Category: Street Photography
Bad Weather Shooting – In the Rain
Eifel Tower from Trocadero Square
There are several things to consider when shooting in bad weather. First, is making sure your equipment survives the bad weather. Come snow, hell or high-water, you want your equipment to be safe. Second, what can you possibly want to shoot in inclement weather? Well, read on . . .
Generally bad weather means rain, or at least it does here on the Wet Coast. But, it can also mean extremely hot (I wish) temperatures or even freezing temperatures. I will post on these as the weather conditions warrant. For now, the forecast is for months of rain!
(C) 2017 Val Hider
If it’s raining, you need to think about several things. One, is your camera weather sealed? If it is, you do not have much to worry about, but you should still try to keep excess rain to a minimum. You may even want to test your camera by using it in the rain for a short time. But first, make sure all your caps and covers are firmly in place. Push on all of them to confirm they are snug. Then head out and shoot in the rain. Once you are done, use a good dry towel to dry off the camera very well. Then, open all the doors, hatches, caps, and gismos and have a look to see if any water has gotten into any of the compartments. Soil and other debris can prevent proper sealing. Always keep your camera clean.
If you have a non-weather sealed camera, then you have several options depending on how heavy the rain is. I’ll let you decide which is best for you, but in the end, keep it dry!
You can use dry areas to shoot from, under covers or under awnings or in doorways. These work at keeping you and the camera dry. Hopping from shelter to shelter works well but it can be limiting. You can also shoot from inside your car, either through an open window or a rain drenched windshield.
Wearing a long and slightly oversized jacket or parka allows you to keep the camera safely against your body and out of rains way. This method does force you to bring the camera into the rain for a short time when you need to shoot. This works well in light misty rain. Wearing a ball cap or a broad-brimmed hat will also offer your camera some protection when you bring the camera up to your eye.
Using an umbrella works if you can do one handed shooting while still holding the camera steady. The benefit of using an umbrella is that it will keep you dry better than just a parka.
Other options include purchasing rain gear for your equipment like the OP/TECH USA Rain Sleeves. The problem with these is even the small size are designed for DSLR cameras with a standard zoom lens. Shooting a DSLR with a 50mm lens or with a smaller Mirrorless Camera, these rain covers can be too bulky.
Home-made Rain Cover
A great option is making your own rain sleeve using a plain clear plastic bag. There are countless videos and tutorials on how to make them and properly install them with your camera. Here is a shot of a quick one I made for my camera in two minutes. I would cut the bottom off a bit though. Decide if you want your hands outside the bag, which can be tricky with dials or having your hands inside the bag which means having a large enough bag. Remember that access to the ZOOM is not an issue as you should be using a prime lens or fixing your zoom lens at a specific focal length.
On the right is a plastic bag DIY rain cover that I made in about 90 seconds. There are many videos on how to do this that I was going to share, bud sadly there are not many good ones. I may have to create one. For now, check out a few videos and adapt for your camera.
In the end, keep dry, keep your camera dry, stay warm! Wear appropriate clothing and shoes.
Now that you are ready to brave the weather, what will you shoot? At first its easy to think that wet weather Street Photography is silly as no one will be out. That’s the point though, people have to be out! They must get to work, go to school, eat, buy things, see friends or movies. Bad weather makes for excellent shooting. Things to look for:
Reflections – one of my favorites. Reflections on glass, misted glass, or glass covered with water drops, or even reflections in puddles.
Puddles – besides being a great source of reflections, look for larger puddles in heavy traffic areas. Large puddles at crosswalks will be a barrier for pedestrians that will need to circumvent or better, hop over. Or, if you’re lucky, will walk through when the puddle is deeper that it appears. Curb side puddles can spray pedestrians as the vehicles drive through them. Always a great spot to wait if you see cars spraying sidewalks.
Glass – again, besides reflections, looking through rain drop spotted windows can make for great images. A bonus is you can be in a warm café drinking your favorite beverage while you shoot. Find the right spot and success is yours.
Trickles – if an awning or your umbrella is trickling down in front of you, capturing the trickle, with or without the umbrella in the frame, can add to the bad weather story and can place where the image was shot from.
Umbrellas – bright umbrellas, or multitudes of umbrellas, can help create a great image. Look for them but remember, it about the composition, not just anyone holding an umbrella. Although, the Red Umbrellas are becoming cliché.
Light – is still the magical ingredient in wet weather photography. Look for it. If you can backlight the rain, it will be more visible. Consider shooting into brighter areas including on-coming car headlights.
Eyes – remember that it is still Street Photography that you are doing. Continue to get in close, look to the eyes and expressions. People will often look miserable, or even very happy. Capture those moments.
One last thing to try when shooting Street Photography in the rain is to use your flash. Any flash will do. Do not use your flash to light your scenes or your subjects, but rather on low power settings to light up the rain just in front of the lens. The lit-up rain drops will add to the rain effect.
I always enjoy shooting in the rain. The wet rocks and walkways can be magical. I’ll leave you to look at my wet weather take on the Eifel Tower at the top of this post.
See you on the rainy streets!
Intro to Street Photography Walk – December 3, 2017
Student
Hello everyone. So after last weeks successful rainy day walk that had 8 people show up, I have setup and organized a 2nd intro to Street Photography walk for this Sunday December 3rd. It is Street Photography specific. For those of you that want to learn Street Photography, I have setup a Free On-Line Street Photography class at Learn Street Photography. It is a multi-part class that you can do on your own time. If you are wanting to do it, now is the time. Head over to the Class Material and read the information for Part-01.
If you are new to street and want some quick guidance to get you started, I have posted a 4 Part quick start guide called “First Time Shooting? Part 1-4”. Part 1 can be found at First Time Shooting? This first intro walk is meant to just have you browsing the streets and to get you introduced to Street Photography. We will be doing more walks that will bring you to busier areas, harsher areas, diverging ethnic areas and even some night photography. We will pick locations that are suitable for the different sections to the Free On-line Class.
There is a handout with some homework if you like for after the walk. It is rain or shine! I will post a blog on Wet Weather Shooting before the walk including on how to keep your camera dry!
Our next walk will be in early January. See you on the streets!
You can book at Meetup.com [here].
Street Photography Workshop with Massimo Bassano
Learn the most celebrated photography style, The Street, with the National Geographic Photographer Massimo Bassano, joined by Vancouver emerging photographer Myriam Casper.
“Together we designed an intense Street Photography Workshop to push you out of your comfort zone, giving instant feedback, direction and ideas of how to capture street moments”
Information available here.
Cold Wet Day of Shooting on Main Street, Vancouver.
So, we had our first Meetup on a cold, windy and very wet day in Vancouver. After expecting no one to show up, a total of 9 brave souls came out to learn and shoot. Almost everyone showed up early for the coffee and doughnuts at 49th Parallel on Main Street. Well done everyone!
Here are a few of the images I captured playing around with the setup on my camera. Testing Auto Focus today with the 23mm f/2.0 and practicing Shooting from the Hip.
Class Notes for Part-01 – Required Reading 1
As I mentioned I would be taking the Free On-Line Street Photography Class along with everyone else and that I would post notes. Here is the first installment.
• Part-1.1 – Howard Becker: Introduction to Visual Sociology
Graffiti
The paper explains the importance and relevance of Sociology and Photography in the early years and how in many ways they are the same, or at least, chasing the same goals. This leads to the importance of ‘candid’ photography or what we call ‘Classic Street Photography’. I feel it’s important to both gaining an understanding of Street Photography but also to explaining or defining What Street Photography is. There is more on this in the Required Reading Part-1.2.
Two important paragraphs and a great lesson stand out for me that should make you think, and hopefully help you change your ways.
“Laymen learn to read photographs the way they do headlines, skipping over them quickly to get the gist of what is being said. Photographers, on the other hand, study them with the care and attention to detail one might give to a difficult scientific paper or a complicated poem. Every part of the photographic image carries some information that contributes to its total statement; the viewer’s responsibility is to see, in the most literal way, everything that is there and respond to it.”
I think that when Becker says “Photographers, on the other hand” he is referring to accomplished or at least somewhat photographically educated photographers. Most new photographers have neither the knowledge, understanding, the eye for, nor the developed photographic language to notice the subtle nuances and statements that can be found within an image. But, don’t let that deter you. This stuff can all be taught, and learned, an Becker even gives the reader a valuable exercise.
“Using a watch with a second hand, look at the photograph intently for two minutes. Don’t stare and thus stop looking; look actively. It will be hard to do, and you’ll find it useful to take up the time by naming everything in the picture to yourself: this is a man, this is his arm, this is the finger on his hand, this is the shadow his hand makes, this is the cloth of his sleeve, and so on. Once you have done this for two minutes, build it up to five, following the naming of things with a period of fantasy, telling yourself a story about the people and things in the picture. The story needn’t be true; it’s just a device for externalizing and making clear to yourself the emotion and mood the picture has evoked, both part of its statement.”
I highly recommend you try the exercise to help train your eye and your mind to better read images and to help develop the language of photography. Judges and Critics do this, not as an exercise but merely from looking at images over and over many times for many years. Unfortunately, many do not learn to really look at them and thus are not better than those that merely read headlines.
“When you have done this exercise many times, a more careful way of looking will become habitual. Two things result. You will realize that ordinarily you have not consciously seen most of what is in an image even though you have been responding to it You will also find that you can now remember the photographs you have studied much as you can remember a book you have taken careful notes on. They become part of a mental collection available for further work.”
It’s that ‘mental collection’ that becomes a valuable tool for your art or photography. Keep learning, looking, and shooting!
Please know that I am always open to discussion, comments, and corrections. I’m not the expert. I work hard at learning as much as I can and at growing as a Street Photographer. Tell me I’m wrong! But please tell me why you think I’m wrong. I encourage you to share your thoughts, ideas, and concerns on this blog.
Want to share relevant images? Please share with us at our Facebook Group “Streets I Have Walked”.
All Class Notes (as I post them) can be found in the respective Free On-Line Street Photography Class pages.
First Time Shooting? Part 4 – Shooting Techniques
Are you doing this right?
The last thing most new Street Photographers ask about is ‘how’ to shot. It’s very different from anything else you have ever done. Landscapes, sleep while you wait for the light. Indie Car Racing, wait at the hairpin turn and pan. It does closely resemble sports in that getting the timing down perfect is so important. But that’s about it. Street shooting is very organic. It moves much like if you are but a small amoeba inside an organism. You’re not on the sidelines, you’re in the game, as if you were on the football field in the middle or the scrum, shooting. You need to watch out where the ball is, if someone is near you, or about to hit you.
Luckily, there are no 300lb centers on the streets wanting to rip your head off. But, you do need to be ready all the time. Think fast. No second guessing. And your settings better be perfect, or you’ll miss the shot. We shoot blind from the waist or from the hip or high above our heads. When we do use the viewfinder, we usually only have a fraction of a second to get the composition perfect! Wait what? I have to deal with composition? (Yes, but more on that in the future…)
So where to start? The very first time you head out, try out your gear and the settings. Take a few shots and check to see if everything is ok? Are the shutter speeds where they need to be? Anywhere above 1/125th is great.
Next, just start shooting. Here are some techniques to think about.
Non-stop Selfies!
Shoot normally – as you always have. This approach works well when people do not see you. But it won’t be long before they do, learn to get in and out quickly.
Tip: Remember to Stop or Pause just before you shoot. Yes, you’re in a hurry, but you want to be, need to be, still the moment you release the shutter. Taking a deep breath just as you’re approaching the shot helps some people.
If you worry about what someone may say if they see you, you can just look away and ignore them. This works but truth be told, so does smiling. And, often if you look at them, you get great interactions that you would otherwise miss, including invites to take a ‘posed’ shot. Go for it!
Sit still – no, literally ‘sit’ still. Well ok, you can do this standing up also. You can let people come to you. You can park yourself standing in a busy traffic area. People will come to you or by you. If it’s very busy there will be congestion and some good shooting opportunities. You can also sit on the edge of the sidewalk or a bench. I have gotten great shots sitting at outdoor café tables. If you’re a little too far back a zoom lens like a 70-200mm works well. Note that this is lazy and not intimate, up close and personal as street photography should be. Also, it’s very limiting in what you may capture.
Shoot from the waist – Have your camera hanging from the neck strap with your shutter finger on the Shutter Release Button and your other hand holding the camera ready to move it up, down, left or right as needed. The idea is to walk around this way all the time. After all you’re just holding your camera. People tend not to notice until the very last second when the camera moves and points their way. Too late, you got the shot!
Shoot from the hip – Grab your camera, ready to shoot with your right hand. Wrap the strap around your wrist so it’s out of the way and so if your camera gets bumped it won’t fall to the ground. Have your arm dangling by your side, camera in hand. Hold the camera so that the lens is pointing away from you to your side. You can change the angle up and down a bit, but you can rotate your arm to point the camera backwards or forwards. You can also swing your arm around the front of you and shoot towards your front left side. Again, because the camera looks like it’s just being held, people tend to ignore it.
Shoot outstretched (from above or down low) – Depending on the scene you may want to shoot down at a group sitting on a boardwalk or you may need to shoot from a dog’s perspective looking up at another dog and its owner at the end of the leash following obediently. This is done with the camera at the end of an outstretched arm.
Just ask!
The issue with ‘waist, hip or outstretched’ is that you are shooting blind. You can’t see exactly where the camera is pointing when you shoot. This leads to a lot of missed shots but also to some of the best shots. So, what to do?
Practice, practice and more practice. Like any activity or sport, you can train your neural pathways to get the image you want. With practice the lens will become a natural extension of your arm and you will ‘know’ exactly where it is pointing. You need to practice your ‘swing’ or ‘shot’ as it were. Try all three methods. Look at the results and try again. Eventually you will get the hang of it and will improve your techniques. You should be getting 70% to 80% of the shots you try.
Again though, remember to stop or pause as you release the shutter button.
Shoot scenes (Or Backgrounds) – Another option is to look for ‘scenes’. Look for great ‘backdrops’, or great ‘lighting’ or ‘archways’ or ‘reflections in glass or water’ or any spot where you want a subject to be. Park yourself and wait. You can even use a tripod and then you can wait for the magic to happen. This is how you can capture the proverbial ‘decisive moment’.
Approach people – Although not considered pure Street Photography, which should be candid, approaching people and getting posed portraits can be a great experience. ‘Street Portraiture’ is very common and many people only do Street Portraiture. You get to choose the ‘characters’ and you get to know a bit about them and, as a photographer you can decide to shoot a head shot or perhaps and environmental portrait if they are working a stand, begging, or just living life. Do not be afraid to ask people for their portraits.
It doesn’t matter which approach you use, they all work and with time, patience, practice, and repeated visits, you will get great results. I find I use all the above techniques depending on the location and my moods. Sometimes you just don’t want to talk to people.
Tip: Be ready with answers. Someone will ask you what the photos are for? Have an answer ready. Practice an answer. I use “I’m a street photographer and I love photographing people. I may put these on my web site.” This often opens up discussions and often leads to the subjects wanting information on your site. Even if your site is not ready yet, let them know but offer then an e-mail address so that they can contact you for a digital copy. I have met many great people this way. – or – Try “I’m a student taking a Street Photography Workshop. This is for class.”
Tip: Have business cards or pre-printed strips done with your laser printer with your e-mail address or your website address on it ready to hand out. Personally, I send them to my website and let them know my contact information is there. It drives traffic to your site, could lead to sales and the people you photographed could send their friends to your site if they see their image is posted there. People pay for traffic, here, its’ free. Work it!
“I really believe there are things nobody would see if I didn’t photograph them.”
-Diane Arbus
See you on the streets!
< Part-3 |
Eifel Tower from Trocadero Square