Exercise 1.6 Shooting from the hip

 

Take some time out to develop the technique of shooting very quickly.  You’ll probably produce some very blurred and even disastrous images, but fortunately mistakes aren’t as expensive in the digital age as they were when Winogrand was working the New York streets.

Produce a set of eight images that demonstrate the life and vibrancy of city living.  If you don’t live anywhere near a city, choose a spot or a day when there’s a lot going on – the busier the better.  F you need to, re-read the safety advice in the Introduction to this course guide.

Analyse and reflect on your final images in your learning blog.

What makes the successful images work well?

What difficulties did you experience?

How do feel about this type of work?  Is it honest?  Are your images a truthful representation or did you edit the truth in some way, consciously or unconsciously?

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I went round a local market in Bridport one Saturday morning and these are 8 of the best images:

Well, shall we buy it then?

I wonder what's under here?

Making music (1)

Is it me?

Tea and a chat for two plus dog

Listen to the music

Old fashioned social interaction

Analyse and reflect on your final images in your learning blog:

What makes the successful images work well?

Street photography works well when people are interacting with someone else although people on their own can do well, especially if they are in someway isolated from the background by blurring.

What difficulties did you experience?

I've always enjoyed street photography but sometimes find my reaction to a situation is too slow, especially when the camera is still trying to focus.  Lately I've been setting the focus on Manual - set to infinity with an f8 aperture so that I can be faster. I also find that these days people can get very suspicious of someone taking pictures.  Some, especially market traders are afraid if they are claiming benefits that you are from the Dept of Employment.  I live in a seaside town, Lyme Regis, where people are taking pictures of the town, sea front and beach all the time so most people just ignore picture takers.

How do feel about this type of work?  Is it honest?  Are your images a truthful representation or did you edit the truth in some way, consciously or unconsciously?

Yes, this type of photography is an honest representation of life in a market town on a market day.  The only editing I did was to crop unwanted people and items out of the images to focus attention on my main subject(s).  

I always find street photography a challenge as I can go to a place and come home with no decent images although I've seen pictures that I wanted to capture.