Street Photography Tips, Interaction, Travel, Guides
Due to budget and time constraints, I couldn’t spend as long as I wanted up in Scandinavia, but I was able to fit 5 days each in Stockholm and Copenhagen. While they share some similarities, they’re very different cities with their own vibes and atmosphere. Stockholm has more beauty and nature, all with a very organized urban feeling around the city, while Copenhagen has a little more edge and vibrance, along with more tourism. The highlight for me, though, was meeting local Stockholm photographers Jimmy Dovholt and Ola Billamont, along with Matt Obrey, who was also visiting. But both cities gave a relaxing atmosphere and great walkability for exploring the city with my camera.
For this edition of 33 street photos, I decided to combine these two cities in one post. So here’s 33 photos that I was able to capture during my time in Stockholm and Copenhagen…
This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken at Hua Lamphong, Bangkok’s main railway station. The Italian neo-renaissance half-dome design, interesting layout inside and people it attracts make this a good spot to check out for street photography. Local street photographer Rammy Narula even did a whole photo book on just one of its platforms (Platform 10).
Inside, the sun can shine through certain areas, providing some great light. And the colorful trains provide interest themselves. When I stopped by mid-day for this shot, it was especially quiet inside. On the platform at the main entrance, they were cleaning some of the trains so there was no activity. I was looking at the light coming through the yellow stained glass as a woman stopped in front of me. As she stood there in thought, she started to scratch her head. The light highlighted this gesture, while the rest of her was in hidden in black. So I composed her in the middle of the long, empty platform with trains on each side and the yellow domed window shining above.
Camera: Fujifilm Xpro1
Lens: Fujinon XF 18mm
Focal Length: 18mm (27mm full frame equivalent)
Aperture: f/5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/500
ISO: 1600
After Stockholm, my next city up north was Copenhagen, Denmark. Due to budget, trying to fit in Oslo didn’t look smart so this was my last stop in Scandinavia this time. To be honest, visiting anywhere up here is not a great idea if you’re worrying about money. It can get very expensive and Copenhagen is up at the top, but there’s plenty to love about the city that makes it worth the cost, if you can spare it.
While Copenhagen is even more expensive than Stockholm, it brings an edgier, more hip vibe. It shares some similarities with its scenery and architecture, but brings a different feeling when exploring its streets. While still very scenic, it’s not quite as pretty as many parts of Scandinavia, but more than makes up for it in character, which I found even more photogenic for street photography. It’s also a compact city made for walking as much as any out there.
So here are my first impressions of Copenhagen, from my personal Street Photographer perspective…
This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken at Sanam Luang in Bangkok, Thailand. Sanam Luang is a large open field and public square across from the famous Grand Palace. During the day, it’s usually pretty quiet, but can fill with some activity later on, including kite flying. There’s a surrounding walkway with benches, but with no cover on the grass field, the sun comes down hard.
For this shot, it was mid-day with the Thai sun at its brightest so the large open space was empty as usual during this time. As sunny as it is here, the locals do their best to stay out of its way. But I did see one person alone in the middle of the field working on the sprinklers. He was completely covered head to foot, even wearing a black mask to cover his face. So I made the walk to the middle of the field to see if I could capture something interesting.
After getting one of the sprinklers to start spraying, he stood up to admire his work. With his hands at his hips while looking off towards the palace, and end of the spray, I decided to have some fun with this one. Composition and angles used to make a humorous illusion that I probably don’t need to explain any further in this shot :)
Camera: Fujifilm Xpro1
Lens: Fujinon XF 18mm
Focal Length: 18mm (27mm full frame equivalent)
Aperture: f/16
Shutter Speed: 1/500
ISO: 800
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecmmkXZ6XdE
*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.
For this installment of 20 Questions, we’re going to London, England to get to know photographer Dmitry Stepanenko. I met Dmitry last summer when I went to photograph his city of London. He offered to show me some of his favorite spots for shooting and we’ve been friends since. Dmitry is also a founding member of the The Street Collective, which I have since became a member of and will be returning to London to teach our upcoming Color Street Photography Workshop on March 10th with Dmitry (spots available!). So what better time to interview him for the blog than now.
Dmitry was born and grew up in Odessa, Ukraine, but has called London his home since 2010. It was actually since moving to the UK that he found his passion for photography too. Dmitry’s photos show a strong connection to light and color, creating images out of daily life that can give a cinematic or painting like feel. Geometry, reflections, colors, contrast, light, and shadow composed together with a human element to give it even more life.
So now to learn more about him, it’s time for 20 Questions in London, England with Dmitry Stepanenko…
* “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.
Stephen Shore (1947-Present)
American photographer known for being a pioneer of color photography and capturing interest from banal scenes and objects.
After one of my best experiences of the year shooting in Saint-Petersburg, it was a difficult follow for my next stop in Russia’s capital. Still, Moscow doesn’t disappoint. While not as photogenic of a city as Saint-Petersburg (not many are), Moscow brings a bigger mix of urban, cosmopolitan city with a blend of European influence and Russian character that brings its own atmosphere. At over 12 million people, Moscow is the second largest city in Europe by population, and it can feel even bigger.
So here’s 33 photos that I was able to capture during my time in Moscow…
