Shooter Files by f.d. walker

Street Photography Tips, Interaction, Travel, Guides

Shot of the Week

Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week:
“Marine Blues”

Mumbai India-5-2

Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken by Marine Drive in Mumbai, India. Marine Drive is a 3.5 kilometer C-shaped boulevard along South Mumbai’s bay. People come here for morning exercise, evening walks, young romance, to relax by the ocean, enjoy the skyline, hang out and more. A great place for people watching, it’s one of the most popular spots in the city and my favorite to come for a more relaxing street photography walk. While Marine Drive can be touristy, you still get plenty of local life and interesting scenes, all within an enjoyable atmosphere by the bay.

I got up early one morning to catch the sunlight facing the water so I could capture the people in the light.  While the morning is more quiet, it can be better for photography. People aren’t back lit, the boulevard isn’t as crowded with tourists, and all the morning exercise can create some interesting scenes. Since Marine Drive has been photographed so much, it can be a challenge to capture something different. Luckily, if you spend enough time here, opportunities can still arise. 

On this morning I noticed this group of young men all wearing matching blue dress shirts. They were walking towards the end of the drive where you can walk on tetrapod shaped concrete blocks. I decided to sit down on one of the blocks and watch for a while to see if I could capture them all spaced apart. I liked the pattern of matching colored outfits they created against the backdrop of sea and skyline. After waiting a while, they finally separated and I captured this shot. Almost like a skyline of people against a skyline of the city.

Stats:

  • Camera: Fujifilm Xpro1
  • Lens: Fujinon XF 18mm 
  • Focal Length: 18mm (27mm full frame equivalent)
  • Aperture: f/14
  • Shutter Speed: 1/500
  • ISO: 800

Mumbai India-5-2

Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week:
“Taxi Driver”

Mumbai India-37

Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken in the Fort district of Mumbai, India. Fort is a primary business and financial district in Mumbai. It was the heart of the city for centuries and has become a popular area for tourists to stay due to its convenient location. 

I stayed in this district and after stopping for some chicken tikka masala (even for breakfast), I headed out for a day of shooting. In Mumbai, I try to stick to walking, or using the local train if I need to go a long distance. Sitting in traffic wastes too much time and in Mumbai you can find so much just exploring on foot. There aren’t many areas you can walk through that don’t contain interest and activity. It also saves me the hassle of bartering a taxi driver :)

So as usual, the traffic was at a standstill. While walking through the stopped vehicles, I noticed how the light was hitting a taxi driver. He looked serious, while sitting through another day of dealing with Mumbai traffic. He had one hand resting against his face while the other hung out the window. The light hit both nicely against the shadows, while also revealing only part of his face.

I decided to include the biker on the phone in the background to emphasize the stopped traffic and add a little more interest to the scene. I also waited until the taxi driver looked at me so I could get that initial eye contact of his one eye revealed by the light. Then I snapped the photo and continued walking through the traffic, onto another hot, chaotic day of street photography in Mumbai.

Stats:

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

Mumbai India-37

Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week:
“Worli Workers”

Mumbai India-1

Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken in the Worli district of Mumbai, India. The Worli fishing village here has become a popular area to visit in Mumbai. The Koli people have lived and fished here for thousands of years and walking around it takes you back in time. It feels preserved within the rapidly developing city and has a nice, relaxing atmosphere to walk around and explore among the friendly people.

The village is very colorful with brightly painted walls and I was out with some local photographer friends when we come up to this spot in the photo. It was nearing sunset and the light was shining nicely on a few men working by a red wall. Two men were working with some metal coils and I liked the shadow of one mirroring the other. I decided to place another man’s hands in the foreground, which hid the man creating the shadow, while also including the woman and some of the yellow wall in the far background.

Colors, light and layers are always fun to play with when shooting in India. Just watch out for your own shadow trying to sneak into the photo :)

Stats:

  • Camera: Fujifilm Xpro1
  • Lens: Fujinon XF 18mm 
  • Focal Length: 18mm (27mm full frame equivalent)
  • Aperture: f/13
  • Shutter Speed: 1/500
  • ISO: 1600

Mumbai India-1

Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week:
“Charminar Selfie”

Hyderabad India-36

Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken in Hyderabad, India by the Charminar. Built over 400 years ago, the Charminar is a four towered monument and mosque surrounded by traffic, bazaars and busy streets going in every direction. It’s one of India’s most recognized structures and the foot traffic is more crowded here than anywhere else in the city.

As the day turns to night, the crowds grow even more. It gets pretty touristy, but still provides an interesting scene of chaos. Due to the life around this area at night, I decided to break out my off-camera flash and give it a go. One of the most popular things to do here, like many places today, is to take a selfie. I saw these two colorfully dressed women up close to the Charminar, hand stretched far out for what had to be a dozen selfie attempts.

I had my camera set for enough ambient light to show some of the background layers and walked up to the selfie takers. With the camera up close to her hand and phone placed in the bottom of the frame, I snapped the photo. While the woman on the right noticed my flash as I took the shot,  the woman on the left was way too focused on the selfie to notice anything else. Selfies demand full attention.

Stats:

  • Camera: Fujifilm Xpro1
  • Lens: Fujinon XF 18mm 
  • Focal Length: 18mm (27mm full frame equivalent)
  • Aperture: f/11
  • Shutter Speed: 1/125
  • ISO: 400
  • Flash: Fujifilm EF-X20

Hyderabad India-36

Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week:
“Red Saree”

Bangalore India-1

Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken by Brigade Road in Bangalore, India. Brigade Road is one of Bangalore’s busiest shopping streets and a popular spot to hang out due to all the restaurants and bars in the area. It attracts a trendier, hip and young crowd, but you’ll find a mixture of everybody walking around here due to its center location.

It was my first day in Bangalore and I got up early to explore the new city, starting from the metro station here. Brigade Road is much quieter in the morning, with many of the shops not opening until later in the day, but it made for a nice walk compared to the more chaotic evenings.

I was at the bottom of Brigade Road heading towards KR Market when I noticed this billboard across the street. The light was interesting and in the advertisement there was woman wearing a red saree, matching a real woman I saw walking across the street. I also liked the splashes of yellow and blue a man in the background could add to the scene, so I crossed the road and timed the shot to include her with the matching advertisement and man in the background, all framed together in a triangular shape.

Stats:

  • Camera: Fujifilm Xpro1
  • Lens: Fujinon XF 18mm 
  • Focal Length: 18mm (27mm full frame equivalent)
  • Aperture: f/11
  • Shutter Speed: 1/500
  • ISO: 640

Bangalore India-1

Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week:
“Magazine”

Bangalore India-51

Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken around KR Market in Bangalore, India. KR Market is probably the most active area in Bangalore, with multiple markets, each with their own specialty. There’s not really a time of day, or night, that it completely shuts down. It’s the beautifully chaotic India that you envision, surrounding you with a variety of activity wherever you go.

For this shot, the sun was setting so I was finishing the day shooting in the market’s outside bus station before catching a ride back home. While walking, I noticed a magazine on the ground with its pages ripped in an interesting way, putting a woman’s face on top of another (as seen above). So I started taking a few photos of it framed amidst the dirt and trash covered ground.

While shooting, I had a few people watching me curiously wondering what I was doing, probably thinking I was crazy. One of the most curious, a small girl, came up close to watch me. Then suddenly she kneeled down and touched the magazine during one of my shots. After looking back at these photos, it ended up being the one I liked the best. It added a little mystery and human touch.

Stats:

  • Camera: Fujifilm Xpro1
  • Lens: Fujinon XF 18mm 
  • Focal Length: 18mm (27mm full frame equivalent)
  • Aperture: f/3.6
  • Shutter Speed: 1/500
  • ISO: 640

Bangalore India-51

Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week:
“Avenue”

Bangalore India-14

Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken on Avenue Road in Bangalore, India. Avenue Road  is one of the busiest shopping streets in Bangalore and stretches from the popular KR Market all the way up to KG Road. When in Bangalore, this is a great street to include in a photography walk because you can spend hours shooting around the market area and then slowly head up Avenue before exploring the Majestic area. 

Avenue Road is always packed with people, covering the sidewalks and street the whole length. The mix of shops, restaurants, and prime location keep the activity coming. During one of my days walking this street, I saw a group of people ahead that looked even more packed than normal so I went to check what was going on. It turned out a small film crew was shooting a few actors inside a blocked off area. So everyone was curiously trying to see what was going on through the makeshift barriers put up by the crew. 

I noticed these four men all trying to peak in, with three of them using the pole for help. A few things grabbed my attention. First, was how I could fit them all together into four separated layers. Another, were the different gestures of their hands. And a third, was how I liked the different colors of yellow, blue and red shirts they were wearing. So I framed them all together to get these pieces separated as much as possible, while making sure to snap the photo while they were still intently looking in that same direction. 

Stats:

  • Camera: Fujifilm Xpro1
  • Lens: Fujinon XF 18mm 
  • Focal Length: 18mm (27mm full frame equivalent)
  • Aperture: f/8
  • Shutter Speed: 1/500
  • ISO: 640

Bangalore India-14

Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week:
“Chennai After Work”

Chennai Dreaming

Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken in Chennai, India at Marina Beach. This 13 km long beach is not only the longest urban beach in the world, but it’s also one of the most chaotic. For the morning and most of the day, it feels more like a deserted island, but once people get off work and out of school, it starts filling up fast. 

People don’t come here to sunbathe, but they do enjoy getting in the ocean. Swim attire is not required, though. Men roll up their slacks and unbutton their collar, while women go in the water in full saree.

It was getting close to sunset and the shoreline was crowded with people getting wet or watching others do so. Amongst the shoreline of crowds, I noticed one man facing away from it all. He seemed to have his mind on other things as he looked towards the sun. Many people in Chennai come to the beach after work to escape work, and the city. He seemed to be trying to escape it all. So I walked up above him on the sand and took this photo trying to capture him deep in thought amongst the scene.

Stats:

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

Chennai Dreaming

Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week:
“Fort Wall”

Galle Sri Lanka-15

Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken in Galle, Sri Lanka by the Fort wall. Galle Fort is one of the most preserved fort cities in the world, with many locals still living inside its walls today. Due to its preservation and attractive mix of Dutch influence in a tropical atmosphere, it brings in plenty of tourists too. 

An elaborate wall runs around the fort city, with most of it lining the ocean. It might be the most interesting wall I’ve seen. There’s always plenty of activity going on along it with a mix of locals and tourists. Also, due to its construction, there’s a lot of different areas to explore within the wall. While in Galle, I spent more time here than any when it came to photography.

When it comes to this shot, it was more of an instinctual reaction to what I saw. I was walking along when out of the corner of my eye I saw this scene. There was something odd about it, mostly from how the girl was holding the umbrella. I instantly reacted by quickly taking the shot, thinking more about capturing it before the strangeness disappeared than anything else.

Stats:

  • Camera: Fujifilm Xpro1
  • Lens: Fujinon XF 18mm 
  • Focal Length: 18mm (27mm full frame equivalent)
  • Aperture: f/11
  • Shutter Speed: 1/500
  • ISO: 400

Galle Sri Lanka-15

Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week:
“Train View”

Colombo Shooter Files-28

Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken in Colombo, Sri Lanka on the local train. I was taking the train from Fort Station to Mt. Lavinia, a close suburb of Colombo to the south. Many people stay in Mt. Lavinia when they visit Colombo, but the main reason I was going there was to ride along the coast line. It’s a cheap and quick 15 minute trip each way that I’d recommend doing just for the scenery and experience.

I was hanging out the side door looking for photos and enjoying the ocean view when we stopped at a station. As we started to leave, I liked how the light was hitting the man across from me. The colors in the background were nice too with the yellow station and blue ocean. I noticed a man off in the distance looking at the water and a bird in between. There was something about the different angles of shadows and other parts of the scene I liked too. So I snapped this shot just as I could fit it all in the frame, and as the local trained gained steam and headed back down the coastline.

Stats:

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

Colombo Shooter Files-28