Research for Images Submitted for 'Mini Brief 1'
The images I have taken and submitted for the mini brief are sequential in nature due to them belonging in the same theme which is, 'Street Photography'. I have chosen the people of Chester City Centre as a theme and have included very different characters and elements of the people to be found there. I have visited Chester as a city many times over the years and have always been fascinated by both the architecture and the diversity of people. I made a decision to visit there on a Saturday afternoon for my images as I wanted to capture the busy streets as well as focusing on individual people. More information regarding Chester can be found on:
I have taken inspiration from the work of Joel Meyerowitz, who is a multi award winning and well known, respected street photographer. Meyerowitz is a great advocate of using colour photography in his street scenes, which I admire. Many street photographer's try to re-create old style photography and either shoot or turn their images black and white but Meyerowitz is quoted in his biography "As an early advocate of colour photography (mid-60's), Meyerowitz was instrumental in changing the attitude toward the use of colour photography from one of resistance to nearly universal acceptance". Meyerowitz firmly believes that we record so much more information and detail when shooting in colour, which, I agree with, particularly in street photography. Meyerowitz himself drew inspiration from Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Frank and Eugène Atget, more information regarding this can be found on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_Meyerowitz. Meyerowitz shoots his images with large format film cameras.
Samples of Meyerowitz's work:
"Fallen Man, Paris" (1967) 
"New York City", (1974)
The equipment I have used is as follows:
Nikon D7000 and a Nikon D800
16-85mm lens
70-200mm lens
55-300mm lens
Safety Considerations:
I didn't use a tripod on this occasion as Chester City Centre on a Saturday afternoon is very busy and I felt it would have been a health and safety isssue. I also took a companion with me as both an assistant to help with carrying my equipment and also as a safety precaution. As this was an outdoor shoot, the weather was also a health and safety consideration, consequently I dressed and chose appropriate footwear for the occasion. I was also mindful of the traffic allowed into pedestrian areas and took care not to stand in a dangerous position when taking photographs. An awareness of peoples feelings towards having their photograph taken is also necessary in order to avoid hostile situations.
Images
My first image is that of a crowded street scene of people including placard holders who, although obviously meant to be working, look like they are enjoying socialising. I have used a fast shutter speed to freeze the action of the people, making the image appear quite 'still'. This is particularly evident when looking at the legs of the people as they are frozen in action. Although the background is quite out of focus due to the shallow DOF I used, it is also quite recognisable as Chester which, I wanted to portray, particularly in my leading image. This image has also been manipulated in Photoshop by firstly altering the white balance in 'Camera RAW' and then re-imported into Photoshop and the exposure altered using 'Curves' in the layers palette.
f/2.8 1/320 sec ISO-720 98mm
My second image has captured a religious street preacher, reading out loud from his bible, trying to convert the passers by. Again I have selected a shallow DOF to bring attention to the preacher and his one and only listener stood directly behind him. Everybody else passed him by and I think there is a sense of movement in the the people as they do so. This image has also been manipulated in Photoshop by firstly altering the white balance in 'Camera RAW' and then re-imported into Photoshop and the exposure altered using 'Curves' in the layers palette.
f/4.5 1/125 sec ISO-560 70mm
In this next image, the performer making the balloon shapes has actually made a sale. I took a few shots of this performer before finally capturing him enjoying any successl. The colours in this image already draw attention to the subject but this is also highlighted by the shallow DOF used. The baby seems quite nonplussed by it all whereas the mother looks happy to be engaging in something nice for her baby which allowed me to capture a moment of emotion. This image has also been manipulated in Photoshop by firstly altering the white balance in 'Camera RAW' and then re-imported into Photoshop and the exposure altered using 'Curves' in the layers palette.
f/2.8 1/80 sec ISO-200 70mm
This fourth image was taken of the homeless people portrayed within it after speaking to them and asking for their permission. There are a lot of homeless people in the streets of Chester and I felt it was only right to include them. The woman in the image is actually trying to teach the man how to play the guitar and is smiling as she does so. Again I feel that I managed to capture some emotion as well as depicting at least a little of their plight. I kept the DOF shallow to really focus the attention on them although you can still make out the blanket in front of them with the small amount of money they have made that day. This image has also been manipulated in Photoshop by firstly altering the white balance in 'Camera RAW' and then re-imported into Photoshop and the exposure altered using 'Curves' in the layers palette.
f/2.8 1/80 sec ISO-450 135mm
My fifth and last image is that of the street scene below me, taken from the bridge which houses the world famous 'Eastgate Clock' in the city centre. I have chosen to use a long depth of field in this image in order to keep the buildings all along the street in focus, allowing the scene to continue into the distance. The image does also have some movement in the people and car contained within it is as I used a fairly slow shutter speed. In this image the day is drawing to a close and the crowd is now thinning. I wonder if they will give the homeless street people or the dedicated man preaching his faith, any time? This image has also been manipulated in Photoshop by firstly altering the white balance in 'Camera RAW' and then re-imported into Photoshop and the exposure altered using 'Curves' in the layers palette.
f/16 1/15 sec ISO-640 16mm
Link to my slide show of images:
My Evaluation
This is quite a new area of photography for me so approached it cautiously. When viewing my results post shoot, I felt that I should have interacted with people more as I think this would have added a more personal touch to my images. I used my camera in manual mode, however, I am considering whether using one of the semi-automatic modes such as Aperture Priority might be a more suitable choice for this genre of photography. I believe this would allow me to react to changing scene's on the street with more efficiency as I would only have to change the aperture, depending on the result I wanted to achieve. Overall, I was pleased with my results but feel I could improve, particularly with my interactions with people and trying different modes on my camera.
This is quite a new area of photography for me so approached it cautiously. When viewing my results post shoot, I felt that I should have interacted with people more as I think this would have added a more personal touch to my images. I used my camera in manual mode, however, I am considering whether using one of the semi-automatic modes such as Aperture Priority might be a more suitable choice for this genre of photography. I believe this would allow me to react to changing scene's on the street with more efficiency as I would only have to change the aperture, depending on the result I wanted to achieve. Overall, I was pleased with my results but feel I could improve, particularly with my interactions with people and trying different modes on my camera.
Bibliography
Meyerowitz, J. (2003-2012). Biography. Available: http://www.joelmeyerowitz.com/photography/biography.html. Last accessed 11th November 2012.
Wikipedia. (2013). Chester. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chester. Last accessed 11th November 2012.
Wikipedia. (2013). Joel Meyerowitz. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_Meyerowitz. Last accessed 11th November 2012.
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