[Ghaz1] Street Series

[Ghaz1]

Tugboat

NOTES:

Converted this picture to black and white. I played around with the blue and cyan channels to "pop" the clouds.
Shot in RAW so dynamic range was more manageable. Also added 4% blue tone to the picture for that silver halide look.
Corrected my verticals due to some keystone effect. However, after reviewing the picture, i realised that i had forgotten
to sharpen it but still looks ok, for that old 1960s feel.

 

[Ghaz1]

In motion

NOTES:

I didn't know there were so many joggers in the Civic District. You could shoot an entire series on just the joggers. The challenge then would be
to portray a recurring theme in an original/unique way. You could do this by combining several techniques and post processes. For the image
"In Motion" i used the bleach bypass, a PP tool that is fast becoming one of my favourites. Next i added vignetting to give it a lomo kind of look
and to centralise the focus on those two in motion joggers. Then i corrected my verticals and reduced the contrast a tad to bring back some details
in the background to show the sharpness of the surroundings in contrast to the blur of the joggers in motion.

Shutter speed was 1/50, enough to hand-hold and keep the surroundings sharp and as the joggers are moving in almost parallel to the frame,
their blurred motion would be captured and exaggerated.

 

[Ghaz1]

River Scene

 

[Ghaz1]

Sisters

NOTES:

More bleach bypass.

 

[Ghaz1]

Meerkats

NOTES:

Meerkats are those cute animals that look like giant squirrels. They're one of the highlights
at the zoo and their typical behaviour is to stand at a high point and look around, up and
down for their predators. Well, these tourists remind me of that. :bsmilie:

Hope you like the technicolor toning.

 

[Ghaz1]

Tourist Photographer

NOTES:

Street Photography involves making conscious choices about the best way to convey the
inherent message/theme in the picture. While i like to shoot b&w, sometimes the picture
requires colour. This image would lose much of its attraction if i had converted it to b&w.
The vibrant contrasts in colour from the purplish pink tone of the lady on the right and the
more muted green of the tourist photographer as well as her thick make-up and bright red
lipstick, are elements that make the picture.

COMPOSITION:

I like using a wide angle lens as it allows me to get close to my subject while still including a lot
of detail into the frame. However, it does take a lot of getting used to and i wouldn't recommend
it for shooting more aggressive subjects. In this instance, the tourists were
doing their own thing, sight-seeing and taking pictures so i just mingled right amongst them
and got really nice tight shots with the scenery in the background. The lady noticed me
and approached with her camera. She took a snap of me and i returned the compliment. :bsmilie:
There may have been a language barrier, she's Japanese, but for a spit second we
connected as two individuals sharing a common endeavour. So, my final advice for tonite
is: Get close if you can, you don't know what you're missing.

But be safe. Always.

 

[Ghaz1]

Love

NOTES:

I'm always looking for pictures that capture a particular mood or atmosphere.
You know it when you see it. Then it's time to capture the moment.

 

[Ghaz1]

Look Around

Walk Around

Wisma

Ion

 

[Ghaz1]

Striking Shirt

NOTES:

Here's another picture that i just can't bear to desaturate. I could spot him walking from a
mile away so i set up and prefocussed at a point then waited. Once he hit the spot, i
captured the image. The hippo waving from the bus ad is an added bonus to the picture.
Wish i could remove the trash bin though, but that's part of street photography. You take
what you can get and move on. Overall on each outing i go, i snap an average of 250-300
shots for a solid 3 hours shooting spree. Of those i only keep about 20-30 of the best ones.
I find i'm beginning to enjoy the entire creative process from visualising the shot to
processing them. I can get 3-4 different looks from a single frame and decide from those
the best one to put up. Can be rather tedious but as long as it remains FUN, i'll do it.

 

[Ghaz1]

Armani

Dior

Dolce&Gabbana

Prada

NOTES:

Notice how we are surrounded by advertisements? It is as if we become a part of that
visual spectacle as we move around the urban environment that is saturated with the
glitz and glamour of advertising. That's how it works, the pervasiveness of advertisements
feeds the consumer culture of our postmodernity.

 

[Ghaz1]

I Believe I Can Fly

 

[wildcat]

Some of the later pictures look OOF.

 

[Ghaz1]

Some of the later pictures look OOF.

Thanks for pointing that out wildcat. I'm getting complacent aren't i? Too busy clearing my backlogs i guess. I'm making way for my next series of pictures from my holiday trip next week. I must remember to sharpen after downsizing. Always forget this final step, but luckily in street photography you can get away with that to a certain extent. Still, no excuse for sloppiness. If you're free, we could go street shooting some time. Maybe before one of Dingaroo/ZerocoolAstra's outings?

 

[wildcat]

So was the guard ok with you taking the picture inside? Anyway the case I have is similar to if you went outside the building maybe somewhere between the building and traffic lights, and then took a picture of Wheelock and the guard came after you.

 

[Ghaz1]

So was the guard ok with you taking the picture inside? Anyway the case I have is similar to if you went outside the building maybe somewhere between the building and traffic lights, and then took a picture of Wheelock and the guard came after you.

Certainly not. I've seen them go after photographers before. Very strictly no photography in that building. He was sauntering over to where i was standing and i knew what he was going to say so i bugged out of there before he reached me. I was not carrying a DSLR or a tripod, just a simple P&S and i wasn't pointing at anything in particular. :dunno:

 

[Ghaz1]

Photographer

Centre of Attraction

 

[Ghaz1]

Hard Work

 

[Ghaz1]

Arguement

Breakfast Read

The Eye

Tied Up

Fiery Beauty

 

[Ghaz1]

NOTES:

I was at the Marina Barrage yesterday for a photography outing. It was my first visit to the
place and i didn't know what to expect. Certainly not the hundreds of people there enjoying
the sun and wind. What was a landscape shooting outing turned out to be a street shooter's
heaven! Here are the interesting people i met.

Downstairs

Doggie

Bro-Sis

Happy to Pose

Hero

 

[Ghaz1]

Contemplation

Hero 2

Glass Cleaner

Coincidental Meeting