May 11, 2010

Street Photography—Old School


Last week JD and Angela (her close friend) went over to Louisiana to visit some nurseries.  I would have gone, but my schedule was just too full to work it in; and besides, they didn’t ask me—something about wanting to have fun looking at dumb flowers, plants and stuff.  So, Friday evening, I ventured down to Discovery Green Park in downtown Houston to see the Art Cars on display.
 Before I went, I decided that I wanted to do some old school street photography—one camera, one lens, no flash, no tripod, no directing anyone, catch-what-you-can photography.  I armed myself with my Nikon D3 and Nikon 50mm f/1.4.  That was it.
I must admit, at first, I was completely off my game.  I discovered that Nikon forgot the zoom button on the lens.  To make objects bigger in the frame, I had to walk closer, and vice versa.  Photography and an exercise program in a single package—what a novel idea.
My first photo from the evening is a classical 50’s street photo—mother and child walking away presented in black and white.  In the photo, I wanted the photo to be about only mother and daughter and their relationship so I used a shallow depth of field to isolate them from the rest of the scene.
Enjoy.
Camera settings:  Nikon D3, Nikon 50mm f/1.4 shot at ISO 200, f/2 and 1/2,000th of a second.
Post Processing:  
Lightroom—Set black and white points and cropped image.
Photoshop—used nik Silver Efex Pro to convert photo to black and white and added some vignette to the corners.

9 comments:

  1. Definitely a retrolooking photo. I do wish that there was a little more separation between the background and the mother's upper body and head. The photo does tell a nice family story. Good work.

    The Professor

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  2. Reminds me of my daughter and me going to places none of the boys wanted to go. It was our special time. You did a good job photographing the moment.
    Debbie

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  3. Nice job going back to the basics. We all kind of forget the thrill of shooting off the cuff with a fixed lens.

    ReplyDelete
  4. You captured a scene that many people can identify with. You did it in a timeless way. I like how both mother and daughter seem to standout from the rest of the scene.
    Mel

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  5. I kinda like this one however it is not a great photo.
    Charles M

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  6. I like how the lines on the sidewalk draw your eye into the composition. The B&W treatment makes mom and daughter separate from everything else.
    Sya

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  7. Not sure about this one. Just because something is retro it does not mean that it is a good photo. It seems to be lacking something.
    Ted

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  8. Classical scene but it lacks impact. Maybe greater contrast and a little film grain would help.
    Anne

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  9. Good b&w photo. It does have a certain retro look to it that adds to the overall presentation. Agree with professor, I wish there was more separation of the mother's top half.
    Alice

    ReplyDelete