A Few Street Shots

[Gerry Widen]

A couple of street shots from New York City. This was the day after Charles left. I couldn't meet him because he had to leave a day early.The the ex prez was comming to his office..

[Charles Hess]

Gerry, you are the master of exposure, and you've proven time and time again that one does not need the latest-greatest techno-gizmo camera to get top quality images. Your street work is superb.

Mr. Clinton wound up spending about 4.5 hours at my workplace...it was kind of like a circus/rock concert/side show all rolled into one. :-)

A couple of street shots from New York City. This was the day after Charles left. I couldn't meet him because he had to leave a day early.The the ex prez was comming to his office..

[Gerry Widen]

Charles, thanks for the comments.I love your street work and it means a lot comming from you. I really missed not meeting you. I was going away on vacation the following week and couldn't take another day off during the week. Maybe next time. These were scanned from the negatives. I know how to make some corrections to contrast and darkness and crop in PS, but I have no idea how to dodge and burn as in the darkroom. But I find it helpful in deciding what to print in the darkroom. Saves me a lot of time. Here is another I forgot to add to the first group which needs some work.

[Charles Hess]

Yeah, this one could be a little lighter around the fellow and the staircase, but you've captured another good one, though. I'll be sure to let you know when I'm back in NYC, I'm sure we'll get together soon. Take care.

[schrackman]

Gerry while all these photos are great regarding subject matter and exposure, I really enjoy the second one the most. That was a perfect moment! Was it taken on a bus or rail?

Ray

[Gerry Widen]

Penny and Ray thanks for the kind words. The man sleeping was taken on the Subway. One of the advantages of range finder cameras is you can use slower shutter speeds. I believe this was taken at 1/30 sec where on a SLR there is usually mirror slap. Penny my favorite of the group is also the flower salesman. When I get around to printing in the darkroom I can dodge the man if necessary.

[another view]

Great work as always. It would be interesting to see how both you and Charles work on the street, I've learned a lot from watching other photographers. I suppose we'll have to forgive Charles - he seemed to have proof.

By the way, burning and dodging is pretty easy in Photoshop. In the vertical toolbar on the left side, there's an icon near the bottom 1/3 for it, in the right column (I don't have Photoshop here to find out exactly where it is - plus it may depend on the version). Clicking on one of those will change from dodge to burn, then it's just a matter of going to the top to decide how big your brush size is and the opacity. Start at 25% or so and just brush it around the areas you want to darken or lighten.

[opus]

I've always been uncomfortable taking street shots because I have this nagging feeling that I need to get names and permissions from the subjects. I have no idea what the protocol is. I'm only now getting into the types of photos that I might use outside of my own personal enjoyment. So, what are the rules on this?

Thanks,
Kelly

[Gerry Widen]

Kelly, generally there is no need to get permission and names. Basically if you are on public property you are allowed to photograph both people and objects (buildings,cars,etc). In reference to photographing people(in public areas) you are even allowed to publish as long as you don't defame them or put them in a bad light. You can even photograph people and objects that are on private property as long as you are on public property when taking the shot. I don't want to give wrong information so someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

Street photography is just something you have to get comfortable with. The best way is just by doing. If you are near a city a good time is when tourists are around because you won't be the only one taking photos. Just be relaxed if you are nervous people will sense it. Don't spend a lot of time focusing,metering, composing which makes people nervous. I use totally manual cameras so before shooting I preset the exposure, try to prefocus as best I can and think in my mind how I want to compose the shot. Hope this helps.

[opus]

Wow, that's really good to know! I've passed up a bunch of great shots in the past because I didn't know if it was OK to take them.

So far I've been relying on the automatic settings of my Rebel... they have been very good to me so far. I'm a Henri Cartier-Bresson type gal at heart; I'm more interested in capturing the moment than playing with exposures. But I'm slowly moving over to the manual side with a few experiments when I have the time. Gotta love digital!!!

[megan]

Great shots - good to see more work from you. These are some really poignant character studies.


The second shot is of the harmonica guy... when I first started working at Modernage in '91, he was there, in the tunnel between the F line and the 7 line at 42nd street, dancing back and forth, making noise with a harmonica. Not music - just noise, no tune, breathing in and out. Fast forward to 2004 - he hasn't managed to learn a song yet, but still breathes through the harmonica at 42nd street with a bag open for you to throw in your spare change.

Megan