The following is a direct copy and has been Pasted in for future reference from the People & Place coursework PDF Doc. (pasted in Maroon)
Depending on your choice of lenses, select a medium-long focal length, ideally between 80mm and 200mm full-frame equivalent. If you happen to have a more pronounced telephoto lens (300mm or 400mm for example), you might find it more interesting to do the exercise with this extreme focal length.
What practical difficulties do you note? Because of the extra distance between you and your subject, you may have found that passers-by and traffic sometimes block your view. And what special creative opportunities do you find that a long focal length and distant position have given you?
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Equipment
Camera – Nikon D4
Lenses – 80/400 – f4.5
Method & Approach
Please see pictures and captions below.
Note – all pictures have been compressed hence there might be a quality reduction when enlarging.
Picture 1 – Standing back (Is it such a ‘big issue’)
Camera Details
Camera Nikon D4 (camera handheld)
Speed 1/500th sec
Aperture f5.6
ISO 400
White Balance Setting Custom (5300°K)
Lens 80/400mm
Focal Length 300mm
Comments – This was a fairly difficult picture to capture as the crowds in the high street were for ever obscuring the cameras vision, eventually this picture come together through several attempts of capture. It wasn’t just a matter of waiting for the crowd to disperse as I wanted to capture the woman in a more natural body stance rather than her looking at me and recognising I wanted to take her photo whilst selling the magazine.
Picture 2 – Standing back (Street jazz)
Camera Details
Camera Nikon D4 (camera handheld)
Speed 1/250th sec
Aperture f5.6
ISO 1100
White Balance Setting Custom (5500°K)
Lens 80/400mm
Focal Length 200mm
Comments – Again like the picture above this was a matter of waiting for the crowd to disperse and allow me my window of opportunity. My original position for this picture was much further away but due to heavy crowds it was not possible hence moving forward and reducing my focal length. In the event of trying to create something different with this picture such as something from the likes of Vivian Maier I decided to edit it in Photoshop. First I took a piece of plain paper which I crumpled up and then stained it with tea, after the piece of paper had dried thoroughly I then scanned it. Then in Photoshop I laid the paper over the top of my original image, changed the layer to overlay mode and finally I used the Dodge and Burn tool to help create the aged look. I think this conversion works particularly well with this subjects characteristics, also his age and attire were a big bonus towards creating an aged and characterised portrait, rather than settling with the captured result in colour.
Picture 3 – Standing back (Saturday shopping)
Camera Details
Camera Nikon D4 (camera handheld)
Speed 1/500th sec
Aperture f5.6
ISO 400
White Balance Setting Custom (5500°K)
Lens 80/400mm
Focal Length 300mm
Comments – What originally attracted me to take this picture was the two opposites in dress code. Although both are young females out shopping, one is dressed as if going to an occasion wearing a sleek matching outfit and boutique like handbag and hat where the other is carrying a rucksack and dressed down to blend in with the Saturday crowds. Again due to my distance and bustling crowds I had to work fast in order to capture these two people and I have found out very quickly that at the point of seeing something, having the camera poised and ready is vital … as speed of capture is everything. This picture introduces the classic characteristics offered by shooting with longer telephoto lenses and we can see this lens has separated the two subjects from the person in front (almost to the point of not even recognising the person’s arm) and to the rear by softening the background details. I could have edited both people either side of the subjects out of the picture but I decided to leave them in the picture to show this focus softening characteristic when using a telephoto lens (‘Bokeh’ see Thoughts & Reflection below).
Picture 4 – Standing back (The horn blower)
Camera Details
Camera Nikon D4 (camera handheld)
Speed 1/125th sec
Aperture f6.7
ISO 400
White Balance Setting Custom (5500°K)
Lens 80/400mm
Focal Length 85mm
Comments – Here we see a different characteristic from the previous picture, we see not only the subject but also the background to a large extent being sharp. The buskers focal separation from his surroundings are not great due to the proximity of the man and also the aperture size at this close range. Several factors were against me here in delivering that classic telephoto type shot, I couldn’t get any real distance on the man due to crowds and market stalls to the front of him (which we can’t see) and hence this shot was taken slightly to his rear and closer than I would have liked, especially with this particular lens. I like the characteristics in the way that the man is seen using both hands, one to cradle the instrument and the other to operate the valves, if this would have been a head on or to either side of his left and right the attraction of seeing him play his instrument would not be as detailed.
Picture 5 – Standing back (Graduation day)
Camera Details
Camera Nikon D4 (camera handheld)
Speed 1/500th sec
Aperture f6.7
ISO 400
White Balance Setting Custom (5500°K)
Lens 80/400mm
Focal Length 300mm
Comments – As with picture 2, the timeless graduation outfit and background behind the subject are crying out for sepia or ageing to this shot. I originally chose to age the busker playing the guitar as it was more ordinary than this particular shot, I say that in context as immediately when the viewer looks at this picture either Oxford or Cambridge come to mind, which adds purpose and understanding to the complete picture.
What have I learnt from this exercise
I have learnt from this exercise that whilst capturing people from greater distance there is opportunity to capture more natural and less concerned facial expressions. This also accounts for more natural body characteristics be it standing, sitting, walking or even running as the subject is unaware, hence their guard is lowered. Although possibly easier to take pictures from distance it can sometimes be more frustrating in certain situations such as if the subject is in a crowded area or even a shaded area where light is poor.
I have also learnt from this exercise that the telephoto lens works exceptionally well, especially utilising wider apertures to visually enhance greater separation from subject and surroundings. Again this type of photography is about knowing your lens well as to narrower depth of field could ultimately ruing the picture by only capturing certain parts of the subject in focus and sharp.
Ultimately to really capture a subject with a suitable background is a matter of finding the background and then waiting upon the subject to appear. This is approach was one often used by the great Henri Cartier-Bresson.
Thoughts and Reflection
The effect that the telephoto lens creates with a wide aperture can be very pleasing and the modern buzz word for this effect is called Bokeh, a word derived from the Japanese language (boke – meaning mental haze or senility) which has now become a regular word used by photographers in the English language and it is even now listed in dictionaries. The art of producing images of artefacts, with people, buildings or anything really being the subject amidst a defocused background is nothing new, artists have been practising this technique for many years even before the camera was on the scene or invented.
With regards to body posture this can ultimately make or break an image and in certain types of photography it might be necessary to capture a particular body posture for a more dramatic effect and it may well be that bad posture best delivers that particular type of shot i.e. a professional sports person carrying an injury … or having just been injured and with this in mind, this type of photography utilising a telephoto lens to capture such a shot from distance makes it possible.
Summary
I am starting to feel a little more comfortable with my camera on the street but I am far from considering myself as experienced with this style of photography. I feel I have come a long way in overcoming my initial fear on the street but I still need to practice to really conquer remaining boundaries. I also find it very much easier to photograph people in a busy city environments more so than in remote areas where you are noticed more, perhaps this is still my initial fear playing on me.
stingray493 