Street Photography

[davidc]

Another thing to be aware of is personal safety. I once heard a talk by someone who did street photography with a Canon DSLR and on average once a month someone would try to mug him. When he switched to a Fuji Pro-1 which did not look like a professional camera, that stopped.

I find it hard to believe someone gets mugged on average once a month. And that the driver behind that is simply one brand of camera over another - muggers know they will get ballpark the same amount of money for any camera I'm sure. I suspect this person probably carried a sandwich board saying "mug me" alongside his first camera. Sounds more than a little like fearmongering, perhaps by the Fuji marketing team?

Consider the odds - thousands of people out with cameras at any moment - and apply some common sense. Then just go out and shoot with whatever your tool of choice is.

Or move to Singapore where there are zero issues. A mugging made national news it was so exceptional.

[davidc]

How about this as an example (though maybe not the best) of how this shot could work?


Lost in a crowd by SuperG82, a challenger in Flickr's 100 Best Group

[Mike Farley]

Another thing to be aware of is personal safety. I once heard a talk by someone who did street photography with a Canon DSLR and on average once a month someone would try to mug him. When he switched to a Fuji Pro-1 which did not look like a professional camera, that stopped.

I find it hard to believe someone gets mugged on average once a month. And that the driver behind that is simply one brand of camera over another - muggers know they will get ballpark the same amount of money for any camera I'm sure. I suspect this person probably carried a sandwich board saying "mug me" alongside his first camera. Sounds more than a little like fearmongering, perhaps by the Fuji marketing team?

Consider the odds - thousands of people out with cameras at any moment - and apply some common sense. Then just go out and shoot with whatever your tool of choice is.

Or move to Singapore where there are zero issues. A mugging made national news it was so exceptional.

Admittedly it was a Fuji sponsored event and the guy, whose name I forget, did say that he was regularly venturing into some rough areas. In other words, the type of places most people would not tend go especially with anything of value, so his experience was definitely not typical. On that basis, the frequency of the mugging attempts is on the low side. His point was that the Fujis did not look valuable, so of less interest to those who are looking to steal something which they can sell on easily. An odd marketing approach if yout think about it - buy our cameras because they look cheap.

Apart from safety and taking sensible precautions, perhaps the real point is that DSLRs tend to garner attention, whereas some other types of camera which look less serious do not to the same extent. Mind you, I have been surprised at how many people have asked me if I am a professional when touting my little Panasonic G3 which cost all of £280 new. Forget about being surreptitious and forego a viewfinder to shoot at arms' length like everyone else might be an alternative.

[Mata]

There is that issue of safety as well. I have also come across a number of photographers who have been harassed.

More reason to get rid of the neck strap, especially Nikon with its Black strip and large yellow writing. It just shouts ‘look at me’ Even if you turn the strap over you still have the camera hanging around your neck. DSLR draws attention by its very size.

I am taking an interest in night photography and am pondering how best to deal with this area before it actually becomes an issue.

The Fuji Pro-1 does look rather compact. Could be ideal as a second camera. Worth looking at?

[Mata]

Davidc - I am at the moment going through my images. I have already deleted about 70% of them. They take up lot of memory space as I shoot in RAW and JPG.

The other thing I am looking at is that: if I could write a story of the image, what would it say, if anything? And if I can’t give it a story why keep the image?

I am going to work on the posted image as I know ‘a story is there’. What format the narrative would take I don’t as yet know.

I like your image but it’s a little too detached from the crowd. I actually like the crowd around the street performer image as if she hemmed in, people are trying to get past her to the point of stepping on her and she is totally unconcerned of the activity around her.

This is the only image of street performer I have kept. All the others were just too static. I couldn’t give them a story. I am going to tinker around with it and see how she evolves.

[davidc]

Just in case, it's not one of my images, just one from a colleague on flickr

[Mike Farley]

There is that issue of safety as well. I have also come across a number of photographers who have been harassed.

More reason to get rid of the neck strap, especially Nikon with its Black strip and large yellow writing. It just shouts ‘look at me’ Even if you turn the strap over you still have the camera hanging around your neck. DSLR draws attention by its very size.

I am taking an interest in night photography and am pondering how best to deal with this area before it actually becomes an issue.

Shooting during the day in locations where there are other people around is generally safe. You might get some hassle from individuals, but robbery or serious assault are less likely. Night photography is more problematic as there are not so many other people, which leaves the way open for the opportunistic. The best advice is to make sure that you are accompanied by a friend who can watch your back while you are shooting if you are venturing somewhere that is not well frequented after dark.

Often night shooting involves the use of a tripod due to long exposure times, but where the scene is reasonably well lit it is possible to get away with handholding at reasonably low ISOs by shooting a fast lens at or near its maximum aperture.

See this link for an example: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=293

The Fuji Pro-1 does look rather compact. Could be ideal as a second camera. Worth looking at?

Personally I have never got on with the Fuji X cameras, mainly over limitations with the AF. Fuji has improved the speed of its AF systems with firmware updates over the years, but at launch the Pro-1 was very slow. Based on my own experience of shooting with Fuji's own demo cameras, I also have concerns about accuracy. Finally, the Fuji system only allows focus to be specified at one point, but sometimes it is useful to be able to select a group. You should also be aware that the Pro-1 is now a relatively old camera, although the underlying technology is not too dissimilar to what is in the XT-1. It has a hybrid viewfinder which was something of a novelty when it first came out and which you might or might not find useful. Fuji uses a non bayer sensor arrangement and there are reports that some Raw converters such as ACR do not handle it well, with reports of smearing in some circumstances. Fuji's own Raw converter is better but based on Silkypix, which is not especially user friendly.

Before opting for a second camera, I would look at the reasons why you feel it is necessary to have one. Do you really want a second interchangeable lens system, with all that entails? You could be better off with a compact or a bridge camera such as the Sony RX10 or Panasonic FZ1000 which both have fast lenses with a wide zoom range. My own second system is based on m4/3, but had either of those two been available a few years back that might have been a better option.

Thom Hogan's recent post is a useful summary of what's best in the market at the moment and DPReview has just published its annual roundups for various categories of cameras.

http://www.dslrbodies.com/newsviews/wha ... d-buy.html

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/050029 ... ra-roundup

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/952781 ... ra-roundup

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/455585 ... ss-roundup

[Mata]

Tower Bridge on Sat 3th wasn’t a day to wonder about with a camera and a brolly in hand. Still, had decided to get out more often spontaneously? Few photos to share. Have started to edit them as well. Should be an in interesting year.

The first two shots were taken in a pub. I had a small table tripod, similar to gorilla pod but with straight legs. There were a lot of wasted shots but you expect that with street stuff. The third shot is of a lady was having a smoke outside. We had a brief chat about the weather, as you do, and I asked her if I could take her photo. She happily obliged. Just as I had taken a shot a crowd appeared at the entrance who seem unwilling to move and I couldn’t take anymore, such a shame she looks so nice.

[Mata]

Camden town on Sun 4th was more of a pleasant day. A little cold but still nice and dry.

I am excited to say I have captured my first kissing couple.

I think I got a little too excited as there is camera shake, made the focus a little soft. It took about half an hour to get a clear shot as it was so busy.

[Mike Farley]

Thanks for sharing. Congratulations on snapping your first kissing couple.