Welcome to the 'Street Life' Area 

My name is Tim and I've had a gallery with DCM now for about 10 months, also in that time I have made the leap into trying to make it as a professional photographer (www.ambientlife.co.uk) working in the North East of England. I have made many friends through the DCM site and in truth its through the support and help of these people that I have been able to push forward and not loose site of my goals through the many knock backs that this profession holds.

I get a great many mails of people asking about equipment, lighting, and indeed just what are the best things to try and learn or get to grips with when your just starting out. I always write back to people and would point out that we are all learning constantly, including me! so please don't see as the expert here. Currently the main stay of my professional work is Corporate based, much of it around Aston Martin, which is great but when I have some free time I like to indulge mt passion for 'pure' street photography. Street Photography is a dying art in my opinion and one that I would like to try and keep alive. As times change and political correctness is at every turn its not hard to understand why it may have been left in the shadows, however if you look back at some of the greatest photographers you will note a pattern that they all enjoyed this medium of work regardless of social issues. I firmly believe that street photography is not only a great way to get out their and shoot great photography to improve your quality and work-flow, but also its a great way to learn about your camera's capabilities, lighting situations, and how to look beyond the obvious for a great image.

With these things in mind I thought it might be an idea to try and focus all this in one area, and the DCM forums here seem as good a place as any. My proposal is that anybody who wishes to can post 'Street' photography on here for everybody to enjoy. I would like this area to be one of discovery and learning rather than just feedback. Sharing information on techniques and ways of looking at a subject, but most of all and area that we can all enjoy and see the fruits of our hard work.

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I have kicked this new area off with 2 images that were recently shot in the Northern UK town of Scarborough on a afternoon visit. I have also posted the entire series of 17 photographs in my DCM gallery that can be found on the link below along with my Business site that also holds a 'street' area under the portfolio title of 'private projects'.

Over the coming months if this kicks off and people take to it I will be posting on a regular basis in anyway I can to offer thoughts and help as well as any tips or things that I have learned along the way, so that I can share these with you in the hope of helping others to enjoy their photography more.

(Top Tips)

 Here's a few top tips to start things rolling so to speak;

1. Try to stick to one body and one lens or work with as little equipment as possible, a Rangefinder Leica is great, but who can afford one of those! (A favorite with the older professionals of the past in this field)
2. Many people think the best way to capture this type of photography is to use the camera on an automatic setting, this actually is not always the case and I would advise that whenever you can you try to get to grips with the 'manual' settings. Its tough when your just starting out I know but its one of the most valuable lessons that you'll ever learn and is the key to understanding many more things in the future.
3. Take a basic meter reading in the area that you think you might be shooting and stick to that for a roughly correct exposure to work with later, always using the RAW file option to shoot in if its available to you. Don't forget though that if you use an automatic camera exposure setting you many find that the camera will adjust its exposure as you move around, this is another reason for trying to get to grips with 'manual' exposure as this will 'lock' in the settings to shutter speed and aperture that you made earlier.
4. Talk to people! - This is the golden rule to great photography, sometimes its a case of shooting something that you see happening around you, but in many cases its good to just approach people politely and in a friendly manner and tell them what your doing, ask them if its okay if you take a photograph of them. People really struggle with this part of the medium at times but I can honestly say that I have never had a bad reaction from anybody that I have spoken to. It is also polite to give them your e-mail address so that they can contact you if they'd like to be sent one. It won't cost you anything to send them a reply mail with one attached and is better than asking them for their e-mail address when you've just met them, 'so give them yours'!
5. Look for the not so obvious, get a coffee and sit outside a cafe bar. Just sit and watch whats going on in the world around you, you'll be surprised.

Well that's all from me for now, I hope this goes down well and is seen in the right light. I'd really like to do this as a way of saying thanks to those that helped me and as a way of giving something back.

Take good care and good luck with your photography.

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Ambient Life - DCM Gallery

Ambient Life Web Site

Nice pictures and interesting subject, although i thought the general idea about street photog was it was candid and therefore you don't speak to people.

I like having a conversation with them myself and you can meet some interesting people

Here are two early pictures from me, shot on Nikon F801 with 400asa film

The fist one I didn't ask, just saw the guy as I came out of the tube station



the second one I had a conversation with him and found out he liked begging in the rain becuase he gets more money. I bought him a cuppa

A great start to the new thread, thanks.

I would agree that in its true sense it doesn't involve talking to people first before you get the shot but I would really not want to be responsible for a groups of people around the UK getting punched on the nose for taking picture of stranger's that became irate for what ever reason.

Golden rule, if your not sure, 'ask'!, they can only say no and you won't have to worry about upsetting somebody. In the majority of cases though you won't need to ask as a good street photographer blends into the background and is unseen to the greatest extent. Look at some of my recent work and you'll notice a few shots that were done candidly and yet I'm stood right in front of my subject!

I'll cover off some techniques that help you to achieve this later on as we progress.

Thanks again for an excellent post

Tim

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Ambient Life - DCM Gallery

Ambient Life Web Site

Great idea Tim. This is an area of photography that I love and hate at the same time. The shots you get can be so rewarding and have a personnal closeness and a connection of their own. It can be fun also but I also find people can be really paranoid these days and anyone with a SLR in their hands can be seen as a terrorist or a pervert. In fact if you look up 'photographer' in the dictionary I'm sure that's the description they give. You probably have a very friendly, unthreatening face or do you disguise yourself as a postbox.

Here's some street shots I've taken when the various situations worked.

Amsterdam....probably worked as they would have thought I was a fellow drunk and pervert.

 

This next one was purely stealth....so much so I nearly got run over.

 

This is one of the few that I actually went over and had a friendly chat with them. I'm surprised they could see me...everyone knows that if your over 40 you're invisible to teens.

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BPITW won 7 times.

My Flickr gallery

it is something i would love to do more of as some of the best pics in history are street shots but there is so much red tape involved or people who pull thier faces when they see someone with i camera but i suppose its just something you have to try and do, but here are some which may fit the bill

 

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TBPITW 6 times

Some outstanding work coming through already from Andy and Dave.

Looking at this work you'll note that in both cases they have pulled back from the subject to gain an overall view of the environment, this is something that's often done in successful street photography and affords you that distance between you and the area or subject. Also both Dave and Andy have looked for the 'different' viewpoint, a really excellent way to capture an image that draws the viewer in.

I notice that people are picking up on the 'pervert / terrorist' element to street photography if you get out a camera in public these days. In truth I think people make far to much of it and unless your in France where the rules are very strict, you really have nothing to be too concerned about. Think of it this way, its just the same as doing a landscape, are you on private land when you shoot that etc, so in some ways your simply recording an urban 'landscape' the only difference is that in traditional 'nature' landscape you have no people, and in urban you often do. This is the area that is the concern and only concern really as most urban area's are public. If you photograph somebody in a crowd that's fine and its not illegal providing that you are not then going to sell the image or use it to advertise something, or past them publicly in an unfair light. Take the 'Tex' images that I recently shot, these are going to be used in 2 galleries that display my work, one in the North, and one in the South. I also intend to use them in a street photography book that I'm putting together entitled, 'Life Up North'. Because of this I got Tex to agree and sign an agreement that he was happy with this. Obviously I discussed it briefly afterwards with him and did the paperwork later on, I don't carry forms around for people to fill out, that would be plain silly.

So in simple terms don't get to hung up on looking like a pervert or a terrorist, in truth you'll be more likely to look like a bloke with a camera taking a photograph of something that people think is silly to shoot! This goes back to one of my first tips 'travel light' don't take anymore than one body and lens if you can avoid it, hurling round half a ton of equipment does not look good and you won't 'blend in' anywhere.

Keep them coming and please let me know what you think of this new area and if its useful to anybody.

Rgds

Tim 

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Ambient Life - DCM Gallery

Ambient Life Web Site

In true Blue Peter style... here's one I made earlier. I know you've seen it and commented on it Andy but this seems like the perfect thread to give it another airing.

That grafitti shot is outstanding... the colours really stand out (geddit)

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Si
DCM
spiritflier.com
My Flickr
BPITW x 4

Great use of mono here from Spiritflier, and I assume most of us are noticing that this medium really lends itself to the black and white view of the world.

Here's another from me that was shot on a National Front Protest, I spoke to the guy afterwards and was then duly invited to their bash afterwards, which was interesting to say the least and produced no images that I could publish here. The point here being in one sense, record the world as it happen, try not to judge, just record what you see. Admittedly I have made this guy look a tad silly, but there you go!

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Ambient Life - DCM Gallery

Ambient Life Web Site

Not sure if this is "STREET LIFE" but it is in the street.

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this is something i felt really conspicuous doing and not at all at ease so i've only done it the once so far

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BPITW 4 times

Gill, I really love this shot... It's got everything going for it.

I don't have a lot of 'street' shots so I went back through my mini-archive and had another look at the images I took in Chester. I know I've already posted one of the band but here's another taken to include a more of their surroundings. As soon as my back decides to stop killing me slowly, I'll get out and take some more.

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Si
DCM
spiritflier.com
My Flickr
BPITW x 4

Street performers, now they're a bit easier to do....they welcome the attention half the time. This isn't the usual arty B/W angle generally associated with this kind of shot....but it was in the middle of the street in Manchester. Sorry I'm reguritating old shots. But don't worry I don't have many as this street angle scares me too much.

In India you don't get the negative angle at all....the only problem with Street photography there is they tend to stare at you with complete fascination. So you really do have to be sneaky to get a natural shot.

 

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BPITW won 7 times.

My Flickr gallery

I don’t have any images to contribute to this thread at the moment – I get very self conscious pointing a camera at strangers - but I do have some opinions on the subject.

 

I think all the images posted so far are outstanding but for me, if the idea is to capture today’s society, then I think it needs to be predominantly in colour.

 

I love Andy’s fourth image as it really conveys what life is like on our streets these days – faceless people rushing around in crowded shopping centres. For me this image sums up modern Britain.

 

Don’t get me wrong guys there are some truly stunning shots posted here and Tim’s series is outstanding in every sense, but the colour ones do it for me when it comes to recording today’s society.

 

Just my opinion of course.

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Phil Jackson
My DCM Gallery

I have to say I'm pretty much same as PJ on taking street photo's I just haven't got enough confidence to approach anyone! Besides animals don't say anything and I don't mind!

I do love these shots tho and sorry PJ but I disagree, don't get my wrong I love colour and mono shots equally but for me this genre definately benefits from mono as for me its helps me focus more on expressions, textures and details of the shots! For me personally its a shot based choice not a genre based choice! Who knows I might just stop someone and take their photo at some point and contribute!

Until then keep posting I love looking at them and appreciating them! Some truely great examples so far!

Great thread idea too btw!

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Browse My Gallery

BPITW 8/9th Sept 07 - 16/17th Feb 08

Hi Tim and one and all,

This is a brilliant idea,it gets us to look at life in a different way.I think we need to capture the changing face of the world and this is the "true" way of photojournalism,captured or candid ,B&W or colour.All the classic photographers have trod this very same path,Man Ray,Cartier Bresson,Snowdon,Bailey etc,etc.(and dare I say it Tim's pictures stand up there with these guys)

The streets are a very fast changing way of life and development is a raging animal that is ripping through very many of the areas that are what we would call the traditional street/town type of landscape,small shops,cafes,traditional corner shops,barbers,ironmongers etc are going the way of all flesh and will soon be a distant memory as the ubiquitous "Shopping Mall" or "Retail Park" takes over.So its up to us guys to record and capture as much of this way of life as possible and the people that make this whole genre such a fascinating subject.Recently I looked at some slides that I had taken over a few years when I lived and worked in Liverpool in the 70s and practicaly all the areas are either demolished or paved over,the flower sellers outside the station,the barrows selling the biggest and best Jaffa oranges,4 for a £1 have all been moved or closed down in the name of modernisation.The biggest problem that I will face in this task is that I live in the mountains of Snowdonia and I am having great trouble finding a "street".Seriously guys this could be a great thread and may produce some memorable and historical shots that will be looked on in years to come as a record of our time.So get street wise,get clicking but don't get a broken nose.

Ken.