[Ghaz1] Street Series


Thanks for the clarification ZCA! Yup, i wanted a darker sky and overprocessed my "man" thus forming the halos. In the corrected one i lose the halo but also lost some tone and texture on the man's shirt/pants but i can live with that i suppose. By the way, to "correct" the picture i just played with levels and slight curve adjustment and then converted to B&W in PS, which is the extent of my PS abilities at the moment. :D Oh yes, oversharpening the first picture also causes halos and i didn't do any sharpening on the corrected picture.
 

No business

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NOTES:

It's a hard life for those who have to earn their living on the streets. These trishaw riders are taking a well-deserved breather during the intense noon-day heat. Yet, if a tourist/customer approaches, they have to go out pedalling on the roads again. I've seen an entire family of 2 adults and 3 little kids hop onto one of these "chariots" and you can imagine the strain these riders have to bear. Nevertheless, speaking to them, they seem to be a happy bunch of people and very friendly. The tourist dollar sustains their livelihood. Some of the younger ones actually rent these trishaws from the older folks during these intense noon-day stints to earn their way though college or university. I must admire such independence and resilience.

COMPOSITION:

If you have minimalism, then in some street photography, you can have maximalism. A wide perspective is used to cram in as much of a scene as possible. On the one hand it could get very messy but on the other, the eye is drawn all over the frame from top to bottom and left to right in order to take it all in. Information overload or visual treat. You decide. I do like this style of street photography though because i can see many themes in place at a particular location. There is also a timeline in place here. Notice the newly refurbished Equatorial Hotel at the right hand corner of the frame, the colonial/independence era architechture of the muzeum at the centre of the picture and the ruins of the old Portuguese fort at the left of the frame.
 

The Working Man 1

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The Working Man 2

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The Working Man 3

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NOTES:

A short series documenting the unsung heroes of our streets. TWM1 shows his arrival at 7am in the morning (Saturday). What struck me the most was the numerous bottles of water he is carrying. It strongly implies the amount of time he will be spending cleaning the streets and also the amount of effort it would take.

TWM2 is an attempt to put the man in his environment. I wanted to show a nice setting through the background and putting him in the frame as the reason why we can take nice, clean scenic pictures.

TWM3 is an exercise in contrasts. The working man vs the other man in the corner. While the eye is drawn to the working man, the lines of the bridge and pavement forms a triangle that arrows towards the other man in the corner. Hopefully the composition then balances out both characters in the scene - using visual elements to counter-balance the visual perspective (size) of the two individuals. Notice also that the other man is framed within the frame, by the lines and the pole, to give the impression that he is lost or trapped in his own world.
 

Am I Late?

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Burger King

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Protection

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The Cyclist and Pedestrian aka You'll Never Walk Alone!

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NOTE:

The cyclist seems to be deep in thought. He was stationary and staring at a far off distance, in contrast to the lady who is looking straight at me. Fortunately i was shooting at 24mm so it would have seemed to her that i was shooting at something behind her and she wouldn't be in the frame. I was pretty close to these two figures and I like the bubbly pillar that separates them. By the way, i'm in the picture as well. You can see my reflection with the camera to my face. It makes it seem like i'm standing beside the smiling lady.
 

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All Eyes Watching You

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NOTE:

The man is being observed from all sides by the picture (right), poster (back), mannequins (left) and the photographer (front).
 

The Crossing

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Mother and Daughter

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NOTES:

Permit me for a split second, to intrude upon your lives and share in your joy. Allow me a moment to make your happiness permanent. That is what i do. I'm a street photographer, a recorder of life's fleeting moments.

COMPOSITION:

Deliberated whether to crop off the man on the left until i noticed his shirt mirrors the mother's and the striped motif is repeated on the other side which makes for a nice frame.
 

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Hello

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wow ghaz1, look like yr 3gs really come very handy... cool pics
 

wow ghaz1, look like yr 3gs really come very handy... cool pics

Heheh... wrong thread. My Iphone pictures are at the Alternative Photography section. These were shot with the LX3. We could go street shooting some time. I'll show you how i do it. Getting close to the subject is important in street photography, paraphrasing a past master, if your picture is not good, you're not close enough. Very hard to do with a loud shutter, hence the LX3 is perfect for the job. Well, enough talk about gear. No point having the perfect equipment if you can't visualise what you're taking. ;)

I think i'd better update my Alternative Photography thread. :think:
 

Touch

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Imposing

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NOTES:

Here's an idea i've been toying with, shooting tiny people juxtaposed with imposing, monolithic structures. I'll call it my "Little People" collection of which this photo shall be the first!

Pious

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Serious Bargains

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NOTES:

Shopping is perhaps second only to eating when it comes to Singapore's favourite past-time activity. Hence i decided to invade the shopping complexes of my native heartland to shoot and document this intriguing behaviour. One word of caution to those who would like to try this as well - watch out for the security guards! A DSLR camera is probably not a good idea for this kind of photoshoots which require a tad more subtlety. Moreover, certain locations such as Wheelock Place, Centrepoint and other downtown locations are more uptight about photography within their premises than the heartlands.

COMPOSITION:

The expressions on the faces is important in this shot so i had to get close. I framed the main subject with the two men who have their arms folded. Everyone has a serious expression on their face, hence the title of this shot "Serious Bargains". Titles are useful for informing the viewer what the intention of the photographer is. Personally, i do not think it restricts the dissemination of meaning for the viewer as every individual sees things their own way and bring their own prior experiences to the picture. The title simply builds a connection between the viewer and photographer, as if the photographer is asking "Do you see it too? Have i succeeded in what i wanted to do?". It is up to the viewer to agree or disagree.
 

Haha, agree with you about the title in some way but it's like you are playing a game and the person who create the game give you tips. Anyway. I think title is important as all the photos in photography exhibition got a title or description. :thumbsup:
 

Haha, agree with you about the title in some way but it's like you are playing a game and the person who create the game give you tips. Anyway. I think title is important as all the photos in photography exhibition got a title or description. :thumbsup:

Some pictures are so visually strong that a title is not really necessary. Nevertheless, in some instances, the title itself is part of the whole picture. Like this one for example, which i entitle:

The Cardreaders

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hahaha good shots at tampines mall / century square! =)

Aye correct! Best part of street photography is that we don't have to go very far. ;)
 

Prison

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NOTES:

I must thank Dingaroo for organising this outing to the civic district. I've been anticipating with excitement for a few weeks since he said he would organise it. Well, it was worth the wait and i had lots of fun shooting the streets of the civic district. About 250 shots overall and maybe 10-15% are keepers. That's pretty good for a morning's work.

COMPOSITION:

It's about the patterns of the grill here. For added mischieviousness, i put the man's face framed into one of the tiny grill patterns to signify as if he is staring out of the keyhole of a prison. :bsmilie:
 

Emerge

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Flag of our Fathers

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NOTES:

Trying out a really far-out perspective to fill the diagonals with visual information.

COMPOSITION:

I think the tiny bit of difference that makes the picture is the Singapore flag blowing in the wind!