Recommended Article: Henri Cartier-Bresson (from Adam Marelli’s Blog)

Adam Marelli (http://www.adammarelliphoto.com) has some amazing articles on street shooting, but one series that I learned from– and has helped me to rethink how I frame my photos– is his Surrealist Manifesto series. Learn about the geometry and optical reframing that Adam points out through his analyses of HCB’s photographs.

Read more here: http://www.adammarelliphoto.com/2012/01/surrealist-manifesto/

How dare you take that photo! – London Street Photography Festival 2011

Do you have the balls to argue with a police officer? Apparently you have the right to, at least in London. In most countries, taking photographs in public is allowed (even of private property, as long as you are not physically in the property). Do you agree with the approach these photographers are taking to defend the right of their cameras and photography?

Which is your favorite?

Hey guys, I’m submitting my works to the B+W Photographer of the Year contest, just to see if I can make it =P

Here’s the hard part: I can only choose 3. Which are your favorite 3?

The little girl who could

Boy, Pondering

Lost in the City of Light

The Children of Light 2

XXL

The Coming of Age

Stride

Just Married

Into Forgetfulness

smile

Float Me Away

Bubbles or Kiss

They Live in Another World

A Fragile Bond

Let’s go on an adventure

Still Life with Boy on Wall

Il Bruno, Il Macho

Thanks so much!

&&Phil

As always, please comment below, like, or tweet! The more the merrier!

My First Roll of Film (and the 10 Pictures I’m Not Embarrassed Enough to Hide)

One sunny Wednesday morning I walked into my local film developer and lo and behold– $15.14 to get it developed and put on CD. I still can’t get used to the idea of having to pay so much for the process, but maybe I’ll swallow that pill soon enough.

The location of shooting was in Berkeley, CA and I shot 37 exposures of a Kodak 125 Plus-X (PX). But before babbling on and making excuses, here are 10 keepers I won’t hide underneath a rock. Because, you know, the rest are that good. Really. I just don’t want to show it to you, that’s all. Mm-hm.

Without further ado, here they are:

“Bear Rider”

“Still Life of Law Student”

“Heart of Darkness”

“Better Together”

“Awkward”

“Afterhours”

“Architects of Love”

“Two bears, two men”

“One Way Runner”

“We Have Questions to Ask You”

Some lessons (painfully) learned, for those shooting a film camera:

• Overexpose rather than underexpose. Not that perfect is bad, but if you need to grab a shot quick and you’re switching around the aperture, turn the dial towards the larger exposure meter. I lost too many shots because they were too dark.
• I should buy a meter stick. No really, I should. It’s not because I’m American, I really don’t have a sense of what a meter is yet, so I can’t pre-focus correctly. That and I look like a pervert if I keep pointing the camera at my subject until they come into focus (which, in itself is a millisecond).
• Picture looks washed out? Up the contrast dial on Lightroom/Photoshop and that should help it a bit. No other dial on LR/PS will help a film photo.

Man, developing is expensive. But a film/negative scanner is even more expensive ($600?! What did I just read!?)

&& Phil