Shooter Files by f.d. walker

Street Photography Tips, Interaction, Travel, Guides

Travel Photography

Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week:
“Happy Valentine’s Day”

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Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats (+ more…)

Story:

This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken in Kiev, Ukraine by the Gulliver Building. Since it’s also Valentine’s Day today, I thought I’d pick a photo to go with the holiday. And nothing says Valentine’s Day more than a big red heart.

The Gulliver Building is the tallest office building in Kiev and second tallest in Ukraine. It also holds the popular and trendy Gulliver Shopping Mall. So there’s a lot of foot traffic on the corner where I made this shot. The most noticeable part of the corner is the large “Kyiv” sign that attracts people posing for photos with it. What I liked most was how the sunlight was hitting the sign, intensifying the red heart’s color and making it stand out even more against the shadow.

So I watched this area for a little while to see if anything could come together for a photo. I saw a woman in a black dress standing just behind the heart. The way the sunlight and shadows worked together, it created an effect where you could only see her legs and high heels. Then on the other side of the sign, a girl came up to pose for a picture. Her white dress and red purse perfectly matched the sign.

There were other people walking around the sign, so trying to frame and time the shot so it only included the two women and sign was a little difficult, but I was able to capture this shot.

And as a Street Shot Sunday Valentine’s Day bonus, scroll down after the stats to see a few shots taken in Belgrade, Serbia fitting the theme of love…

Stats:

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

Love Atop Belgrade

Love was definitely in the air while taking a walk up above at Kalemegdan Park and the Belgrade Fortress. Here’s 3 shots taken from the walk to wish everyone a Happy Valentine’s Day…

Belgrade Serbia-33 Belgrade Serbia-26Belgrade Serbia-31

 

33 Street Photography Photos from 4 Days in Rome, Italy

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I made a stop in Rome for the filming of Street Hunter’s new Street Hunt: Rome episode. While there, I enjoyed so much of what Rome has to offer, from amazing food to overwhelming history. It was a very packed 4 days, but thanks to everything that went into the Street Hunt: Rome episode, I was able to get in a good amount of Street Photography too.

So here are some Street Photos I took in Rome that will hopefully give you a look at what it’s like to shoot there…

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Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week:
“Store Window Desire”

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Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken in Belgrade, Serbia on Prince Michael Street. This is the main pedestrian and shopping street in Belgrade. It’s a great area for Street Photography, while also being a good center location to start and finish a day of shooting in Belgrade. 

On this day, I was just finishing up a day of hitting the streets here. The sun was slowly setting, but still shining through in a few beams of light from between the store buildings. I found a spot where this was happening, which was also by a large store window that had a few lights displaying a provocative cologne ad. The ad was mostly in shadows, except the woman and man’s face were brightly lit up. 

I wanted to see if I could juxtapose this ad lit up by the lights with a real person lit up by the sunlight. Walking my way, I noticed this woman with red hair, almost matching the color of the ad. Her head was turned in a way where I thought I could place the man’s face over her shoulder in a similar position to how the woman in the ad was to him. So while exposing for the highlights for effect, I framed and timed the shot just as she walked by the ad in that exact position. Natural and artificial light working together.

Stats:

  • Camera: Fujifilm Xpro1
  • Lens: Fujinon XF 18mm 
  • Focal Length: 18mm (27mm full frame equivalent)
  • Aperture: f/8
  • Shutter Speed: 1/500
  • ISO: 400

Announcing: New City Street Photography Guide Every Other Week All Year Long!

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City Street Guides by f.d. walker

*Every Other Wednesday*

I have a lot planned for the new year, all over the world, but outside of photography, this blog will be my biggest focus. I will be putting most of my free time into making sure it’s filled with new content. For starters, I will now be posting 4 times a week with a schedule of Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. 

To really get things into gear, I’m announcing a new City Street Photography Guide every other Wednesday, all year long. I put a ton of work and time into these guides. I personally research, explore and shoot 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. Find the best streets and spots for shooting, sample walks, things to capture, safety concerns, general reaction, street tips, and plenty of personal street photography captured there. For cities around the world. 

Before visiting a new city, it can be extremely difficult to find good information on photographing the city, outside of views and sunsets. This is especially true for Street Photographers, or any photographers interested in capturing uncontrolled life. Without enough knowledge on the city beforehand, you can waste a lot of time after you arrive, instead of spending that time capturing the city. So I hope these city guides can be helpful for other photographers.

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Sample Guide to Istanbul, Turkey

Even if you’re not planning on visiting the city yet, these guides can help you find out about new cities and maybe add them to your list for photography. I’ll also fill them with my own Street Photography captured there, so you can just enjoy the photos and see the city, if you like.

And if you still have any questions about shooting in the cities I create a guide for, I’ll leave it open for you to comment those questions to me below the guide! I want to make these guides as valuable as possible for you all, so you can always add any ideas on improvements and addition requests in the comments too. I will gear them towards visitors, so ease of getting around and safety of areas will take some extra importance. I personally like going into some of the edgier areas, but won’t advise others to do so unless you ask :)

I worked in over 15 cities across 12 countries last year and have plans for even more travel and photography this year. So I’m more than ready to start supplying plenty of guides for you all. I’ve done some revisions from the first few I created so you can check out my last Street Photography Guide to Istanbul, Turkey to get a good idea of what’s coming, and then stay tuned for tomorrow’s Guide to Tbilisi, Georgia to start off the new “every other Wednesday” schedule!

(In addition, I’ll group all the City Street Photography Guides here as they post.)

Cheers!

 

Quotes For The Streets: Mark Twain – Eyes See What Your Imagination Allows

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“You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.”

― Mark Twain

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Not many have been as quotable as Mark Twain, but this is one of my favorites when applied to photography.

How Does it Relate to Photography?

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Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week: “Polka Dot Flats”

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Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken in Belgrade, Serbia near Republic Square. For a change, I chose a different type of street shot than usual this week. 

I was walking down a narrow street from Republic Square towards Terazije. At one point, I looked behind me and noticed two middle-aged women walking the same direction as me. The first thing I noticed was the flats they were wearing. In the mostly colorless, haggard streets of Belgrade, the baby blue polka dot flats especially stood out. The woman wearing these retro styled flats was also carrying a large bag. There was basically no room on the narrow sidewalk, and the available background was either a car cluttered street or an ugly building. So I decided to try to create an interesting shot of just their shoes as they walked by. 

I sat down on the door steps of a building and waited for them to walk by. Just as they did, I quickly took this shot. I tried to use her bag to help add even more focus to her shoes, while also timing it so I captured three feet spaced apart into almost a triangle. Lately, I’ve been interested in capturing people walking from this perspective against the street. It might not be interesting to most, but something about it is to me. 

Stats:

  • Camera: Fujifilm Xpro1
  • Lens: Fujinon XF 18mm 
  • Focal Length: 18mm (27mm full frame equivalent)
  • Aperture: f/4
  • Shutter Speed: 1/500
  • ISO: 800

7 First Impressions of Rome, Italy
(From a Street Photography Perspective)

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In the middle of my Eastern European Street Photography Tour, after Kraków and Prague, I had to make a detour to Rome, Italy to join the StreetHunters.net team for the filming of their new Street Hunt: Rome episode, which covers a Street Photography walk of Rome. This gave me the opportunity to be a part of scouting the city for production, be included as a Street Photographer in its filming, and spend some extra time there devoted to more Street Photography. We even had a local photographer to help guide us, which made experiencing this historic city that much better.

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Rome is at the top of my list of cities because of all it has to offer and how much of it you can’t find anywhere else. Walking around Rome is truly an experience like no other. So here are my first impressions of Rome, from my personal Street Photography perspective…

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Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week: “Belgrade Benches”

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Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken in Belgrade, Serbia at Kalemegdan Park by the Belgrade Fortress. This area not only has the best views of the city, but also has a unique atmosphere for Street Photography. Plenty of people come hang out around the large park and fortress, including locals. The light is interesting up here too, along with the backgrounds and scenery.

The sun was out and I was walking along the side of the park overlooking the river and city. People were enjoying the views and relaxing at the long row of benches. I noticed three older woman sitting on the benches, all facing backwards. I’m not sure why they were all turned opposite to the view. Maybe the sun was too bright or maybe they enjoy people watching more than views. Either way, I found them interesting, along with the juxtaposition, background, lighting and shadows. 

So I took a couple photos. Two of them gave me a glance on the second shot, which I ended up liking better. There’s something about their natural looks, especially the woman on the far right. I’m not sure what they thought about me taking their photo, but they didn’t seem to care much. So I kept on walking towards the fortress, while enjoying the sunny day on top of Belgrade.

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 One Week In Krakow & Prague

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I spent over a week in Kraków and Prague, but didn’t get in as much Street Photography as I would have liked, unfortunately. Bad weather and friends visiting kept me off the streets as much as I had planned. So although I didn’t get as much solid Street Photography done as usual, I still wanted to put together a post of some of the photos I made in both cities.

Kraków and Prague are very different from each other, while still sharing similarities. They share an old world, magical vibe and make for some interesting exploration and scenery on foot. Carrying my camera around, with hands fully gloved due to the cold, made experiencing these cities even more enjoyable.

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

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