Street Photography Tips, Interaction, Travel, Guides
A new photo walk series that focuses on the photos.
This episode I cover one of Istanbul’s most character filled photo walks (and best street bazaars) in Tarlabaşı, while sharing insights from the photos taken and exploring ways to critique and learn from your photos.
For Exclusive Content, Check Out My Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/fdwalker
All the best,
Forrest
Now that I’m starting into my 3rd city shutdown of the year, this time in Istanbul, I’m sharing some of the major things that have gotten me through these shutdowns, and the year, as a photographer.
Also included, I share work from an unreleased project during my earlier shutdown in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
All the best to everyone else dealing with another shutdown and everything that has come this year.
– Forrest
A new photo walk series that focuses on the photos. I cover one of Istanbul’s most active and photogenic street photography walks in Eminonu, while sharing insights from the photos taken and exploring ways to critique and learn from your photos.
Hope you enjoy and please share any feedback on this series or on any video content you’d like to see in the future.
For more information on the video content coming, check here.
All the best,
Forrest
*An interview series with a play on “20 questions,” where I try to mix it up with different questions. Some serious, some not so much. I’ll also be focusing the series on some of the best street photographers from the cities I visit around the world during my 100 Cities project.
The beginnings of my Major Cities project started almost 4 years ago while I lived in Istanbul, Turkey. This amazing city was not only the first city I included in my project, but 86 major cities later, it’s still at the top of my list of cities in the world for photography. While living there, I met and became friends with a local photographer by the name of Kerem Nasipoglu, one of the most passionate and involved street photographers in Istanbul, which is saying something. And being the first city on my project, I realized I never interviewed a local photographer from the city so I could think of no one better than Kerem to have for this city’s installment of 20 Questions.
While being very involved in the street photography community, Kerem’s street work blends with a strong interest in social documentary work. Documenting daily life as it happens and finding stories within it all is what interests him the most. Discovering these moments and differences from what surrounds him as he walks the streets of Istanbul daily really drives his passion and you can see it in his work.
So now to learn more about him, it’s time for 20 Questions in Istanbul with Kerem Nasipoglu…
[Read more…] about 20 Questions in Istanbul with Kerem Nasipoglu
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.
One of the many reasons I started this blog was to give an inside look at Street Photography around the world. This includes the not so pretty parts during my 100 cities project, shooting in over 100 cities across 6 continents. I want this blog to be open and honest, especially with my own experiences, so I decided to create a few posts that touch on some of the negative situations that come along too.
[Read more…] about Street Stories: A Physical Confrontation over Street Photography in Istanbul
I recently finished a smaller photo project in Istanbul and thought I’d share a more detailed look behind making a photo project like this. The project, titled “Taksim Skies,” wasn’t a large, complex or highly involved project. It wasn’t covering some serious topic or made for deep meaning. It was more of a smaller scale, artistic photo project, while being somewhat experimental and lighthearted. Hopefully describing each aspect of the project can help you see what goes into making a small photo project like this, while also telling you more about the project itself.
While living in Istanbul, Turkey, I stayed just a five minute walk from Taksim Square. If you’ve ever been to Istanbul, you know Taksim Square is at the center of the city, and always full of life. The largest metro station is here, the busiest pedestrian street starts here, Gezi Park is here, and the famous Republic Monument is here. This is also the place for big events, protests and political rallies. So you get a constant chaos of locals, tourists, commuters, street sellers, and political activists. Even on a slow day.
A day didn’t go by where I didn’t have to walk through Taksim Square. I always had my camera with me and spent plenty of time photographing this active spot too. But with people constantly moving in all directions, you get messy, crowded backgrounds where ever you look. So you’re forced to attempt to organize the chaos when shooting Street Photography here. I’m not a fan of messy streets of people walking in every direction because most photos end up looking the same. A person walking in front of other people walking.
So since I had to walk through this square every day, I decided to start a small photo project attempting to capture these people in solitude. I came up with the idea to use the sky as their backdrop and to take a few photos a day, over the summer, and see if anything could come out of it.
*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.
[Read more…] about City Street Guides by f.d. walker: A Street Photography Guide to Istanbul, Turkey
A month ago I had the honor of being included in the new episode of Street Hunt from StreetHunters.net. In the Street Hunt videos, Spyros Papaspyropoulos, co-founder of Street Hunters, leads a filmed Street Photography walk in cities around the world. For his newest episode, he came to my current home, Istanbul.
[Read more…] about Project Files: A Street Hunt Episode in Istanbul from StreetHunters.Net
This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken in Istanbul, Turkey along the Golden Horn. Parks and grass line the shore in this area and I was walking to Balat when I noticed a man in a gray suit sitting against a tree. A couple of things stood out about him. The tree perfectly hid his head, creating a funny illusion, and he was talking with his hand while on his cell phone. So I walked up just behind him and captured this shot just as he put his hand up, almost like he was saying hello to nobody.
