Shooter Files by f.d. walker

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Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week:
“Saigon Stretch”

Saigon Shooter Files-36

Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam at September 23 Park (Công viên 23 tháng 9). This park stretches multiple blocks along Phạm Ngũ Lão street up to Ben Thanh Market. So it’s in the heart of the city right by the touristic backpacker district and ends at the city’s most famous market, making it one of the busier spots in the city. You get a mix of locals and tourists, different events, students looking to practice english, people playing shuttlecock, and people exercising like the man in this pic.

Saigon has these exercise stations in parks all over the city. They’re for very simple exercises that don’t take much strength and seem to be used by the city’s elderly more than anybody. This can create some humorous scenes. They rarely dress in exercise clothes, but they’re rarely breaking much of a sweat, either. This man was a different story, though. He was giving full effort in his button-up shirt. 

He was doing this ab workout where he’d bring his legs up and down, while also stretching them in and out at the same time. So I decided to capture a shot of this funny scene right when his legs were fully out and his facial expression showed all that effort he was putting into his routine.

Stats:

  • Camera: Fujifilm Xpro1
  • Lens: Fujinon XF 18mm 
  • Focal Length: 18mm (27mm full frame equivalent)
  • Aperture: f/11
  • Shutter Speed: 1/500
  • ISO: 1600

Saigon Shooter Files-36

33 Street Photography Photos from One Week in Kathmandu, Nepal

Kathmandu-33-17

After spending a month in India, I stopped in Kathmandu, Nepal before my full move to Vietnam.  I had no trekking planned so I devoted all my time to exploring the city with my camera. After walking plenty of dusty dirt roads, narrow streets, and river banks, I was able to find some of the more interesting spots that you can’t find online. Kathmandu is a unique city with its own atmosphere of Nepalese culture, architecture, crumbling buildings, and dusty skies. 

You need a little time to really discover the city outside of Thamel’s hippy tourist section, but it was worth all the walking. So here’s 33 photos that I was able to capture during my time in Kathmandu…

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Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week:
“Strange Surprise”

Kathmandu 33-48

Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken by Ring Road in Kathmandu, Nepal. While walking around Kathmandu looking for interesting places for photography, I came upon this small mobile fair set in the middle of a dirt landfill. Next to piles of garbage, cows and an outside market was this set-up of old fair rides and food stands. The scene was a strange surprise, but in a very interesting way. Perfect for photography. 

The mobile fair also attracted plenty of locals so I looked to see what I could capture. While photographing the scenes around the colorful, broken down rides, I saw a man taking photos of it all from a distance. He was by himself in front of a background of garbage, cows, dust and the city above. He had his phone held out in front taking endless pics. I walked over closer and he didn’t seem to notice me, as he focused intently on his phone screen. It was a strange scene fitting for the strange place I had randomly come upon. So I took a photo just as the phone light went on for another pic. 

Stats:

  • Camera: Fujifilm Xpro1
  • Lens: Fujinon XF 18mm 
  • Focal Length: 18mm (27mm full frame equivalent)
  • Aperture: f/11
  • Shutter Speed: 1/500
  • ISO: 1600

     

    Kathmandu 33-48

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:
“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

33 Street Photography Photos from 5 Days in Chennai, India

chennai-33-cover

On my recent trip to India, Chennai was my first stop. Coming straight from Sri Lanka, I’d been shooting around beaches a lot lately, but Chennai took it to another level. I really enjoyed shooting within the city too, but Chennai’s massive urban beaches were something special with the unique atmosphere and scenes they provided. Each day of shooting, I made sure to finish off at Marina Beach. So here’s some street photography I was able to capture during my time in Chennai…

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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

33 Street Photography Photos from 3 Days in Galle, Sri Lanka

33-galle-cover

After getting some of Sri Lanka’s bigger city life in Colombo, I took a train down to Galle, where Dutch-colonial buildings blend with a tropical setting. Exploring the walled fort city inside and out provided plenty to see and capture, while giving a unique variety of life for a smaller touristic city. It was a nice, relaxing change of scene from Colombo too. So here’s some street photography I was able to capture during my few days in Galle…

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