Who read win

[Niels]

Shot at Borders. Always shoot wide - "if you're picture is not good enough, you're not close enough" (R. Capa)

[The_Cheat]

Interesting picture you have there. The treatment you'd chosen made you as well as the viewer of the picture an observer of the scene, instead of being or feeling like part of the scene. Reminds me almost of Gursky's work.

There's a few snag in the picture that's rather unfortunate though. (1) The picture is not straight, i.e. bench is not parallel to the frame; (2) the book shelf at the bottom left hand corner is a major distraction on a "clean" treatment; (3) I don't really know much about colour, but I think the colour is a bit off... not too sure about that or why. Just a gut feeling for me when it comes to colour! (4) Blown highlights mostly in the middle, especially the big back of a white-shirt wearing guy. (5) How does Capa's comment in your caption have any relevence in your picture?

[khairi]

same question too:
(5) How does Capa's comment in your caption have any relevence in your picture?

[The_Cheat]

Originally Posted by khairi same question too: (5) How does Capa's comment in your caption have any relevence in your picture?

khairi => <= the_cheat

[Niels]

Thx guys. Well, I shot the people and specially the moment, which rather hard to capture in that crowded context with many people passing by. So I don't care much the if the shelves were parallel, or if I could move the shelf on my left, or if the color sensitivity tones was fine etc. No more than 10 sec is all it takes to finish your work. So you can see people are focus in reading, reaching for books, showing books to each other. All different live actions. So if you like it, you like it.

Sometimes you can shoot snapshot with a tele, maybe you don't want to distract people or worst thing? your camera could die , so it's fine. But it doesn't always work for me. Because I like the normal eyes angle view. So be it, "if your picture..."

[The_Cheat]

Originally Posted by Niels Well, I shot the people and specially the moment, which rather hard to capture in that crowded context with many people passing by. So I don't care much the if the shelves were parallel, or if I could move the shelf on my left, or if the color sensitivity tones was fine etc. No more than 10 sec is all it takes to finish your work. So you can see people are focus in reading, reaching for books, showing books to each other. All different live actions. So if you like it, you like it.

Hmm... your reply have just killed your picture, do you know that? Even if it's a snapshot, make it seems as if it's a shot you're really like. You non-chalant reply that it's "hard to capture" and "don't care much" totally ruined the mood of the shot. You could have replied much better if you emphasis more on the moment, and leave it as that.

You don't need to explain yourself about the difficulties, cos simply no one would care. You don't see Robert Capa saying that he was nearly shot everytime he took a picture isn't it? Likewise, you won't hear of Lewis Hine emphasizing on his experience of being chased away from factories or by acting as a bible salesman, just to sneak into factories to shoot child labour right?

As for the technical snags I'd commented earlier on, you could have simply do post-processing work on it, if you genuinely are proud of it. Why bother to reply with "if you like it, you like it", when you don't even bother to clean up snags that you'd realised?

Originally Posted by Niels Sometimes you can shoot snapshot with a tele, maybe you don't want to distract people or worst thing? your camera could die , so it's fine. But it doesn't always work for me. Because I like the normal eyes angle view. So be it, "if your picture..."

Err... why are you refreshing us with the basics in streetshooting, with regards to the use of lenses? Anyway a normal eyes view, for your information, is around a 50mm on a 135 format camera, and that's by no means wide-angle like what you'd quoted.

Instead, what we really want to ask, in this case, is why did you choose Capa's quote as your caption for the picture? Is there any relevance in your picture with regards to Capa's quote?

[Expiredyoghurt]

same question .. what does capa's comment have anything to do with the pic? a little post-processing would strighten the pic easily ... moving a little to the right might help get rid of the shelf ... or move closer with a wide angle lens? or wcon? ...and if u like the pic ... maybe u should have snapped a few more from diff angles ... or spend half as minute composing it? ... or compose it before u whip out your cam (so as not to scare readers away)

[zaren]

Originally Posted by The_Cheat Hmm... your reply have just killed your picture, do you know that? Even if it's a snapshot, make it seems as if it's a shot you're really like. You non-chalant reply that it's "hard to capture" and "don't care much" totally ruined the mood of the shot. You could have replied much better if you emphasis more on the moment, and leave it as that. You don't need to explain yourself about the difficulties, cos simply no one would care. You don't see Robert Capa saying that he was nearly shot everytime he took a picture isn't it? Likewise, you won't hear of Lewis Hine emphasizing on his experience of being chased away from factories or by acting as a bible salesman, just to sneak into factories to shoot child labour right? As for the technical snags I'd commented earlier on, you could have simply do post-processing work on it, if you genuinely are proud of it. Why bother to reply with "if you like it, you like it", when you don't even bother to clean up snags that you'd realised? Err... why are you refreshing us with the basics in streetshooting, with regards to the use of lenses? Anyway a normal eyes view, for your information, is around a 50mm on a 135 format camera, and that's by no means wide-angle like what you'd quoted. Instead, what we really want to ask, in this case, is why did you choose Capa's quote as your caption for the picture? Is there any relevance in your picture with regards to Capa's quote?

a normal "two eyes" angle of vision is around 28mm on a 135 format camera.

[khairi]

Originally Posted by zaren a normal "two eyes" angle of vision is around 28mm on a 135 format camera.

ha ha ha...

ok what does normal eyes mean? if it means 2 eyes, then its 28mm...if Niels is actually refering to a single eye...then its 50mm.

even if it's indeed a wide, what has capa's quote got to do with the picture!?

[zaren]

Originally Posted by khairi ha ha ha... ok what does normal eyes mean? if it means 2 eyes, then its 28mm...if Niels is actually refering to a single eye...then its 50mm. even if it's indeed a wide, what has capa's quote got to do with the picture!?

capa's quote is there because niels feels that he has already gotten close enough to get a good shot. and he invites comments from others who may beg to differ.

[Niels]

Very detailed and well written, The_Cheat. I appreciate it. Thx again.
Simply enough, some bros here are really inspired by famous photographers, and even quote them (the one I used, ironically) That's perfectly fine. However I see too many good post processed photos but I don't recall a single interesting snapshot (wide, sorry normal angle view) in which the author focus on the moment and atmosphere rather than post processing. Don't get me wrong, post processing is very important, however it's not what I emphasize in street photography.

For your comments on my text, I never put any words to my photo, or at least no more than where I shot it. If any bros care about technical aspect then I share with them, that's all. The caption may have been not relevant, but I meant something, that's not really diplomatic to some bros.

[Niels]

Expiredyoghurt: I'd want to shoot more than 1 frame. But it was too fast. After that so many people passed by. After 1 min I came back, but the situation all changed.

[The_Cheat]

Originally Posted by zaren capa's quote is there because niels feels that he has already gotten close enough to get a good shot. and he invites comments from others who may beg to differ.

Haha~! He sure did invite comments...

[Expiredyoghurt]

Originally Posted by Niels Expiredyoghurt: I'd want to shoot more than 1 frame. But it was too fast. After that so many people passed by. After 1 min I came back, but the situation all changed.

ooo .. hmmz ... ok ... would have hung around a while more to wait for such a situation again ... gotta camp and wait for your 'prey' to move into position =P .. haha ... a little like birding ...

still nice capture .. but a little processing would have fixed it =)

[The_Cheat]

Originally Posted by Niels Very detailed and well written, The_Cheat. I appreciate it. Thx again. Simply enough, some bros here are really inspired by famous photographers, and even quote them (the one I used, ironically) That's perfectly fine.

Haha~! You're cool man!

Yar! I guess most of us are inspired by famous photographers in one way or another and often we quote so much from the "idol" unawaringly, often in a wrong context. I was pretty much guilty of quoting some of my "idols" during conversation with other people too!

Just that perhaps your quote is probably out of place in this case, as you'd used wide-angle in the real sense, a wide angle shot!

There are some streetshooters out there who used wide angles and go especially close, so to alter the normal perspective that you can't get with a standard or telezoom lens.

Originally Posted by Niels However I see too many good post processed photos but I don't recall a single interesting snapshot (wide, sorry normal angle view) in which the author focus on the moment and atmosphere rather than post processing. Don't get me wrong, post processing is very important, however it's not what I emphasize in street photography.

I don't agree with you here. There are a lot of shots in this forum which focus on the moment and the atmosphere too. Just that most go unnotice. Just do a quick search on zaren's pictures. He does post-processing on his shots too, but it's his moment that he'd captured that speaks volume, not the emphasis on post-processing.

I guess at the end of the day, both aspect are just as important.

Originally Posted by Niels For your comments on my text, I never put any words to my photo, or at least no more than where I shot it. If any bros care about technical aspect then I share with them, that's all. The caption may have been not relevant, but I meant something, that's not really diplomatic to some bros.

Oh please, spare me the technical aspects like shutter speed or aperture stop! That's the last thing one ought to look at anyway! Man! I'd no idea why people even bother which f-stop it's at!!!

[khairi]

i think he shot it with f64 at 10 secs? hmmmmmmmmmmm....

[The_Cheat]

Originally Posted by khairi i think he shot it with f64 at 10 secs? hmmmmmmmmmmm....

No... think it's a pinhole camera at f128 at 30 seconds exposure, considering the reciprocity failure of film!

[zerofour]

Just wonder anyone inside sees this will sue u for taking photo with out any rights.... hmm..... get ready for few million dollar coz there are alot of people in the photo
"joking"

[eikin]

Originally Posted by Niels However I see too many good post processed photos but I don't recall a single interesting snapshot (wide, sorry normal angle view) in which the author focus on the moment and atmosphere rather than post processing. Don't get me wrong, post processing is very important, however it's not what I emphasize in street photography.

errr ... pardon me if i sound stupid hor ... this picture you posted, isn't it post processed as well? (the blurry border) don't start a flame because of this hor, i just very puzzled that your explanation doesn't sound very coherent only ...

Originally Posted by Niels Expiredyoghurt: I'd want to shoot more than 1 frame. But it was too fast. After that so many people passed by. After 1 min I came back, but the situation all changed.

hmmm ... if this shot is so important, why not go back to shoot again another day? i am sure you can get a similar, though not same, setting, maybe even better? i heard from my friend that this photog stood on the flyover across TPE to shoot a sunrise scene, and he kept going back day after day ...

[Niels]

What you said is 100% positive and your suggestion is very brilliant too. I will try to do it if time permits.

For bros in this board after reviewing your photos I realised many of you have distinguish view if not very good. Keep it up. Maybe it's just me but snap photo should be taken with a wide standard or standard lens (in 35mm). Pardon me for the old fashion taste. It's easy to snap with a tele, it's hard to work with a wider lens but more often than not the result will pay off for you.

For post processing actually I was trying to crop the photo and accidentally the feather was already there in the tool. I realised it's not bad cropping like that so left it like that. I will try to reprocess later.