Street Photography No. 4

Today’s post is the last in my discussion of street photography.  It comes from Dickens on the Strand and to me demonstrates the last element that I think is needs to produce good street photography—expression.  In this photo, I believe the expression makes the viewer want to understand what she is thinking about. 

 

The simple background sets her off and allows the viewer to concentrate on her expression.

Enjoy.

Camera settings:  Nikon D3, Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 shot at 200mm,  ISO 200, f/2.8 and 1/500^th of a second.

Post Processing:  

Lightroom 3—Adjusted white balance, added mid tone contrast and saturation of various colors.

Photoshop CS5—used spot healing to clean-up various spots, softened her skin slightly and then did some dodging and burning.

Street Photography No. 3

This is rare.  I have a photo that I would have normally disregarded on my first pass of reviewing what I shot  I think this demonstrates, vividly, why you need to move when doing street photography.  

This is one of the first photos that I took in the series.  The background is cluttered and does not help support or set-off the subject.  It gets in the way of what I want to convey and what I thought was important in the scene.  Definitely not a very good photograph!


Think about how much Photoshop work it would take to make this photo be on par with the original photo I posted of the Mad Hatter.  I have neither the time nor the patience to do it.  I prefer moving the five steps it took to get the original one.

Enjoy, if you can.

Street Photography No. 2

Before I discuss what I consider the most important aspect of street photography, I would like to discuss a couple of basic technical items.  I generally set my camera to aperture priority, automatic white balance, continuous focus, 51 points (3D tracking) and auto ISO sensitivity control (which varies my ISO as needed to keep the shutter speed at a certain minimum).  If the lighting has a lot of variability, I will also set auto backeting (usually three shots—0EV, +1 EV and -1EV).  I set my camera to these settings before I start shooting.  I think these setting help me get the best exposure automatically so that I can concentrate on the subject.  If your camera does not have these exact setting (either because your Nikon model does not have them or you use a different camera manufacture), I suggest that you read your camera manual (this is the strange paper booklet that the manufacturer included with the camera) to determine which settings are best for this type of shooting.

Now the real secret of street photography, you must move.  Unfortunately, zoom lenses has taken out (or at least, reduced) the aerobic aspects of street photography.  Since I generally like shooting most subjects at focal lengths of 60mm or more, I generally rely on my zoom when I have limited space in which to move.


Dickens on the Strand #4 and #6 were part of 18 shots taken over four minutes and 22 seconds.  Below is how I moved around the subjects to get the two photos previously posted (starting at position 1 and moving to position 4), plus the photo shown above.  Posting #4 was taken from a low vantage point at position #3 and posting #6 was also taken from a low vantage point at position #4.  As I moved around, I notice that I still had a lot of clutter in the background if I photographed the subject from my normal height, so I lowered my shooting position until I got a nice clean background.  Being aware of the background is essential when photographing people.


Although today's posting does not have a clean background, I like it because it adds additional context to the photo of the Mad Hatter.  I should have taken a little more care in framing the shot to include all of the tube running from the Mad Hatter's mouth. 

Dickens on the Strand #8

Today’s photo is the last one that I will present from this year’s Dickens on the Strand.  Brock noticed this young lady while the parade was going past us.  She was on the opposite side of the street, so, I approached her immediately after the parade was completed.

She was great to photograph.  She went into many different poses and displayed a great deal of personality without saying a word.  This is my favorite because it is not one that you will normally see.

Enjoy.

Camera settings:  Nikon D3, Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 shot at 200mm,  ISO 200, f/4 and 1/500^th of a second.

Post Processing:   

Lightroom 3—Adjusted white balance, added mid tone contrast and saturation of various colors. 

Photoshop CS5—used spot healing to clean-up various spots, softened her skin slightly and then did some dodging and burning.

Dickens on the Strand #7

For some reason, the combination of cigar and the Steampunk goggles just seemed odd to me.  Naturally, I had to record it.

I wanted the image to showcase the goggles so I focused on the left three small lenses and then added a little sharpness and contrast to them in Lightroom 3.  As a result, his face is a little soft which will bother some people, but my intent was to focus the viewer's attention on what I found unusual and interesting and that was not his face.


Upon seeing the image on the computer, I felt that the soft background really set the subject off.

Enjoy.

Camera settings:  Nikon D3, Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 shot at 200mm, ISO 200, f/2.8 and 1/350^th of a second.

Post Processing:  

Lightroom 3—Adjusted white balance, added mid tone contrast and sharpness and contrast to the goggles.

Dickens on the Strand #6

Merry Christmas to all!

I did not get this young man’s name but he was Mad Hatter’s running mate.  I was very lucky when I took this photo that my subject tilted his head just before I took the shot.  This slight tilt added so much to the image.  

In this photo, I wanted to bring out the bright colors and his unusual eye and mouth wear so in post processing I tried to really emphasize the contrast between his attire and the softness of the background to make sure that I had good separation between the two.  

I tried without any success to change the color of the background from a warm color to a cooler one.  Nothing that I tried seemed to look good to me, so the background is as shot.  When I try something like this, I am not sure whether I did not do a good job with my Photoshop magic or that I know that it has been changed and thus no matter what I do or how good I do it, the change just does not look right.  Welcome anyone’s comments on this one.

Again, Merry Christmas to all!

Enjoy.

Camera settings:  Nikon D3, Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 shot at 70mm, ISO 200, f/2.8 and 1/350^th of a second.

Post Processing:  

Lightroom 3—Adjusted white balance, added mid tone contrast.

Photoshop CS5—used nik Color Efex Pro tonal contrast to add contrast to his clothing and facial mask.

Dickens on the Strand #4

I must admit, I have never photographed anyone like the Mad Hatter.  He was completely “in character” every second that he was in front of my camera.  I was completely convinced:  he was truly mad and I think he trying to infect me.

The problems with photographing him were: keeping him further than the minimum focusing distance of my lens; trying to keep him in focus as he moved here, there and everywhere; and, just trying to keep from laughing as he said the most ridiculous stuff. 

This is one of the few photos that I took of the Mad Hatter that I think he was in one position for more than two seconds.

Enjoy.

Camera settings:  Nikon D3, Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 shot at 200mm, ISO 200, f/2.8 and 1/500^th of a second.

Post Processing:  

Lightroom 3—Adjusted white balance, added mid tone contrast.

Photoshop—used spot healing to clean-up various spots and used nik Color Efex Pro tonal contrast to add contrast to his clothing.

Dickens on the Strand #3

In today’s photo, I wanted to capture the intensity of the subject.  I watched this young man for a while and noticed that no matter what he was doing, he had the same intensity.  It was just part of him.  It is probably the most important aspect of him—just a guess.

Enjoy.

Camera settings:  Nikon D3, Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 shot at 200mm, ISO 200, f/2.8 and 1/500^th of a second.

Post Processing:  

Lightroom 3—Adjusted white balance, added mid tone contrast.

Photoshop CS5—used spot healing to clean-up various spots and then did some dodging and burning.

Dickens on the Strand #2

Today’s photo is a little different look at the same young lady that I presented earlier this week.  I noticed how beautiful the light was falling on her.  I wanted the photo to be simple, so I framed it with an uncluttered background.  I took several shots but this one with her eyes closed was the one that seemed to go best with her pose and the soft light.

Enjoy.

Camera settings:  Nikon D3, Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 shot at 200mm,  ISO 200, f/2.8 and 1/500^th of a second.

Post Processing:  

Lightroom 3—Adjusted white balance, added mid tone contrast and saturation of various colors.

Photoshop—used spot healing to clean-up various spots and then did some dodging and burning.

Dickens on the Strand #1

Steve Schuenke and I have photographed Dickens on the Strand for the past three years and I think both of us seemed to be a little tired of the regular Victorian-era photos that we had made in the past.  Before going, we talked about doing something different, but neither one of us could come-up with that “something different.”  I had so much fun photographing Sarah a few weeks ago using natural light and shallow depth-of-field that I decided that was going to try something similar at Dickens.  

Steve and I walked around for a long time without taking many photos.  Finally, we arrived at a booth that sold various wears for a subculture known as “steampunk.”  I knew nothing about them however I immediately began firing away at everything that was wearing goggles and was moving.  Over 90% of my shots for the day were taken with an aperture of f/2.8 or f/3.3 and were done without directing the person being photographed--more like street photography, 

This young lady was very striking and I knew that her photo would be likewise.  Still I wanted to do that “something different” that Steve and I discussed.  I felt that photographing only half of her face might put the twist that I wanted. I was pleased with the results. 

Enjoy

Camera settings:  Nikon D3, Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 shot at 200mm, ISO 200, f/2.8 and 1/350^th of a second. 

Post Processing:   

Lightroom 3—Set black and white points, added clarity and increased contrast.

Photoshop CS5—used spot healing to clean-up various ugly spots and used nik Silver Efex Pro to make a black & white layer which I then overlaid it at 35% opacity to reduce the saturation of the colors.

Dickens on the Strand #4

While doing many portraits over the last year, I have noticed a very difference between how females and males react in front of a camera. It does not seem to be affected by age.

In this photo, notice how relaxed and posed the young girl is and how the young boy seems to be more tense and suspicious he looks. For whatever reason, this seems to be the norm.

In this photo, I wanted to show how boys and girls react so differently.

Enjoy.

Camera settings: Nikon D3, Nikon 28-70mm f/2.8 at 62mm shot at ISO 200, f/9.5 and 1/125^th of a second with a SB800 with softbox attached right and left of subject and set to 1/8^th and 1/16^th power and triggered with AlienBee radio triggers.

Post Processing:

Lightroom—Set white and black points, added mid-tone contrast, added clarity.

Photoshop—use nik Color Efex Pro soft focus filter to add minimium amount of soft focus to the overall image.

Dickens on the Strand #3

Today’s photos are of grandfather and granddaughter. I noticed the grandfather sitting on the bench watching everything going on around him. I thought his face and clothing would make for an interesting photo and the reflection in the window would add both context and depth to the image.

When I started photographing him, I immediately encountered a couple problems: reflections from his glasses, the strobes showing up in the window and finally the highly reflective nature of his shirt and cape. The first two were relatively easy to resolve by moving the strobes a little, however, I never really resolved the high reflection off of the shirt. Looking at the histogram, none of the shirt is blown-out, but yet, there is not enough detail in the shirt to make it look real.

In post processing, I used a black and white layer to tone down and mute brightness and intensity of the colors in his clothing.

Camera settings: Nikon D3, Nikon 28-70mm f/2.8 at 32mm shot at ISO 200, f/5.6 and 1/45^th of a second with a SB800 with softbox attached right and left of subject and set to 1/4^th and 1/16^th power and triggered with AlienBee radio triggers.

Post Processing:

Lightroom—Set white and black points, added mid-tone contrast, added clarity.

Photoshop—use nik Silver Efex to create a black and white layer and then reduced the opacity of the layer to 25% to reduce the brightness and intensity of the colors in his clothing.

The photograph of the granddaughter was much easier to light. I wanted part of the sign and the archway in the background and I wanted the lighting to look as if there was some side-lighting coming from the right. We positioned the main light at 1/4^th power to the right and then added the second light at 1/32^nd power to light under her hat and parasol.

Camera settings: Nikon D3, Nikon 28-70mm f/2.8 at 60mm shot at ISO 200, f/5.6 and 1/60^th of a second with a SB800 with softbox attached right and left of subject and set to 1/32^nd and 1/4^th power and triggered with AlienBee radio triggers.

Lightroom—Set white and black points, added mid-tone contrast, added clarity.

Photoshop—use nik Color Efex Pro soft focus filter at a very low level.

Enjoy.

Dickens on the Strand #2

Meet Kelly. Steve and I took her photograph last year, and to be honest, in spite of having a really great subject, we did not do a very good job. What was the problem? Well, we did not do a very good job controlling the background. In my photo, I had tent supports growing out of Kelly’s head. I changed the background and ended-up with a very nice photo of her, but, the original photo was just not that good. You can see the post of last year’s photo and the altered background here.

When Steve and I saw Kelly at this year’s Dickens on the Strand, we both rushed over to her to make amends. We immediately started looking for a background that would complement her and her clothes. Steve photographed her in landscape mode and included very little of her clothing. You can see his portrait here.

I wanted to show more of her so I photographed her in portrait mode and included enough background to establish her position relative to a building. I really like the vanishing lines of the background and thought that they played well off of Kelly.

Enjoy.

Camera settings: Nikon D3, Nikon 28-70mm f/2.8 at 50mm shot at ISO 200, f/6.7 and 1/250^th of a second with a SB800 with softbox attached right and left of subject and set to ½ and ¼ power and triggered with AlienBee radio triggers.

Post Processing:

Lightroom—Set white and black points, added mid-tone contrast, added clarity.

Photoshop—Cloned-out part of a sign in the upper right corner and used nik Color Efex Pro soft focus filter at 35% opacity to soften Kelly.

Dickens on the Strand #1

I recently finished processing photographs that I took at Dickens on the Strand in early December. I must admit that I was disappointed in my work at Dickens on the Strand and at the Texas Renaissance Festival in November. I felt that neither session produced the quality of photographs that I did last year. I know that I understand lighting and basic posing much better this year than I did last year, but, the fact is the photos from last year sessions were better.

I have been studying both last year’s and this year’s photos to see if I could determine why last year’s photos were better. After a while I noticed something very interesting: last year, I generally took 10-15 photos of each subject whereas this year, I usually took only 5-7 shots of each subject. Because I have gained more skill at lighting a portrait over the last year, I know that I am able to get the exposure I want much quicker, but, then my photos this year were worse. Why?

I thought about a Joe McNally seminar I recently attended. Joe, who knows significantly more than I will ever know about photography and lighting, would start each portrait session very simply and then would tweak his lighting ever so slightly until he got what he wanted and then he would start working with his subject. I was quite surprised how he worked each situation until he got what he wanted.

At the Renaissance Festival and Dickens on the Strand, I did not work the situation. I got the lighting right and then I stopped. As a result, I got photos that were generally properly exposed, but nothing more than that.

What attracted Steve, Doug and me to this man was his unusual eye glasses. We decided that the red building would be a great background, but there was a considerable difference between his exposure in the shade and the building in the bright sun. I got the shot relatively quickly and then decided to shoot only part of his face and the glasses. On the second shot, I got luck to include the face of someone else.

However, here is where I should have continued working the scene. Image a shot where I positioned his wife, who was dressed in a interesting Victorian dress a few feet behind him and positioned her so that she was what was being magnified by his eye glass pieces. I could then light his face and her. The photo would have then been about what we found most interesting to begin with.

I hope I learned something from this, but, knowing me, I will have to learn this lesson a few times over before it will stick with me.

Enjoy.

Camera settings: Nikon D3, Nikon 28-70mm f/2.8 at 42mm shot at ISO 250, f/9.5 and 1/250^th of a second with a SB800 with softbox attached right and left of subject and set to ½ and ¼ power and triggered with AlienBee radio triggers.

Post Processing:

Lightroom—Set white and black points, added mid-tone contrast, added clarity.

Doctor Watson

Just a few steps from where I photographed another a lady sat a man who looked like he had been time warped from the late 19^th century. For some reason he reminded me of Doctor Watson of Sherlock Holmes fame.

I wanted my Doctor Watson to appear very dignified. I felt that the background should be slightly underexposed in order to bring him to the forefront of the photograph. I also thought that I should direct the viewers’ eyes to his face (eyes, nose, lips and beard), so I selected an aperture of f/4.8 to limit the overall depth of field primarily to those areas of the photograph.

Enjoy.

Camera settings: Nikon D3, Nikon 28-70mm f/2.8 at 60mm, shot at ISO 200, f/8 and 1/30^th of a second with flash set at rear sync.

Flash: Nikon SB-800 mounted on monopod with softbox attached, triggered by AlienBee CyberSync radio triggers, in manual mode at 1/16^th power positioned to the camera’s right and slightly above his eyes.

Post Processing:

Lightroom—Set white and black points, added mid-tone contrast and added a slight vignette in printing.

Photoshop—cloned-out various small, distracting elements, used nik Color Efex Pro tonal contrast filter to add shadow, mid-tone and highlight contrast to her clothing.

Violinist with a Hat

The moment that I saw this young lady, I remembered her from the Texas Renaissance Festival. I tried to get an acceptable photograph of her, but came-up with nothing that I really liked.

Here, she was standing in the shadows with bright sun hitting the background. I had a choice: do I set my camera and flash to equalize the lighting in the two areas; or, do I set my camera and flash to make a proper exposure on her face and let the background effectively blow-out. I looked at the background and decided that there was nothing that I really wanted to feature so I decided to let the background blow out. I then selected f/4.8 for my aperture in order to achieve a nice blurred background.

Enjoy.

Camera settings: Nikon D3, Nikon 28-70mm f/2.8 at 60mm, shot at ISO 200, f/4.8 and 1/60^th of a second with flash set at rear sync.

Flash: Nikon SB-800 mounted on monopod with softbox attached, triggered by AlienBee CyberSync radio triggers, in manual mode at 1/4^th power positioned so that she is looking straight at it.

Post Processing:

Lightroom—Set white and black points, added mid-tone contrast and added vibrance.

Photoshop—cloned-out small, distracting elements and minor blemishes and hair, used nik Color Efex Pro tonal contrast filter to add shadow, mid-tone and highlight contrast to her clothing and hair.

Different Interpretations

I am always amazed at how I can do a little tweaking here and there in Photoshop and come-up with a totally different look in a photograph. Today’s photos come from my visit to Dickens on the Strand. Many people dress-up in Dickens-period costumes which means there are many opportunities to do different interpretations in your final print.

In the first image, I wanted to isolate on the two subjects. I wanted to emphasize their face and just give a hint of their settings.

Camera settings: Nikon D3, 28-70mm f/2.8 at 60mm, shot at ISO 200, f/6.7 and 1/180 of a second

Post Processing:

Lightroom—set white and black point, and added mid-tone contrast.

Photoshop—used nik Color Efex Pro tonal contrast filter to add detail to the clothing of the ladies; used nik Color Efex Pro soft skin filter to even out the ladies’ faces; added some local contrast to their eyes.

In the second image, I wanted to get a “real” Dickens look—edgy, off beat, and rough. I need to have a lot of depth of field so I selected an f-stop of 11 and adjusted the power of my strobe accordingly.

Camera settings: Nikon D3, 28-70mm f/2.8 at 45mm, shot at ISO 200, f/11 and 1/125 of a second

Post Processing:

Lightroom—set white and black point, and added mid-tone contrast, de-saturated the colors.

Photoshop—used nik Color Efex Pro tonal contrast filter to add detail to the entire image and set opacity of the layer to 60%; used nik Color Efex Pro bleached bypass filter to give the image an overall edgy feeling.