People on a UK street

[thoughton]

A few images from my latest 'from the hip' lunchtime outings. All shot from the hip, so please excuse any tilts or dodgy composition :D Any comments, good or bad, would be welcome :)

Woman and man (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thoughton/5598967234/) by thoughton (http://www.flickr.com/people/thoughton/), on Flickr
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5030/5598967234_153afdb771_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thoughton/5598967234/)

Traffic jam (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thoughton/5598965338/) by thoughton (http://www.flickr.com/people/thoughton/), on Flickr
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5270/5598965338_1503e09ccf_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thoughton/5598965338/)

Double trouble (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thoughton/5598383329/) by thoughton (http://www.flickr.com/people/thoughton/), on Flickr
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5183/5598383329_569e38fa6c_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thoughton/5598383329/)

Lines (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thoughton/5598957146/) by thoughton (http://www.flickr.com/people/thoughton/), on Flickr
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5061/5598957146_2c46b10518_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thoughton/5598957146/)

Closed (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thoughton/5598396797/) by thoughton (http://www.flickr.com/people/thoughton/), on Flickr
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5229/5598396797_1138c546cc_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thoughton/5598396797/)

[edG]

interesting series

[Iguanasan]

It's certainly a very voyeuristic as well as interesting. Catching one of the mothers scarfing down a cookie or something is a bit distracting in Double Trouble and the man is very underexposed in Closed. I find the first two more interesting as I prefer the "gestures" as Jay Maisel would call them. I don't want to get into being a Jay Maisel clone but the concept of the gesture is uniquely his (I think) and it very aptly describes what I'm trying to talk about.

[thoughton]

Thanks, I had no idea who Jay Maisel was so I'v ebeen googling him. Some nice stuff! Unfortunately I can't find anything about his 'gestures' any suggestions where I should start reading?

Sorry about the last one, it was an experiment with massively increased blacks which didn't quite work out as planned :)

[Iguanasan]

I watched this video: “A Day With Jay Maisel” Online Class Now Live! « Scott Kelby's Photoshop Insider Blog » Photoshop & Digital Photography Techniques, Tutorials, Books, Reviews & More (http://www.scottkelby.com/blog/2010/archives/10575) and connected with Jay Maisel on a level I had not expected. I never really knew who he was before I saw this video; I had heard the name but hadn't really seen any of his work.

[thoughton]

Cool thanks for that. Off to watch it now (slow day at the office :P)

[Iguanasan]

Cool thanks for that. Off to watch it now (slow day at the office :P)

D'oh! Should have warned you... you'll only get a teaser unless you shell out the money for a subscription. I think the $25 for one month is totally worth it. You have to decide if it's worth the full year...

[okmqaz42]

Great thread Thoughton, I had looked at a lot of these on your flickr stream and was digesting them-excellent work. What way do you set up for your "from the hip" shooting, I really like the candid nature of them.

[Andrew]

On a photowalk a couple of weeks ago I did basically the same thing. I shot everything by holding the camera down at arms length. I have to say yours are much better than what I got. It's impossible to keep the exposure right when you keep turning in and out of the sun to get a shot even when I reset it every block. Practice will make it better.

We were doing the basic street photography stuff and it was surprising that the majority of people that we asked did not want their picture taken. We explained we were just a local club out getting practice and yet some were quite agitated even at the question. The ladies in the club had a bit better success rate but not much. So much distrust. A sign of the times I guess.

[Iguanasan]

On a photowalk a couple of weeks ago I did basically the same thing. I shot everything by holding the camera down at arms length. I have to say yours are much better than what I got. It's impossible to keep the exposure right when you keep turning in and out of the sun to get a shot even when I reset it every block. Practice will make it better.

We were doing the basic street photography stuff and it was surprising that the majority of people that we asked did not want their picture taken. We explained we were just a local club out getting practice and yet some were quite agitated even at the question. The ladies in the club had a bit better success rate but not much. So much distrust. A sign of the times I guess.

Interesting. I've heard from many street photographers that asking permission mostly gets assent. Your results seem to indicate the opposite.

[thoughton]

Thanks for the comments. There is certainly a voyeuristic feel to many of these which I find that quite interesting.

okmqaz42 - when I go on one of these sessions I lock my 17-50 lens at 17mm and focus to the hyperfocal distance (3m) and turn off AF, then keep the camera in TAv mode (I don't know what other brands call this but in Pentax world this is an ISO-priority mode where I select the shutter speed and aperture and the cam chooses an ISO). So my 17mm lens focussed at 3m at f5.6 gives me a depth of field from about 1.5m to infinity. So I just stroll around and press the shutter, usually without stopping (which is why I want to maintain a high shutter speed, I like to shoot at around 1/500s for these to try and minimise blur).