Poll Results: 15 Tips for Beginner Street Photographers – What are your do’s & dont’s?

February 15, 2012 by 6 Comments

Today’s question on Twitter was:”Street Photographers, what tips do you have for a beginner starting out in this area of photography? What are your do’s & don’ts?”

The following replies were received from both professional & amateur street photographers:

“my tip would be dont acknowledge the person you are shooting. You need them to be unaware you are there…” – @StudioSixty8

“ALWAYS carry business cards in case someone asks “what are you doing?!” Also, never shoot anyone directly without permission.” – @daysixphoto

“ALWAYS respect who you shoot with the homeless. Always ask first and also hand them a few bucks. Plus take time to talk with them.” – @jeffgishphoto

© Jeff Gish Photography

 ”Hold your camera to your waist level! It’s the best to start with street!” …

“Don’t use a telephoto lens!” …

“If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough. – Robert Capa”…

“If you can smell the street by looking at the photo, it’s a street photograph.” – @AndreasKakaris

“I would say: if you have balls, it’s time to use them.” , “i would say too : good shoes are more important than a good camera.” – @fconstant_

“don’t stop to think about the shot too much. If you see it, snap it.” – @JimHedley

“my best tip for #streetphotography is to “get involved”. Be aware of your surroundings and don’t be scared to shoot” -@LukesThinking

 ”@fconstant_ take the street pace, breath, and merge the human flow.” – @FabriceDrevon

“Street photography? Be open, be sensitive, be caring of what and whom you see…” – @bartimaeus42

“to be patient and discreet. To visit busy places where its harder for people to notice you.” -@alfani81

 ”respect people and private property, if somebody doesn’t want you shooting there, move on, there’s lots of other streets.” -@FabulousTahoe

 ”…on the practical side, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD ditch the factory strap and get a short one, in black or that blends with your coat.” -@lipstadt

“Wide lenses (~21mm in 35mm equiv FOV) + get in close, shoot from waist/shoulder” -@reubenacciano

© Reuben Acciano

© Reuben Acciano

COMMENT

What are your do’s and dont’s? Add your comment below with your tips for beginner street photographers.

 

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Poll Results: What is your favorite music to listen to while working on your photography?

January 30, 2012 by 7 Comments

This week we asked for favorite music styles, songs or bands to listen to while getting to work on your photography. These are some of the answers we received on Twitter:

- Buckethead, Jelonek, Insomnium, Pink Floyd
-  Jazz: Miles Davis
- Metal/Rock
- Muse
- Bob Burnham
- Comedy Songs
- Jimi Hendrix
- Imogen Heap
- You and I
- Velvet Underground
- The Pixies
- Coil
- Burzum
- Ulver
- Sunn
- Pan Sonic
- Paco De Lucia
- Ottmar Liebert
- Turbio Santos

Comment

Add to the list below in a comment. Tell us what your favorite tunes are to listen to while you work…

 

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Poll: iPhone a Threat to the DSLR?

May 28, 2011 by 29 Comments

Over the last few months I have been getting rather tired of the types of photos taken with an iPhone. I feel they can be spotted easily with over processing being a route to conceal noise and what otherwise would be a bad photo.

This view is a complete contrast to the fact that the iPhone is becoming one of the most popular cameras on flickr.

So what do you think? Does iPhoneography undermine or threaten traditional photography?

Also let us know what you think? Are you tired of the retro camera look?

 

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Tribute : The Nifty 50mm Lens

March 5, 2011 by 10 Comments

I have recently rediscovered my 50mm lens and have it locked to my camera. I had basically forgotten how versatile this little lens is, fast, and great for those perfect bokeh shots my biggest surprise what just how good the lens is for everything else.

I never once considered that I would use a 50mm lens for landscape photography but passing a local church with a 50mm on the 5DMK 2 I captured this shockingly cold photo.

Hillsborough in the Evening

You can click on the photo to view it on flickr or look at the additional photos in the set here. Maybe I was lucky that the 50mm lens was just wide enough to capture both lanes with the church in the centre but being prime meant the photograph was particularly sharp.

The speed of the 50mm lens means indoor photography is achievable without a flash. It will challenge your photography with your lens being the zoom and a close depth of field can result in some stunning images with the risk of a few out of focus on the way.

There is very little distortion with a 50mm lens and it is pretty close to how the eye sees. Every time I am asked advice on what camera to buy I always add a 50mm lens into the mix. At less than £100 it is one of the best photographic investments you can buy.

Do you own a 50mm lens?

We haven’t had a poll in a while so this is a great opportunity to discover how many of you own a 50mm lens.

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Why do you take photos?

February 16, 2011 by 18 Comments

I have been looking at some of the stunning work posted in the Seven by Five Flickr group and have started to wonder “What drives up to lift the camera and take photos?”

Where does the desire to capture an image comes from and what keeps us going, feeding our blogs, flickr and twitter with our work.

For very few it is for financial gain, for some it might be an escape from the day job but for me it has to be the consumption of learning.

Old Camera by FlixelPix

I love learning, I love knowing nothing and embarking on the process of gaining new skills, learning new techniques and seeing improvement.

Comment

So I thought I would turn if over to you, why do you take photos? don’t comment what comes in to your head first, have a think, be honest and get commenting……..

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HDR Photography : Poll Results

January 20, 2011 by 22 Comments

This week we asked twitter users suggestions for our regular reader poll. Thanks to @timallenphoto who suggested a look at HDR. We asked simple if you loved, hated or didn’t care about HDR photography. The poll stirred a little bit of a response but here are the final results.

51% of visitors voted that they loved HDR photography and despite voting that I didn’t care much about the use of HDR I have to confess that I have dabbled with HDR post processing apps.

With mobile devices coming equipped with HDR capture there is little doubting that High Dynamic Range photography is here to stay.

Thumbnail photo credit : FlixelPix

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Results : How do you sell your Photos ?

October 5, 2010 by 11 Comments

Faced with the daunting challenge of your first photography exhibition you will have to make a number of important decisions along the way. From selecting what photos to include through to your guest lists it can be a time consuming journey.

One of the biggest and possibly hardest decisions is how to price your work. If you have had canvases or your photos framed then you will costs to cover and most galleries charge a percentage commission on each sale.

This week’s poll asks how do you price your work ? Exclusive one off prints offer the chance to charge more for the image but locks you out of repeat sales. The results were very informative and I still not really sure which model I would prefer to adopt.

The idea of exclusive one off prints is attractive and I would have assumed viewers would be attracted by the fact they would own a one off piece of work. Exclusive deals would attract a higher price tag but leaves you with a predicament if someone else wants the work at a later date.

Limited Editions lie somewhere in between, a middle ground where exclusivity is retained but you can sell to a number of customers. I suspect this is a model I will try during my next exhibition. 5 limited edition prints but with a clause that the image can be used at a reduced size for publication, in case a book of the area is every produced at a later date.

I am still a little baffled, my attitude to valuing a photo compared to an oil painting is the the painting is a one off whereas the print can be easily replicated for resale. Photography as art poses quite a challenge, perhaps there is a graph for exclusivity v price ?

If you have had your work exhibited in the past we would love to hear your opinion on how to best manage costings and pricing of print work.

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Poll Results : How many Lenses do you own ?

September 23, 2010 by 45 Comments

I know a photographer who swears that he only needs one lens, a 24-70mm f2.8. In a recent poll we asked readers if they were only allowed one lens which would it be with the 50mm lens coming out firmly on top (read more here).

Over the last few months I have been looking at what lens I own and what they are used for and I am beginning does too much choice hinder creativity. Instead of carrying one lens I end up wasting time swapping between wide lens to fast glass.

The Poll

This week’s poll asked “how many lenses do you own” but we also would like you to comment on what lenses these are and how you use them. For example a many of our readers are interested in street photography so you might want to mention your favorite lens for this purpose.

 

I was actually surprised that the majority of readers (just) owned four or more lenses. Only 5% of readers own only one lens but I can’t help asking would restricting yourself to a single lens for a month fuel you creativity ? It was interesting to see how popular the 50mm lens was when we asked if you were only allowed one lens which would you own. If you own more than 4 lenses are there any that are rarely used ?

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Poll Results: Do you keep every photo you take ?

September 15, 2010 by 11 Comments

Recently I entered into an interesting debate over workflow with a few fellow Adobe Lightroom users. One photographer kept every single photo they have ever taken in a single Lightroom library and simply increased the storage space as necessary while another ruthlessly rejected photos and actually deleted the entire project once the work was complete and paid for.

The big question is, should we keep every image we capture ? Not only would we like to have your vote we would also love to hear how you mange your library (use the comments). Do you ruthless bin photos that aren’t your best or do you archive your library? if so how often.

The results were probably predictable with the vast majority of readers only deleting the obviously bad photos and keeping the remainder.

The problem with this type of workflow is you can end up with a large number of similar (but acceptable) photos of the same subject.

I am pretty sure if I was to look through my library I would reject a large number of issues that I didn’t think were rejects at the point they were captured but the question is, should we go on a regular photo cull ?

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Do you profit from photography ?

September 5, 2010 by 2 Comments

This month’s poll asks ‘do you make money from photography ?’. There are hundreds of aspiring photographers out there but how many are able to take their love of photography into a profitable past time ? Some people are able to sustain an income from microstock others from studio but where do you start ? The poll brought some interesting responses. I genuinely believe successful photographers have the love of photography in common.

Perhaps your interest if for stress relief from the throes of your day job or you have embarked on a career. The Seven by Five community is diverse on the financial front :

The winning segment, and only just was that you don’t try and sell your work. Those of you who are making an income from your work perhaps you should offer some tips to the 24% of readers who only make a little ?

[Photo Credit : FlixelPix.com]

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