participate in, followed by links to the member photo pages for you to check out.

Public Projects You Can Join

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Chu Việt Hà

Our Public Projects give a theme for others to submit their photos to. The last one was “Public Transport,” which is where Chu Việt Hà’s photo above comes from. The best shots are selected by the collective members and featured in the project’s gallery, while the project-winner is featured with his portfolio on the collective website.

The public project submissions work through its own Facebook group page so feel free to participate there!

“Street Sequence” Flickr Group

street-sequenceOur new  “Street Sequence” Flickr Group is one I’m especially excited for. What started as a collective project recently exhibited during the Brussels Street Photography Festival has now turned into something everyone can participate in. The theme and sequence behind it should turn into something really great, especially with all the top street photographers already submitting. Below are the specific details and you can check out the included video to see what it really looks like. I think it’s a great idea, so hopefully many of you all can participate!

What is it all about?

-“Street Sequence” is a street photography group initiated and curated by the members of “The Street Collective.”
-What started off as a collective edit, (“What’s next?”: www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_fgXqItiu0&feature=youtu.be), will now be continued as a public project. With submissions from the Flickr community.

How does it work?

– We want to create an ongoing street sequence, where each picture in the queue relates to the previous one
– The connection may be based on narration, mood, graphic impact, matching colors etc. It may be obvious, but also try to think of clever, subtle connections 
– It’s a street photography group, so make sure your submissions match the broad understanding of this approach (candid, taken in public, human element)
– You can submit a maximum of two shots per week, which match the above criteria
– Shots can either be from your archive or new work
– Once a week, the group-admins pick the favorite submission from the previous week and add it to the sequence
– Then the new submission period starts!

Cuba and Miami

Thanks to everyone that read this post and hopefully I’ll be able to see some of your photos in these community projects. Currently, I’m about to leave to Cuba for a couple of weeks so my internet access might be minimal, but I’ll have some posts scheduled and try to keep contact. Also, I’ll be in Miami the first week of December for the Miami Street Photography Festival, so if anyone wants to meet there, just shoot me a message or comment below.

Cheers!

The Street Collective Member Links:

My Page:

Forrest Walker (Portland, USA)

61 Photos-12

Other Members:

Fabian Schreyer (Augsburg, Germany)

fabian

Gabi Ben Avraham (Tel Aviv, Israel)

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Vineet Vohra (Delhi, India)

vineet

Mats Alfredsson (Borås, Sweden)

mats

Dmitry Stepanenko (London, England)

dmitry

Yves Vernin (Marseille, France)

yves

 

The Street Collective:
Website: www.thestreetcollective.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/thestreetcollectivedotcom
Facebook (public project group): www.facebook.com/groups/356974127846089
Instagram: www.instagram.com/thestreetcollective

33 Street Photography Photos from One Week in Hanoi, Vietnam

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Living in Ho Chi Minh City, I had to make a visit up to Vietnam’s capital. Hanoi quickly became one of my favorite city’s in Asia for street photography, with endless character, charm, places to shoot, and people just as photography friendly as back home in Saigon. Being thousands of years old, you feel the city’s age when exploring the streets. From a city of over 3 million people, there’s an authentic, old world atmosphere it exudes. 

So here’s 33 photos that I was able to capture during my time in Hanoi…

[Read more…]

Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week:
“Dog Clap”

Saigon Shooter Files

Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken at September 23 Park in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Taken in the same area as a previous Sunday Street Shot, this long, skinny park runs along Saigon’s backpacker district up to the popular Bến Thành Market. In the heart of the city here, there’s always something going.

After shooting in the park some, I noticed this little white dog at the edge of the grass. I really liked the colors, with the bright white dog inside the red cloth set on green grass. As I walked over to take a photo, his owner came over too. The short, older man leaned over and started playfully talking to his dog while clapping. Due to how short the man was, I was able to tower over them by stepping on the grass side curb. I tried to compose the shot directly above the dog to accentuate the combination of colors, while also creating a sort of illusion with the man’s hands and feet only showing from under his hat. While it was a little difficult balancing above for the shot, the old man got a good laugh once he noticed what I was doing. 

Stats:

  • Camera: Fujifilm Xpro1
  • Lens: Fujinon XF 18mm 
  • Focal Length: 18mm (27mm full frame equivalent)
  • Aperture: f/8
  • Shutter Speed: 1/500
  • ISO: 1600

Saigon Shooter Files

The Friday 5
(November 4th, 2016)

FRIDAY-5-COVER

5 Photographic Links for Your Weekend

Discover

Photographer of the week: Roberto Deri

Watch

Video of the Week: Return To Cuba: In the Footsteps of Walker Evans (Trailer)

Read

Article of the Week: Behind the Mask: Scenes From Nicaragua’s Sandinista Revolution

Travel

Photography Destination of the Week: Hyderabad, India

Look

InstaGram of the week: @vanepallotta

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7 First Impressions of Bangkok, Thailand
(From a Street Photography Perspective)

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*My time in Bangkok came before the recent passing of Thailand’s long beloved King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The nation is now observing a 30-day period of mourning and I’d like to wish the people the best while dealing with their great loss.

In-between leaving Vietnam on my way to some work in Russia, I decided to stop in Bangkok, Thailand. I’d been before years ago, but only as a short stop before visiting the beaches for vacation. So it was my first time really exploring the city for some photography. Bangkok is one of the more well-known cities in Asia and if you’ve seen much of the quality street photography coming out lately, Thailand has been producing much of it. While I couldn’t find much street photography info online for Bangkok, outside of the main tourist section, I luckily had some help from some of these local photographers in the street photography community here.

Bangkok Pattaya Shooter Files

Bangkok is known for the Grand Palace and temples, amazing cuisine and street food, wild nightlife and backpacker streets, and a mix of grit, lights and big city life in Thailand. Much of this is easily found around certain areas, but navigating around Bangkok looking for street photography spots can be exhausting if you don’t know where to go. 

So here are my first impressions of Bangkok, from my personal Street Photographer perspective…

[Read more…]

City Street Guides by f.d. walker:
A Street Photography Guide to
Kathmandu, Nepal

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*A series of guides on shooting Street Photography in cities around the world. Find the best spots to shoot, things to capture, street walks, street tips, safety concerns, and more for cities around the world. I have personally researched, explored and shot Street Photography in every city that I create a guide for. So you can be ready to capture the streets as soon as you step outside with your camera!

Kathmandu

[Read more…]

33 Street Photography Photos from One Week in Hong Kong

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While living in Ho Chi Minh City, I took a week break up to Hong Kong. It had always been high my list and it didn’t disappoint. While the clouds and rain didn’t do it any favors, I still left Hong Kong loving it and wanting to return. It’s one of the more unique cities I’ve been to with an international urban vibe mixed with old world Asia. It has one of the most impressive city skylines I’ve seen, but down on the ground in the narrow alleys and older neighborhoods, you can experience a completely different atmosphere.

Hong Kong Shooter Files-27

Hong Kong has such a variety of scenery and life that I’d recommend it as one of the best cities in Asia for street photography. So here’s 33 photos that I was able to capture during my time in Hong Kong…

[Read more…]

Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week:
“Siesta and a Short Dress”

Saigon Shooter Files-47

Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken on Nguyen Hue Street in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Also called Walking Street, Nguyen Hue is the first pedestrian-only street in Ho Chi Minh City. The French colonial styled City Hall and Ho Chi Minh statue sit here, which can bring some tourists during the day, but it usually doesn’t get crowded until night.

Streets run across each side of the walking lane, lined with cafes and shops. I was walking along when I noticed this attractive woman in a tight, short dress with an unusual pattern that stood out. She was also wearing purple high heels and looked like she was dressed for the club in the middle of the day. As she stopped at a closed business to look in the window, I also noticed a man dressed in a bright orange work uniform sleeping on his motorcycle, with shoes off on the ground and his feet resting above.

In Saigon, men sleeping on their motorbikes are about as common as Pho restaurants. So I normally avoid taking photos of them due to how common of a sight it is, but this scene gave me a reason to stop. I composed them together while catching some of the city reflection in the window, and making sure to expose correctly since they were under shadow, out of the bright Saigon sun. For me, this scene is 100% Saigon. 

Stats:

  • Camera: Fujifilm Xpro1
  • Lens: Fujinon XF 18mm 
  • Focal Length: 18mm (27mm full frame equivalent)
  • Aperture: f/5.6
  • Shutter Speed: 1/500
  • ISO: 800

Saigon Shooter Files-47

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-f.d. walker

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