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India

50 Street Photography Photos From 2017

Time for the New Year’s tradition here and share some photos from the old year to bring in the new.

While 2016 had been my busiest year yet on the road working on my 100 cities project, 2017 was even busier. I was on the road non-stop, clocking in at over 5,000 miles walked while covering 33 cities, including 26 major cities for the project. I started in city #41 Quito, Ecuador and finished in #66 Mexico City, Mexico, leaving 34 major cities left to do. I’m attempting to make 2018 even busier so I can get most of it finished before I start working on the book in 2019. 

While focusing on the project, I was still able to make it to a few street photography festivals this year, including the London SP Festival as a judge and the Miami SP Festival as a guest artist speaker, which were great experiences. In addition, I led some successful workshops in London, Budapest and Havana, and plan on doing more in 2018. All in all, it was an extremely busy year with its share of downs and setbacks, but it’s only made me more determined to make this all work. The blog had a busy year growing too, as it’s now ranked #2 in the world in the street photography genre on feedspot. I have more plans for the blog this year, which I’ll share soon, but for now, thank you to everyone that’s been following along!

One thing I did decide this year was not to share all of my favorite photos yet, as I want the future book to be at least a third never seen work. Still, with such a busy year of street photography, walking an average of 15 miles/22km per day year-round, I have more than enough to share now too. So, here’s 50 photos from the year that take you through all 33 cities I photographed in 2017. It’s not a top 50 of my favorites, but some selections to share for now in bringing on 2018. So, I hope you enjoy. 

Happy New Year to all and Cheers to 2018!

– Forrest

50 Street Photography Photos From 2017

(in order of capture date)  [Read more…] about 50 Street Photography Photos From 2017

City Street Guides by f.d. walker:
A Street Photography Guide to
Mumbai, India

mumbai-guide-cover

*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!

Mumbai

[Read more…] about City Street Guides by f.d. walker: A Street Photography Guide to Mumbai, India

City Street Guides by f.d. walker:
A Street Photography Guide to
Hyderabad, India

hyderabad-guide-cover

*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!

Hyderabad

[Read more…] about City Street Guides by f.d. walker: A Street Photography Guide to Hyderabad, India

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

33 Street Photography Photos from One Week in Mumbai, India

mumbai-33-cover

Mumbai was my last stop on my last trip to India. Not only did I spend some extra time here, but I was able to meet up with some talented local street photographers who helped show me around. Mumbai is so big and full of life that it feels like there are endless places to explore, but I packed in as much of the city as possible. For street photography, it’s as concentrated with action, character and variety of life as any city in the world. 

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

[Read more…] about 33 Street Photography Photos from One Week in Mumbai, India

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

City Street Guides by f.d. walker:
A Street Photography Guide to
Bangalore, India

bangalore-guide-cover

*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!

Bangalore

[Read more…] about City Street Guides by f.d. walker: A Street Photography Guide to Bangalore, India

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

33 Street Photography Photos from 3 Days in Hyderabad, India

hyderabad-33-cover

On my way from Bangalore to Mumbai, I stopped in Hyderabad, India for a few days. From its rich history and culture to its royal architecture and amazing cuisine, there’s plenty to see and experience in Hyderabad. Many streets, especially in the Old City, take you back in time, while the city as a whole is in rapid growth with a booming tech industry. There’s a diverse mix of atmosphere to explore in Hyderabad if you have the time. 

Unfortunately, some travel problems forced me to make a shorter stay than planned, so I was only able to spend three full days exploring the city with my camera, but I tried to make the most it. So here’s 33 photos that I was able to capture during my short time in Hyderabad…

[Read more…] about 33 Street Photography Photos from 3 Days in Hyderabad, India

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