Justin Mott offers some good new year photography resolutions of his own that photographers of all levels might want to follow.
Personally, he reinforces one trend I began this year of shooting more with my “Nifty Fifty”. In the past, I only used it it when it was the optimal lens choice and focal length for a given situation. On my city walkarounds, I preferred to use my various zoom lenses mixed with my phone camera photo grabs for many of my “street” shots. This arrangement and process began to feel cumbersome as I began wanting to travel light on those walkarounds. The efficiency of the phone camera grabs was good for immediate editing and getting images “out there” on Social Media, etc., but afterwards I found, in spite of having one of the best phone cameras available, some shots simply did not measure up to the images of the same subject/time/place I captured for comparison with my full frame Nikon DLSR. It also meant having pictures in multiple locations, furthering the complexity of image file management down the road.
I found this post very poignant and moving. What “getting close” meant and the reason for stopping were not what I was expecting but completely understandable.
I found this to be a captivating and insightful video on the subject of not only the topic of street photography, but overall photography in general. His mindset, and workflow from shooting to post editing to an image worth sharing and/or publishing is efficient and masterful.
As one who evolved from the film/darkroom to digital age, I found this a very captivating video on street photography. From the 35mm Kodak Tri X 400 film days of street photography to today, all of the images produced over that span still fascinate me, regardless of how they were captured.
In this video, he captures the most stunning street photography images and video using a blend of the hardware and formats available over the span of 30+ years.
From a personal standpoint, I have much of the gear he uses in this video, from a small Leica D-Lux 7 pocket camera to a Nikon 35 mm film camera and lenses to a Nikon D750 full frame digital camera and lenses. His reason for using the gear is subjectify situational but aligns with what I feel work in capturing street photography images. Where we depart on that, is on many levels, mostly in the when, where how to use the small compact camera vs, the big body DLSR, and in using a manual lens on a DLSR. After watching this video, that will change.
He is shooting carnival scenes in this video, which I have done, but what he does here is nothing short of extraordinary. It gives me some great ideas to practice and use next time I am a State Fair and/or Carnival event. That practice will start today.
This short video has some great still photographs and good tips for shooting in black & white with some apply to color as well.
Personally, I struggle with number two at times, using an EVS setting to expose by eye instead of meter. If I am moving around, the type of photography I am shooting varies wildly, the light and shadows are ever changing, I play it safe by shooting RAW, meter, bracket to get good HDR, use spot metering for precise focusing, and S priority to ensure no motion blur. That is just me and overkill sometimes.
I especially like number five, being in the right place at the right time as a function of your state of mind as much as anything else. I know for Street Photography, the first part is essential, the state of mind gets you there. I am not a Street Photographer and am acutely aware that I have yet to muster up the proper state of mind to be a good one. Until then, I will happily appreciate the images created by those who have mastered it!
Shooting Street Photography has never been my Forte but I always enjoy looking at, and am fascinated with, the pictures of those who do it so well. My plan is to study it and start practicing with it more and hope to come away with some good shots myself very soon.
I call this camera my “little” Leica because it is smaller than than other Leica models in size and price, but by no means in quality. I won’t go into a technical review of it here (there are many online), but more wanted to talk about why I bought and use it when I have other quality camera options in my possession available .
First, I wanted a small pocket size camera that is user friendly that I can easily carry around anytime I am out and about. I always have arguably the one of the best phone cameras currently available with me, a Samsung Galaxy s22 Ultra, that takes stunning pictures and use it constantly, especially for the convenience it provides being connected to the internet 24/7, and with all the many Social Media platforms and apps for uploading pictures, videos and images along with various editing software all in one device. I am just like everyone else on that.
And that brings me to one big reason I wanted this Leica because it is never connected to the world around me. When I am out and about, I can walk the streets with just a camera and shoot pictures with one of the best small cameras available. I never touch my phone. My phone is always connected to the world in one way or another, and I use that for different reasons. Unfortunately, there are times over the years I have seen pictures I took ending up in places I never intended them too. How they got there is a mystery, and I am sure with detective work I could find out but but that is not how I like to spend my time. It has not been a serious issue (yet) and I understand I can check multiple settings, turn some off, etc. but that is a hassle. My phone is connected to “Big Tech” in many ways, with the ever evolving and changing terms, conditions, software updates, AI, API, enchantments, improvements, etc., and the unintended consequences that go with that. When I am walking the streets with my “little” Leica, I focus on simply shooting photographs. My phone stays in it’s holder, under my shirt, on my belt. There is little chance of dropping it on the pavement, in a puddle, having someone snatch and grabbing it, and all the pains that go with taking pictures in the street on a mobile device. If any of that happens with my camera instead, it simply won’t impact my life in the same way. I love the easiness and care free nature of shooting pictures on my Leica as well as it’s user friendly design.
Finally, when I want to upload the pictures from my Leica later at a coffee shop, Leica’s phone app turns on the camera WiFi, and there are the Leica pictures on my phone and I simply do what I want with them, same as with my phone camera pictures. I will also say the image quality of the Leica pictures are without equal and superb . I am still just learning all the more complex settings the camera offers and setting them on the fly and hope to get more out of this camera on my future photography walks .
Those are my personal reasons for wanting this camera and are obviously not for everyone. For me, it is great to have it as a camera that fits comfortably between my full frame Nikon and my Samsung Galaxy s22 Ultra camera phone.
The story of Vivian Maier is absolutely fascinating as is the body of extraordinary photographic work she left behind. If anyone is a street photographer and does not know about her, this is a must see.
