Shooter Files by f.d. walker

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Day to Day

The Street Photographer’s Fitness Plan

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After living in Istanbul much of last year, one thing became clear. Street Photography can be a workout. I was constantly hiking up and down the steep streets of Istanbul, but I’m not complaining. It allowed me to eat kebab and drink beer without worry. 

Also, after writing many of the Master Profiles on some of the great classic photographers, I kept noticing something. Almost all of them lived, or are living, long lives. Check out these ages: Henri Cartier-Bresson – 95, Helen Levitt – 95, Saul Leiter – 89, Robert Frank – 91 (still shooting), Elliot Erwitt – 88 (still shooting), Joel Meyerowitz – 78 (still shooting), William Eggleston -77 (still shooting), and on (I’m not cherry picking, either). 

Obviously, this isn’t proven science, but it got me thinking about the active lifestyle of a non-studio photographer and its positive effect on health. So for fun, here’s my version of the Street Photographer’s Fitness Plan.

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Poltava, Ukraine 2015

Summer isn’t over yet, there’s still time to grab your camera and get beach ready. And yes this post is a joke! But a joke worth following :)

The Street Photographer’s Fitness Plan 

Exercises

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Marrakech, Morocco 2015

Slow Walking

Most of your workout will likely consist of slow walking. Make sure you are always observing your surroundings and going with the flow of your environment. Running will likely bring too much attention to yourself for Street Photography, but slow walking does add up by constantly burning those calories.

Speed Walking

During times where you need to reach a specific point in time or you see a moment occurring at a distance, you can raise your speed to a faster pace. Speed walking gives you some cardio workout, while mixing up the pace. 

Steps

Walking is great, but make sure you give your legs a complete workout by taking steps when possible. Some city terrain offers more steps and incline than others. As with any workout, different courses and obstacles can give different results.

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Chefchaouen, Morocco 2015

Breaks

To give your body a rest, make sure to take intermittent breaks. Pick a good spot and wait for the scene to form in front of you. Be ready with your camera, while letting your eyes do most of the work. After a successful break, you can return to normal activity. 

Hills

Once again, this all depends on the city’s terrain. Cities like San Francisco and Istanbul will give a higher difficulty workout compared to cities like New York and Berlin. Do you want to gain muscle or do you just want to maintain tone? It’s all up to you.

Camera Curls 

Each shot attempt equals one camera curl. Try to do at least 50 curls per workout. Heavier SLR users can get away with less. Photographers more selective with their shots will just have weaker arms. And “shooters from the hip” might as well stay home if they’re not going to put any effort into the program. (I’m joking!!!)

Diet

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Budapest, Hungary 2015

Breakfast:

You have a big day ahead so a solid breakfast is required (do not skip this). Forgetting this will lead to less productivity on the streets and wasted time looking for something to eat.

  • Eggs (Winogrand preferred his scrambled, while Cartier-Bresson had his over easy. What type of Street Photographer are you?)
  • Cereal or Toast 
  • Fruit (For Street Photography, citrus fruits help your eyesight, berries help your focus. I googled it.)
  • Milk or Juice 
  • Coffee (2 cups, or shots, is ideal to jump start a day of Street Photography)

Lunch (Street Meal/Cheat Meal):

You’re out there burning all those calories walking those streets so your street meal should be whatever you damn want.

A place with outdoor seating is always nice, maximizing your street photo opportunities for the day. Choosing a time when the sun is most harsh is also a smart idea so you don’t waste better lighting.

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Marrakech, Morocco 2015

Snacks:

For the Street Photographer always on the go, be sure to have snacks on you to keep both your energy and metabolize going.

Dinner:

You’re probably hungry and tired from a long day of shooting. So eat a balanced meal high in fiber to fill you up, but not too heavy so you can get quality rest for another day of shooting.

Routine Tips

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Istanbul, Turkey 2015

Focus on Street Photography, Not on how much you’re walking

Get lost in the streets and your thoughts of the next shot. This will distract you from how much you’re walking, and how hard you’re burning those calories.

Treat Yourself

You know how many calories you just burned walking all day? If you drink, have a beer. If you don’t, have whatever you like. You deserve it.

Download a Steps App to Your Phone

At the end of the day, you can see how far you walked. Odds are you’ll be surprised. 

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Marrakech, Morocco 2015

To Better Health & Photography

The Street Photography Fitness Plan does come with its side effects. It won’t only gain you better health, but will also bring more photos. And that can only help improve your photography. So grab your camera, get fit and make some photos.

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Mumbai, India 2016

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

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

Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week:
“Market Shadows”

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Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken in Poltava, Ukraine at the city’s main market. Ukraine is already big on their markets and this is one of the best you’ll come across in the country. You can find anything and everything here. From fresh produce to clothes to pig heads, this large bazaar has it all. I don’t always love markets as much as others because they can be too crowded with messy backgrounds, but this one was special so I spent hours walking around here. One of my favorite parts was an area with rows of colorful metal stalls that are locked up when the seller isn’t around. I really liked how the light hit this blue stall and cast different shadows. So I stood by it waiting for people to walk by to see if I could capture anything interesting. I got a few shots at this spot that I will include in my 33 photos from Poltava post coming soon, but I’m putting this one up for Street Shot Sundays, partly because of his shadow. It looks like he’s wearing a full brim hat when it’s actually his hair bun in the back and there’s something about that shadow that’s almost cartoonish to me.

Stats:

  • Aperture: f/11
  • Shutter Speed: 1/500
  • ISO: 400
  • Focal Length: 27mm

7 Reasons to Photograph Smaller Cities : in Poltava, Ukraine

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*Side Street Series ventures off the beaten city streets. Many times, the photography ventures away from Street Photography too.

Shooting Smaller Cities in Poltava, Ukraine

So while shooting some work in Ukraine, I made sure to visit my good friend Rita in Poltava for a few days (that pretty girl pictured below).

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My friend Rita walking in her city of Poltava, Ukraine

Poltava isn’t a city that attracts tourists or is known much outside of Ukraine. With a population under 300,000 it’s no village, but it’s not the big city either.

Many times, in the world of Street Photography, we are looking to shoot in the biggest and most famous cities where the streets are always full of life. This makes sense since it provides so many opportunities to capture people in everyday life, but sometimes we neglect all the life that happens in smaller cities around the world.

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While the big cities bring their own perspectives on life, smaller towns can bring other perspectives that are just as important and interesting. Visiting and shooting in Poltava provided a great example of how true this can be.

So I’ve compiled a list of reasons to photograph smaller cities too, with a bit of my experience in Poltava mixed in.

[Read more…] about 7 Reasons to Photograph Smaller Cities : in Poltava, Ukraine

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

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Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken on a train ride just outside Poltava, Ukraine. I was visiting my good friend in Poltava and she was taking me to see some of the smaller villages in the area. It was the type of older, simpler train made for short commutes instead of long distance travel and I decided to walk around to see if I could find anything interesting. In between the cabins, people come to smoke and I noticed this older man watching the rural landscape roll by as he smoked his cigarette. What interested me the most were the multiple reflections going on in the scene. I made the shot through the door window of the cabin so you could see the reflections of different windows, scenery and people, while leaving the front of the man the least affected. The woman to the right looked back at me just as I snapped the photo.

Stats:

  • Aperture: f/4
  • Shutter Speed: 1/500
  • ISO: 800
  • Focal Length: 35mm

Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week:
“Currency Exchange”

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Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken in Kiev, Ukraine at Kontraktova Square. It was starting to get dark, but there was still a lot of activity going on since the square is by a metro, tram and bus stop. I was walking by the long line of mini-market kiosks and fast food joints when I noticed this bright yellow currency exchange store in the middle. I also noticed a small boy standing in the doorway holding a paper bag and wearing what looked to be a school uniform. His blonde hair and the way he was dressed added to the colorful scene. His expression also showed he wasn’t too happy waiting there, which makes sense considering Ukraine’s current currency problems :) So I made the shot just as he looked at me, while keeping his solemn expression.

Stats:

  • Aperture: f/4
  • Shutter Speed: 1/500
  • ISO: 800
  • Focal Length: 35mm

Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week: “Doorway”

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Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken in Istanbul, Turkey in the Balat neighborhood. I was looking at this colorful wall when a girl ran over to the door to go inside. I brought my camera up to take a photo, but she ran inside before I could make a good shot. I could hear laughter coming from inside and then suddenly a different girl opened the door to look at me. It only lasted a second as she quickly re-closed the door, but I was able to capture this shot in that split second. After that, the curious girls looked at me through the window a few times while laughing and closing the curtain each time I saw them. 

Stats:

  • Aperture: f/11
  • Shutter Speed: 1/350
  • ISO: 400
  • Focal Length: 35mm

Project Files:
A Street Hunt Episode in Istanbul from StreetHunters.Net

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A Street Hunt in Istanbul

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

Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week: “Headless Hand”

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 Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

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.

Stats:

  • Aperture: f/8
  • Shutter Speed: 1/350
  • ISO: 400
  • Focal Length: 35mm