Shooter Files by f.d. walker

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Street Photography from 5 Days in Colombo, Sri Lanka

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Marco Polo called Sri Lanka the finest island in the world and before the Sri Lankan Civil War, it was a top tourist destination in the world too. Since the civil war ended in 2009, it’s regaining all those visitors too. While most come for the beaches, rain forests, ancient sites and more, Colombo is the biggest city and main way on and off the island. 

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On some recommendations, I made sure to stay longer than most so I could really get a feel for this city, and I’m glad I did. It was one of the better street photography experiences I’ve had. I loved the mix of urban city, island life, chaos and friendly people. You can check out my 7 first impressions of Colombo from a street photography perspective and stay tuned for an in-depth street photography guide to the city, but in the meantime, here’s some street photography I was able to capture during my time in Colombo…

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Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week:
“Medina Light”

61 Photos-54

Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken in the medina near Bab Rcif in Fes, Morocco. In a country full of elaborate medinas, nothing compares to the one in Fes. It’s more like a whole city and you could easily spend days walking around and getting lost in the maze. The medina here is as much for the locals living within its walls as the tourists visiting.

I had just started the day and entered the medina through the Bab Recif gate. Much of the medina is so narrow and packed that the sunlight is blocked out, but along this busy alley, there were some sun rays shining in beautifully. I noticed a large mirror that reflected against an area where one of those beams of light hit. So I waited to see if I could catch someone against it at the right time.

I saw this woman dressed in blue with a yellow bag coming so I got in the right position for the frame to include both her and her reflection, with the alley in between. Luckily, the sunlight hit the lens just right so it added those two sunbeams in the shot too.

Stats:

  • Camera: Fujifilm Xpro1
  • Lens: Fujinon XF 18mm 
  • Focal Length: 18mm (27mm full frame equivalent)
  • Aperture: f/16
  • Shutter Speed: 1/500
  • ISO: 800

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33 Street Photography Photos from 2 Days in Casablanca, Morocco

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I finished off my visit to Morocco flying out of Casablanca. While Casablanca is the biggest city in Morocco, not many stay longer than it takes to fly in and out. Most visitors come here for all the other cities in Morocco, but you don’t hear anybody recommend visiting Casablanca. Since it is a large, well-known city, I wanted to see how deserving this was so I decided to leave a couple of days to explore the city before I left Morocco.

While it was easy to see why it’s not high on the list for travelers to Morocco, I did find it worth exploring for street photographers. At first impression, it’s a somewhat ugly, charmless sprawl of an urban city. Deteriorating and dirty without many attractions. There isn’t much info online so I really had to discover the city on my own, by foot. I found underneath this uninspiring exterior, there was plenty of life and interest to capture. I enjoyed the urban city side of Morocco and while it’s not pretty, there’s still some character there for street photography. 

I only had 2 days here so it didn’t give me much opportunity to capture as many photos as usual, but I still wanted to keep with 33 photos series theme, anyway. So here’s 33 street photography photos from 2 days in Casablanca, Morocco…

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Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week:
“Sidewalk Shadow”

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Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken in Casablanca, Morocco. I was exploring Casablanca’s medina, which is a much more urban medina than other Moroccan cities. There’s an interesting mix of medina life and big city life here and it was one of my favorite spots in the city for street photography. 

It was later in the day, about an hour before sunset, so the light was great and the streets were full of children playing after school. Outlined in shadow, I noticed a mattress and colorful textiles stood up on the sidewalk where people’s shadows hit perfectly as they walked by.

I was waiting to see if I could capture anything interesting when this little boy walked up and leaned against the mattress. At the same time, I noticed another little boy the same size walking towards him. So I waited to capture his shadow facing the opposite direction on the textiles. Since the sun was low, I was able to catch his shadow just as he walked out of the photo and create a slight illusion of the two boys on the sidewalk.  

Stats:

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

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Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week:
“Family Blues”

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Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken in Chefchaouen, Morocco. One of the many attractions to this small city in the Rif Mountains is how everything is painted blue. It’s not my first “Blue City,” but it is the bluest one I’ve been to yet. Everything is painted a vivid blue, including the ground and steps you walk on.

I had just stepped outside in the morning to get some breakfast and start a day of street photography. As I was walking up the steps, thinking more about Moroccan breakfast than photography, I immediately saw this scene unfolding above. The man had just left his home and the children ran out behind calling to him, but he didn’t seem in the mood for responding.

So before the scene disappeared, I walked up the steps a little quicker so I could include them all in the frame. I tried to time and frame the shot so his head would be in the middle of the flower pots before the older woman closed the door above. The children kept waiting for him to turn around and respond, but he just gave me a look and continued on down the stairs without a care. 

Stats:

  • Camera: Fujifilm Xpro1
  • Lens: Fujinon XF 18mm 
  • Focal Length: 18mm (27mm full frame equivalent)
  • Aperture: f/5.6
  • Shutter Speed: 1/500
  • ISO: 1600

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33 Street Photography Photos from 3 Days in Chefchaouen, Morocco

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After Fes, I took a long bus ride up through the Rif mountains to spend a few days in Chefchaouen, Morocco.  The small mountain town of Chefchaouen is famous for its rich history, architecture, beautiful surroundings and most of all, the blue rinse covering everything in sight.

While many of Morocco’s well-known cities are filled with chaos, Chefchaouen is a relaxing escape. It’s also one of the more unique and picturesque cities I’ve been to. So here’s 33 photos that I was able to capture during my time in Chefchaouen…

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Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week:
“Mellah Salon”

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Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken in the Mellah in Marrakech, Morocco. The Mellah is a walled jewish quarter, similar to European jewish ghettos where the jewish population was confined. While it’s no longer jewish only, it still gives an interesting look at the city’s past. 

There’s a lot of shops and narrow alleys that you can explore and get lost in. While it does have its fair share of tourism in parts, it’s nothing to the degree of the medina, and feels a little more authentic and preserved too. It’s also easier to get away from the crowds and find yourself with only the locals. Which is what happened when I captured this shot.

I had been walking around the Mellah for a while, past all the shops and into a much more quiet maze of smaller alleys. People seemed curious to see a foreigner this far into the Mellah, but at the same time, the street hustlers weren’t around to hassle me so it was a little more relaxing to shoot here.

I was noticing an ad of a woman on the window of a hair salon, when all of a sudden I heard a very loud voice coming from behind the curtain door. I had my camera ready and as soon as she came out, I snapped this photo. I’m not sure what she was talking loudly about, but her facial expression here matched her tone. She actually never even noticed me and after quickly popping out to look down the street, she turned back inside, and continued on with her verbal tirade.

Stats:

  • Camera: Fujifilm Xpro1
  • Lens: Fujinon XF 18mm 
  • Focal Length: 18mm (27mm full frame equivalent)
  • Aperture: f/8
  • Shutter Speed: 1/500
  • ISO: 1600

    Marrakech Shooter Files-10

33 Street Photography Photos From 5 Days in Marrakech, Morocco

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Marrakech was my first experience in Morocco. For photography, it also ended up being my favorite in the country. While not being the easiest place for street photography, it makes up for it in the amount of life to capture. The colors, chaos, unique atmosphere and year-round sunlight make it a place I’d highly recommend to any photographers out there.

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The only thing I would have changed about my time in Marrakech is make it longer. For cities I plan on returning to, it’s at the top of my list.

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

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Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week:
“Marrakech Colors”

61 Photos-47

Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken by Place des Ferblantiers in Marrakech, Morocco. This square is in the heart of the Mellah, the old jewish quarter, and just north of the Bahia Palace. It’s also known as the tinsmith’s square due to all the artisans that hand make items out of tin sheets. In addition to these craft shops, there’s a few restaurants too that make it a popular spot to stop.

You also have some busy streets intersecting here, which combined with all the other attractions in the area, make it one of the busier spots to capture life in Marrakech.

For this shot, I had just finished shooting most of the day around the Mellah and was making my way back up to Jemaa el-Fnaa to catch it before sunset. While carefully walking across traffic at the chaotic intersection here, I noticed how nice the light was hitting a collage of colors across the street. The complementary colors of the orange signs and building next to the blue sky, and the purple cloth against the yellow door caught my eye.. 

Just as I noticed the beautiful light and mix of complementary colors, I saw a pale man dressed in matching off-white coming towards me on a bike as I was crossing the street. So while trying not to get hit by any motorcycles, I quickly lowered down and captured the shot as he rode by against the colorful background. The great light and abundance of color within the desert make Marrakech one of the most photogenic cities I’ve been to yet.

Stats:

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

61 Photos-47

Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week:
“Almost”

61 Photos-42

Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken around Bab Doukkala in Marrakech, Morocco. I had just finished making my way out of the medina and started exploring outside the wall. This actually became one of my favorite spots for street photography in Marrakech. The Grand Taxis, for long distance travel, are all located here and there’s plenty of merchant stands around too. It’s more open so you get good light, the long stretch of Grand Taxis bring a lot of activity, and most of the tourists don’t venture this far out of the medina. 

Marrakech is known for being a difficult place to shoot Street Photography. There’s so much to capture here, but most want money first, or they don’t want any photos at all. They are very aware of any nearby cameras too.

While walking down the street, I noticed this man looking up into the sky with a ray of light hitting the side of his face. I knew I’d have to be quick and wouldn’t have time to get any closer before the moment was gone. I also saw there was more going on around him, so I fit it in. 

Unfortunately, I wasn’t quite quick enough, as the extremely attentive man on the right put his hand up just as I clicked the shutter. So it’s another “almost” shot, but it probably would have been better closer up, anyway (as cropped below). That’s way too much cropping, in my opinion, but it would have been nice to be able to get up as close as this during the actual shot. That’s Street Photography, though. Moments happen in the blink of an eye and you have to be in the right place at the right time.

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Stats:

  • Camera: Fujifilm Xpro1
  • Lens: Fujinon XF 18mm 
  • Focal Length: 18mm (27mm full frame equivalent)
  • Aperture: f/5.6
  • Shutter Speed: 1/500
  • ISO: 1600