DSLR Photography Forum

Occasionally a scene will catch my eye and I'll try to capture it without even raising the camera. I use a wrist lanyard instead of a neck strap, so I always have my camera in-hand and can aim it without being obvious; a wide-angle lens, moderate shutter speed and narrow aperture takes care of the rest. This is a true walk-by shooting, and is about as candid as it can get while using a dSLR. (This can raise its own issues, which are fair game here.) Most of these shots are utter garbage, but this is one I like.

While this is a snapshot, I wanted to post it in the Critique forum. Brutal honesty is appreciated, as always.

I like this. I can't beleive you got it without looking through the viewfinder and still got the composition pretty spot on. I'm looking at it trying to work out why it appeals to me....I don't know yet. Would've looked better without the yellow car there.

It makes me feel off balance... I feel there is no level. But that's just my opinion. The composition for something hanging down by your side is very good.

Terrific shot! I like the casualness abiut the composition. The model does look posed. Was she?

--Don

Nice catch! I personally wouldn't be game enough to snap people in public like that, but I guess that's up to you.

But the photo is very good - nice composition and the "model" is well posed.

I've used this approach many times, so I have some practice, but mostly it's just luck that the shot works out. The woman was just having an end-of-day smoke and phone call; I liked the colours and her poise, which was enough reason to take it. There's no courage involved - I use a quiet camera and never break my stride.

I'm not a fan of tilted compositions. I tried straightening this one, and it didn't work. (Oh, well.) I decided to leave it alone, but it wasn't my goal.

I don't like the car because it's blurred and it looks like it's mounting the curb. (It was coming out of a driveway.) I do like the yellow to balance the 'digital color' sign, but it adds another downward diagonal line that contributes to the off-balance feel of the photo.

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. It helps me clarify.

I love this picture. The tilt actually works very well imho because it adds to the dynamism of the scene. There's a certain tension about her posture, facial expression and the cigarette.

Dark glasses on the person in the poster in the shop window, a 'getaway car' in the background - engine running and ready to go. Good job that place ain't a Bank

It's one of those street shots that grabs me. I hate it when people get too obsessive about horizons, verticals and horizontals where street shots are concerned. The composition suits this one perfectly for me - as does the colour.

Most street shots are essentially 'people in action' shots, a split second of their life forever frozen in time, and this is exactly what this is, for me anyway.


Polly

Technically speaking, the exposure and composition are good.

But what's the subject? I'd say it's the interaction between the woman and the sign - it's caught her eye and distracted her from her smoke and her phone call. But WHY? What's so special about it? Perhaps if everything outside the store was B&W, and the sign and everything inside the store was color, it might hold my interest better.

slejhamer Wrote:Technically speaking, the exposure and composition are good.

But what's the subject? I'd say it's the interaction between the woman and the sign - it's caught her eye and distracted her from her smoke and her phone call. But WHY? What's so special about it? Perhaps if everything outside the store was B&W, and the sign and everything inside the store was color, it might hold my interest better.

It's the intrigue that holds my interest in street shots - the 'what's going on, what's it all about, what's the story' aspect that fires my imagination.. and for me, this picture does it perfectly.

We'll never know the true detail - probably just her wandering up and down talking to a friend as she waits for someone to collect her. Could be she's nagging a husband for forgetting something, is she waiting for a bus, will they eat out this evening, is she booking a table?

Who knows?

She and the person on the other end are the only ones that will ever know. however, we are now part of that brief second in her life - we see everything exactly as it was and the chances are she didn't even notice the shop window, as we have.... because she's distracted thinking about what she's saying, her mind is on the topic of conversation.

I wouldn't change a thing myself. I feel it has just enough elements to paint the scene and the rest is up to me, the viewer, to draw my own conclusions.

Ain't people watching a wonderful pastime, eh.

Pol

mmm, so thats what I like about this photo. I love people watching, and making up stories about what sort of people they are and what is going on in their heads.
I love that this photo is open ended like that, so we are free to ponder but will never really know. Intriguing.

I bet she would be shitty if she found out her photo was posted on the internet though