Shooter Files Series

Jan 18 2016

Photographing Color Combinations in the Streets

*The “Capture Color Series” covers different tips and lessons on Color Street Photography

Finding Color Combinations in the Street

If color is your medium of choice in photography, then color theory should be one of the first things you learn. One of the most important factors to making great color photography is the use of strong color combinations. Sometimes you’ll look at a color photo that seems simple at first, but you can’t take your eyes off of it. Beautiful colors working together can do this. They balance a scene, add interest, and pull you into the feeling of the photo.

Jan 17 2016

Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week:
“Nothing Interesting Here”

Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken in Belgrade, Serbia near the Old Palace. It was a quiet day on the streets and I hadn’t seen anything interesting all morning. But then I saw this older woman bundled up in her fancy coat with its large fur hood over her head. Her glasses were large and fancy too so her whole look captured my eye.

We were the only two people on the empty street and she clearly noticed me as we walked towards each other. As we got closer, I knew I wouldn’t be getting a very candid shot so I decided to ask her if I could take her photo instead.

She reacted extremely surprised and confused at my question.

She then asked me “Why in the world would you want to take a photo of me? There is nothing interesting about me at all.”

I almost had to laugh as I looked at her and explained how wrong she was. At first it didn’t seem like she’d accept my request, but after explaining why she was worth capturing, she reacted flattered and said yes with a smile.

Normally, a smile feels posed, but there was something genuine about her smile. It contained part of her personality. So I captured her as is, smile and all.

While walking away, I thought to myself how so many people don’t realize how interesting and unique they really are. One of my favorite things about Street Photography is noticing and being able to appreciate the uniqueness of humanity, especially the ordinary people who really aren’t ordinary at all.

Stats:

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

Jan 15 2016

The Friday 5
(January 15th, 2016)

5 Photographic Links For Your Weekend

Jan 13 2016

Master Profiles: David Alan Harvey

* “Master Profiles” is a series profiling all the great photographers of uncontrolled life. Unlike the rest of the blog, I’m doing these in a straight profile format to make it easy for quick access to facts, quotes and knowledge on all the masters. I’ll also group them together here every time I add a new one.

Profile:

David Alan Harvey (1944-present)

American photographer who is known for his artistic color work documenting society and culture in many parts of the world.

Jan 11 2016

7 First Impressions of Prague, Czech Republic
(From a Street Photography Perspective)

After Kiev, Lviv and Krakow, the next stop on my Eastern European Street Photography Tour was Prague.

I’ve actually traveled to Prague once before, but it was over 7 years ago. So you might call this 7 First Impressions of Prague in 2016. With how much Prague has recently changed, it felt like going there for the first time in many ways, anyway.

This fairytale of city has become one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe very quickly over the last decade. There’s plenty of reason why too. There’s really no other city like it. When it comes to Street Photography, though, too much tourism saturation can be a negative at times.

Being a special city like Prague brings both an amazing setting and crowds of people to share it with. So here are my first impressions of Prague, from my personal Street Photographer perspective…

Jan 10 2016