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Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week:
“Almost”

61 Photos-42

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.

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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

City Street Guides by f.d. walker:
A Street Photography Guide to
Krakow, Poland

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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, safety concerns, street tips, 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!

Kraków

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33 Street Photography Photos From One Week in Budapest, Hungary

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My Eastern European Street Photography Tour ended in Budapest, Hungary, which was a great city to finish it off. I enjoyed all the cities I worked and photographed during this trip, but if I had to choose, Kiev and Budapest would be my favorites. Budapest has become a top spot for travel in Europe, and it’s easy to see why. The city has so much to offer that it would also be one of my top cities to live in Europe. Check out my 7 first impressions of Budapest to find out some of the reasons why.

And as far as Street Photography goes, the city grows on you the longer you spend exploring all it has to offer. So here’s 33 photos that I was able to capture during my time in Budapest…

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Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week:
“Setting Up”

61 Photos-45

Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken at Jaama el Fna in Marrakech, Morocco. Jaama el Fna is the main square in Marrakech and it’s really like no other square in the world. It is truly gigantic and can be overwhelmingly chaotic with so much going on. It fills with juice and food stands, street performers and hustlers, tourists and locals, monkeys and snakes, and everything else you can imagine. 

Just before sunset, the square’s outside restaurants start setting up for dinner. They put up the poles and temporary rooftops, set up the tables and get everything ready for the night, which is when the square gets especially packed. 

I was walking around the corner of one line of restaurants when I ran into the scene in the photo. The light, shadow and layers of all that was going on immediately caught my eye, but when the boy’s hand pointed up, I quickly reacted by taking the photo, without time to think. Fortunately, instincts composed well enough on their own.

For anyone visiting Marrakech, I’d really recommend visiting the square around an hour or two before sunset. Not only is the light the best, but you get plenty of activity and life without it being too crowded yet. The square’s so big, you can easily spend hours exploring and photographing the area.

Stats:

  • Camera: Fujifilm Xpro1
  • Lens: Fujinon XF 18mm 
  • Focal Length: 18mm (27mm full frame equivalent)
  • Aperture: f/8
  • Shutter Speed: 1/500
  • ISO: 800

61 Photos-45

Master Profiles: Constantine Manos

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* “Master Profiles” is a series profiling all the great photographers of uncontrolled life. Unlike the rest of the blog, I’m doing these in a straight profile format to make it easy for quick access to facts, quotes and knowledge on all the masters. I’ll also group them together here every time I add a new one.

Profile:

Constantine Manos (1934-present)

An American photographer with a long history in photography, but more recently known for his work capturing American life in vivid color.

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7 First Impressions of Budapest, Hungary
(From a Street Photography Perspective)

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After Belgrade, I made my way up to Budapest, Hungary for some work and decided to stay longer than planned, while also making a short trip to Bratislava. When I first arrived in Budapest, the weather wasn’t good, the light was bad, and I wasn’t finding much to shoot. So why did I stay longer? Because there’s something special about Budapest that I didn’t want to leave yet. Fortunately, the weather and light got better, and I started finding photos too.

Living in Istanbul and traveling around Eastern Europe, I was constantly hearing about how great Budapest is from travelers. It had the feeling of the “new european city” being added to every traveler’s list. Everyone’s always trying to find the new city in Europe that has so much to offer, but hasn’t been overrun with tourists or inflated prices yet. And Budapest is that city right now. 

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I remember my first time in Prague years ago, before everyone found out about it. Budapest has that similar feeling. And it’s great.

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

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Street Shot Sundays
Photos of the Week:
“More Budapest Trolley Shots”

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Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

For this Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week, I’m sharing a few photos instead of just one. They were all taken in Budapest, Hungary at the trolley stop by Fővám tér. Last week, I shared another photo taken here too. As I said in that post, this spot became one of my favorites in Budapest. So I ended up spending a lot of time walking around the area with my camera.

Budapest Hungary-40

On one side of the trolley stop you can get some great light when the sun is out. It shines right into the old yellow and red trolley windows so if you expose for it, you can get some nice light and shadow effects with the people inside. 

Budapest Hungary-28

All three photos above were shot in the same way. The trolleys come every minute or two so I’d just walk along looking for anything interesting when each one would come. Then, with the settings exposed for the highlights, I’d quickly capture any interesting people or scenes I saw inside the trolley windows where the light was how I wanted.

The trolleys, colors, architecture through the windows, and the people inside them, all go along with a feeling I get in Budapest that I really like. An authentic, older city full of life.

Stats:

  • Camera: Fujifilm Xpro1
  • Lens: Fujinon XF 18mm 
  • Focal Length: 18mm (27mm full frame equivalent)
  • Aperture: f/11
  • Shutter Speed: 1/500
  • ISO: 800

33 Street Photography Photos From 4 Days in Bratislava, Slovakia

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While working in Budapest, I decided to take a quick 2 hour train ride up to Bratislava, Slovakia to spend a few days in a city I didn’t know too much about. It’s not at the top of most people’s lists to visit when it comes to European capitals, but I’m more than glad I spent some time exploring this unique little city with my camera. It has a relaxing vibe with history, character and a ruggedness that comes without the fast paced chaos of bigger capital cities.

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

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City Street Guides by f.d. walker:
A Street Photography Guide to
Lviv, Ukraine

lviv-city-guide-cover

*A series of guides on shooting Street Photography in cities around the world. Find the best spots to shoot, things to capture, safety concerns, street tips, 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!

Lviv

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