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Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week:
“Security Scene”

Colombo Shooter Files-5

Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Main Street near the Red Mosque. Main street is one of the busier streets in the city, just east of Fort on the north end of Pettah. There are shops, banks and plenty of traffic here (vehicle, foot and cow). It also leads to Sea Street and the popular gold markets.

As I was walking along a covered sidewalk here, I noticed this interesting looking security guard sitting in his chair alongside an old blue wall. There was also a small cat just around the corner from him and a man stopping along the wall to comb his hair. I saw this scene unfolding ahead as I was walking up so I stopped just in front and quickly framed them all in the photo before it was gone. 

While the security guard’s expression comes off a little unfriendly in this photo, the opposite was true. Colombo has the most camera friendly security guards and policemen I’ve ever met in my life, and he was no different. This photo was followed by a large smile, wave and a “thank you.” 

Stats:

  • Camera: Fujifilm Xpro1
  • Lens: Fujinon XF 18mm 
  • Focal Length: 18mm (27mm full frame equivalent)
  • Aperture: f/4
  • Shutter Speed: 1/500
  • ISO: 1600

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Street Photography from 5 Days in Colombo, Sri Lanka

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Marco Polo called Sri Lanka the finest island in the world and before the Sri Lankan Civil War, it was a top tourist destination in the world too. Since the civil war ended in 2009, it’s regaining all those visitors too. While most come for the beaches, rain forests, ancient sites and more, Colombo is the biggest city and main way on and off the island. 

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On some recommendations, I made sure to stay longer than most so I could really get a feel for this city, and I’m glad I did. It was one of the better street photography experiences I’ve had. I loved the mix of urban city, island life, chaos and friendly people. You can check out my 7 first impressions of Colombo from a street photography perspective and stay tuned for an in-depth street photography guide to the city, but in the meantime, here’s some street photography I was able to capture during my time in Colombo…

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50 Tips I Would Tell My New Photographer Self

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I remember my first college photography course years ago. It was taught by a photographer with over 40 years of experience. Unfortunately, those 40 years didn’t seem to teach him much valuable advice to give aspiring photographers.

For perspective, the instructor’s most repeated piece of advice was that “No great photos have been made without a tripod!” Not joking.

Most of what I’ve learned since has come from experience, time, plenty of photos, studying great photographers’ work and finding valuable information on my own (thank you internet). A lot of time could have been saved if I’d been told a few valuable pieces of simple advice at the start, though.

So here’s 50 things I wish that teacher had told me instead, years ago. And feel free to add any of your own tips in the comments below! 

50 Tips I Would Tell My New Photographer Self

1. Photos are Images of Light. Learn Light As Much As You Learn Anything.

2. Focus on the Whole Scene, Not Just One Element.

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3. Try Everything, Pick Something. 

4. Don’t Waste So Much Time Looking at Gear.

5. Listen to Criticism, But Stick to Your Vision.

6. Learn How to Zone Focus.

7. Don’t Just Show What Something Looks Like. See How You Can Capture More.

8. Your Photos You Think are Good Today, You Might Realize Aren’t Tomorrow. That’s OK, You’re Improving.

9. Learn Three Things Inside and Out: Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO

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10. Be a Photographer First, Then You Can Think of a Career.

11. Don’t Compete or Compare With Others. Focus on Your Own Improvement.

12. Always Have a Camera With You.

13. Photo Books are a Visual Teacher. Buy Many.

14. Worry Less About Technology and More About Photography.

15. Take Risks at the Beginning, Don’t Jump into Constraints From the Start.

16. Don’t Spend So Much Time Tweaking Edits and Pre-Sets. Take Your Camera and Go Outside.

17. Force Yourself to Learn How to Shoot Manual from the Start.

18. Don’t Listen to Everyone. A Photo of a Flower Would Get More “likes” than Most of Henri Cartier-Bresson’s Work.

19. Do Listen to Someone, Though. Find Honest Photographers to Critique Your Photos With.

20. Curiosity & Instincts Work Well Together in Photography.

21. Shooting Wide Open is Not Mandatory.

22. Shoot Every Day.

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23. Don’t Give Up. Most People Stop at the Start.

24. Learn One Focal Length Extremely Well.

25. Do What You Can With What You Have.

26. Shoot RAW.

27. Bokeh Can Look Nice, But Only in Certain Instances. 

28. Slow Down. Taking More Shots Doesn’t Equal More Keepers.

29. Don’t Worry About Taking Too Many Shots, Though. Take Another Shot, or five, If You Feel It.

30. If It Doesn’t Say or Show Anything Interesting, Then It’s Not a Good Photo.

31. Just Shoot It. If It Grabs You, Capture It. Hesitating Out of Fear Loses Your Best Shots.

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32. Get Closer. But Not as a Rule.

33. Substance Over Polish. Substance Will Last the Test of Time, Amazing Photoshop Won’t.

34. Most Camera Features Just Get in the Way.

35. Study the Work of Great Photographers.

36. Photography Looks Much Better in Print than on Screens. Study Prints.

37. All You Really Need is a Camera.

38. Look Longer at the Things Most People Ignore.

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39. Write Things Down. Ideas, Thoughts, Goals, Etc.

40.  Stop Waiting and Just Do It. It Won’t Go Perfectly, But You Have to Take the First Step to Go Anywhere.

41. Always Believe in Yourself Sounds Cliche. Don’t Listen to Yourself When You Don’t Believe in Yourself Sounds Realistic.

42. Choose Your Own Life. Don’t Let Others Dictate It.

43. Your Eyes Will Always Be More Important than Your Camera. Train Your Eyes to See.

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44. Question Yourself & Your Photography. Push Yourself.

45. Don’t Worry So Much About What Others Think.

46. Fear and Failure Come with Success.

47. Shoot What You Love. Photograph What Interests You, Don’t Force What Doesn’t. 

48. Walk Everywhere.

49. Don’t Overthink Photography. Capturing a Great Photo is Difficult, But Overthinking Only Makes it More Difficult.

50. There’s Always More to Learn. And to Capture.

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7 First Impressions of Colombo, Sri Lanka
(From a Street Photography Perspective)

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Colombo is the commercial capital and largest city in Sri Lanka, but most people don’t come to the island for city life, they come for the beautiful beaches, nature, and “Cultural Triangle.”

Before coming to Sri Lanka, I talked to some photographers who found Colombo had plenty to offer itself, though. Maybe it’s more worth it for street photographers, but I ended up staying almost a week in Colombo because of how much I liked it. If you enjoy cities in India, then Colombo shouldn’t be disappointing, but it also has its own character that makes it different too.

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

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Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week:
“Flashing in the Rain”

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Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken at Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey. Last Christmas, I gifted myself a fujifilm flash and cord for some off-camera flash street photography. I have photographer friends that are into flash religiously and I’d been wanting to try it out more. Natural light will always be my main focus, but flash is fun, adds an interesting dynamic and is great when the light out isn’t so great.

When I returned to Istanbul early this year, the city was covered in snow. After spending most of the year under Istanbul’s hot sun, the cold temperature and darkness were a complete change for photography. So it was the perfect chance to start using my new flash.

One evening as I was shooting around Taksim Square, the  snow/slush/rain started coming down. While my camera isn’t weather proof, I tried to carefully get some flash shots in. I saw this man walking with a clear umbrella and an interesting look with his hand around his neck, so I walked over to get the shot. I also wanted him illuminated underneath the umbrella for both effect and so there wouldn’t be a flash reflection on the plastic umbrella. So I quickly lowered the flash underneath and took the shoot just as he was in front of me. 

While flash isn’t very noticeable during the day, it is once the sun goes down. So this shot actually sparked an interesting conversation. After finding out he was from France, moved to Istanbul, and some other quick life facts, the slush turned to heavy rain and it was time for me to call it a night so I’d have my camera working another day.

Stats:

  • Camera: Fujifilm Xpro1
  • Lens: Fujinon XF 18mm 
  • Focal Length: 18mm (27mm full frame equivalent)
  • Aperture: f/16
  • Shutter Speed: 1/60
  • ISO: 400
  • Flash: Fujifilm EF-X20flash street beginning-2

Master Profiles: William Klein

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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:

William Klein (1928-Present)

American photographer known for creating his own influential style that ignored all the rules.

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City Street Guides by f.d. walker:
A Street Photography Guide to
Budapest, Hungary

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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!

Budapest

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Street Stories: Arrested for Street Photography in Morocco

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A little while back I decided to include a few posts/stories about some of the negative experiences that have come about from shooting street photography during my 100 cities project. I want this blog to be open, honest, and hopefully interesting, so that should include the times that don’t go perfectly too. In the first post, I wrote about a physical confrontation over street photography that I had in Istanbul. While they’re very rare, confrontations can occur in street photography, but for this post I wanted to cover something that happened to me that I never would have expected.

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Chefchaouen, Morocco

During my visit to Chefchaouen, Morocco, I was actually arrested for street photography. But it wasn’t as simple as that. The story behind why and how is the most surprising part, and now that I’m free, it’s also the most entertaining part, for me…

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Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week:
“Medina Light”

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Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken in the medina near Bab Rcif in Fes, Morocco. In a country full of elaborate medinas, nothing compares to the one in Fes. It’s more like a whole city and you could easily spend days walking around and getting lost in the maze. The medina here is as much for the locals living within its walls as the tourists visiting.

I had just started the day and entered the medina through the Bab Recif gate. Much of the medina is so narrow and packed that the sunlight is blocked out, but along this busy alley, there were some sun rays shining in beautifully. I noticed a large mirror that reflected against an area where one of those beams of light hit. So I waited to see if I could catch someone against it at the right time.

I saw this woman dressed in blue with a yellow bag coming so I got in the right position for the frame to include both her and her reflection, with the alley in between. Luckily, the sunlight hit the lens just right so it added those two sunbeams in the shot too.

Stats:

  • Camera: Fujifilm Xpro1
  • Lens: Fujinon XF 18mm 
  • Focal Length: 18mm (27mm full frame equivalent)
  • Aperture: f/16
  • Shutter Speed: 1/500
  • ISO: 800

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33 Street Photography Photos from 2 Days in Casablanca, Morocco

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I finished off my visit to Morocco flying out of Casablanca. While Casablanca is the biggest city in Morocco, not many stay longer than it takes to fly in and out. Most visitors come here for all the other cities in Morocco, but you don’t hear anybody recommend visiting Casablanca. Since it is a large, well-known city, I wanted to see how deserving this was so I decided to leave a couple of days to explore the city before I left Morocco.

While it was easy to see why it’s not high on the list for travelers to Morocco, I did find it worth exploring for street photographers. At first impression, it’s a somewhat ugly, charmless sprawl of an urban city. Deteriorating and dirty without many attractions. There isn’t much info online so I really had to discover the city on my own, by foot. I found underneath this uninspiring exterior, there was plenty of life and interest to capture. I enjoyed the urban city side of Morocco and while it’s not pretty, there’s still some character there for street photography. 

I only had 2 days here so it didn’t give me much opportunity to capture as many photos as usual, but I still wanted to keep with 33 photos series theme, anyway. So here’s 33 street photography photos from 2 days in Casablanca, Morocco…

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