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?
vacation
The Shadow Photographers #8: Daah Oliveira
Today we have a very special photographer and Internet socializer- Daah Oliveira! She is the founder of the Clicks facebook street photography group which has exploded in members and participation, and serves as an inspiration to me every day. Hailing from Liverpool, England, Daah exhibits a very unique style and a dark sense of humor. Look out for her signature Rabbit-head, and enjoy.
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Q. Brief introduction please!
A. I am originally from Sao Paulo, Brazil where I started my photographer career 5 years ago but one year ago I moved to the UK where I am living at the moment. I have started photographing bands and consequently I have got completely involved in the art’s world which I absolutely love.
Q. First off, what got you started in photography? In street photography?
A. When I finished high school I wasn’t quite sure of what I wanted to be or what course to study at University so I decided to take one year break and enjoy myself as much as I could. Then I did, I had these friends which had a band and was always following their concerts. At first I was only helping them with all I could do and eventually I became a stage assistant. After a while the band started to become quite famous and they decided to record their first DVD. The photographer that was working with us also knew a lot about video and he was in charge of taking care of the DVD’s production. He knew how much I loved photography and then he offered me to stay with his DSLR camera and try to use it and be the photographer for that day. I had never used a DSLR camera before so he quickly taught me the basics of how to use his camera and I was thrilled for that. When he sent me the photos that I took on that day he also said to me that I should definitely go for it and become a photographer because he loved the photos of that day and kept thinking on what he said then I decided to enroll in a photographer course on the followed year. I’m glad I did because photography is definitely my passion.
Street Photography at first was only a project that I wanted to do because I had never imagined myself going on the streets and taking pictures of random people. When I decided to research all about street photography I realized that I had all the wrong impressions of what street photography was about and it was much more interesting that I thought it could be. I watched loads of documentaries, read many blogs and websites and after a while I decided to go with a friend to our first day of street photography session and I absolutely loved it. I realized that street photography wasn’t all about going to the streets and shooting every moment that happened. I only started to shoot street this January and I think I am still experiencing more and more… I noticed things that I don’t like, for example shooting portraits, it just don’t work to me and I thought that street photography was that, taking pics of people on streets. I’m glad that I was wrong.
Q. Do you mainly just shoot in black and white? What attracts you to B&W that makes your photos special?
A. When it comes about my street photography I try to mainly use B&W. I believe that the B&W adds an atmosphere to the photo expressing better what I want to show on my photos.
Q. It’s very hard to see the faces on your subjects, making the photos somewhat eerie and yet enigmatic at the same time. Do you do this on purpose? And why do you do it?
A. When I first started into street photography world I was in a period of experiencing every type of street photography in order to try to find which style would be more applicable to me. As a result, I realized that I don’t really like shooting portraits because it doesn’t say much about my style which I consider being more artistic and gloomy. I rather have one subject in my photos than being in the middle of busy places. It makes my brain stop and I completely close myself to think in a good photo to shoot.
Q. Why do you love street photography? What aspect attracts you to it?
A. I love being able to show my style on my photos, I love going in a street session and not knowing what to expect and how exciting street photography is. The aspect that attracts me most is the fact of how each photo tells a history by itself. I truly get in love for each of my photos because of the story that each of them tells to me.
Q. I always ask this: what’s the most interesting story you have from shooting?
A. Luckily (or not) I don’t have many stories to tell. Maybe there a few ones in which isn’t that interesting to other people but it doesn’t mean that they aren’t interesting to me. The story that I will always remember is when I was out in Liverpool shooting and I went down the docks in a Sunday which is a busy day there with loads of people. I was only resting my feet in one of the benches when I saw this couple arguing but at first I was just watching them and seeing how ridiculous the girl was being for flipping over the guy, hitting on him and when he said to her he was leaving she started to cry and ask him sorry, so he sat down and she started everything again… they did that for ages. I was quite scared of shooting this moment but I started to think that if she was doing that in public she probably wouldn’t even see me taking the picture of them… so I did. It was a funny moment and always will remember the scene as if they were in front of me right now. Other funny moment to me is when I recognized someone on the middle of the streets and I try to think where I had seen that person before, then I have a click in my head and I remember that I have a picture of that person.
Q. What subjects do you like to shoot? Or any specific locations? Why?
A. I like open places with good backgrounds and good illumination. Because I love the game that you can do with the lights, the shadows and shooting in an open place helps to call all the attention to the details. As I said before, I don’t like busy places because it is the complete opposite of my style.
Q. What gear do you use?
A. I use a Nikon D7000 with 50mm lens and for my blur/motion photos I use my 18-135mm.
Linda Wisdom- from Clicks
Q. You helped found the group Clicks on facebook; tell us more about why you made it, what it is, and so on!
A. At the first the group was created for a competition that I ran on my fan page. The theme was B&W reflection and loads of people were participating of it. Most of these people were street photographers so when the competition was finished I decided to rename the group to B&W Reflections and most of them kept participating of the group even after the competition closed.
I always see amazing pictures on my feeds and I keep a folder on my computer of pictures that I like or I used to post on a friends’ wall a picture that I knew that they would like so I started to think ‘why not create a community page and share this with more and more people?’. This was the main reason why I created CLICKS’ page and I enjoyed that I had the group already there and decided to change the name of the group as well. Everybody in the group seemed to love the idea and then people started to post more, new people started to participate of the group and it is really motivational to see all these interaction going on over there. I also wanted to make a good group of friends to share experiences, critiques, knowledge, etc.
Q. Any links/pages/portfolio you want to share with us?
A. FB page: https://www.facebook.com/daaholiveiraphoto
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/daaholiveira
Clicks Page: https://www.facebook.com/clickstreet
Q. If you had to pick just one piece of advice to give aspiring photographers/street photographers, what would it be?
A. To go out and shoot street with no rules on mind or fear. Experiencing is the best way to learn. 🙂
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&&Phil, love those pictures? Share this article, comment, like, or tweet it!
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!
New York Municipal Archives: Released Street Photography!
Hey guys, so I’ve been slacking. But in a good way. Really, I promise.
I’ve been finishing a final model shoot and have sold off my canon rebel and lenses to finally acquire the funds for an Olympus OM-D. Stay tuned for when that ships.
But in the meanwhile, check out this Municipal Archives collection.
As for what it is, an excerpt on the page should do!
Almost a million images of New York and its municipal operations have been made public for the first time on the internet.
The city’s Department of Records officially announced the debut of the photo database.
Culled from the Municipal Archives collection of more than 2.2 million images going back to the mid-1800s, the 870,000 photographs feature all manner of city oversight — from stately ports and bridges to grisly gangland killings.
There are some amazing photographs on here, street photography and other kinds mixed in for good measure. Check it out!
5 Tips for Street Photography for Beginners from Kai of DigitalRev
Link
5 Tips for Street Photography for Beginners from Kai of DigitalRev
I was rummaging through old Digitalrev Learn posts (which, you should totally check out by the way), and found this handy link about street photography for beginners. Aside from his nothing-less-than-sarcastic, crude, British humor, the advice is somewhat humbling and realistic. Take a look.
The Shadow Photographers #3: Oracio
Today I’m pleased to introduce to you Oracio Alvarado. A street photographer-based out of LA, Oracio has been both a fellow photo-talk buddy and street photography enthusiast. I first met Oracio through a Google hangout and through the exchange of facebook information, we were both acquainted. Since then he has provided a lot of advice and has reviewed a lot of the content I’ve posted up here. Oracio doesn’t heavily edit or process his photos, but leaves much of the work to the camera. Rather, he focuses on interesting subjects and depends on them to make (or break) the photo. Without further ado, I introduce Oracio Alvarado.
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Q. What got you into photography?
Ever since I was young I have always been interested in painting, drawing, sculpting, but photography always seemed to call to me more. When I was around six years old I got my hands on my first camera, a Kodak Hawkeye Instamatic Camera, that was the point I realized I really enjoyed getting out of the house and just shooting photographs.
Film photography, at the time, gave me a sense of surprise since you wouldn’t be able to see the results of what you photographed for sometimes weeks at a time. Not having a quick view at the photograph I took helped me to develop an eye for composition and a “feel” about when to take the shot. Learning to shoot on film has definitely helped me out in the long run. I am by no means an expert and still have a lot to learn.
Q. How would you classify your style?
My style of street photography would be considered, “Classic.” I’m not an in your face type of photographer. I tend to stand back and look at a situation or scene. My goal is to capture a moment in time that speaks to me. The main factor about being a classic street photographer is about being able to take a scene and use composition to make the shot amazing.
Q. What’s your philosophy of street photography?
I’m not sure if I really have a philosophy regarding street photography, but I have a quote I created to explain what I do.
“I move like a ghost, in and out of peoples lives, capturing fleeting moments with my camera.”
Q. As an avid user of the Fuji X100 and the iPhone, what do you feel are different advantages and disadvantages of each platform?
As photographer Chase Jarvis says, “The best camera is the one you have with you.”
That being said, the Fuji X100 is a decent camera for street photography, but one the disadvantages that camera is the auto focus speed is terrible. While zone focusing is an option, I prefer to let the camera focus for me so I don’t have to think about it. Since the X100 is so slow at focusing, there have been many lost shots. Auto focus aside, the camera takes excellent photos. It’s also nice to carry around and shoot people with since it’s such a retro and small camera, it doesn’t scare people when you point it at them. The X100 is also great in low light situations. You can crank up the ISO and you will get nice shots with hardly any noise.
As far as the iPhone camera goes, it’s just great having a device with you all the time that can take some amazing photographs. The pros about using an iPhone is that you can use countless mobile photography applications to help you take a good shot, process it and share it on the fly. One has to remember that the iPhone is still a phone and the camera is not great in low light situations, nor capturing scenes with a lot of movement; pictures tend to come out blurry.
Q. What was the most interesting project/photo shoot you’ve had?
There really haven’t been any interesting projects or photo shoots that I’ve had yet. I’m ready and willing to take on something that will leave a lasting impression.
Q. Any interesting episodes from street shooting? (doesn’t have to be photography related)
One of the most interesting things to come out of shooting street photography is meeting so many new people; from other photographers to random people on the street. There is definitely a nice community of street photographers all around the globe. Having the ability to talk to them, compare our work, and most importantly getting feedback from them has been incredible.
Q. I saw your occupy LA shots. What was it like shooting in that atmosphere? Do you feel like your photos do it justice?
Shooting at Occupy LA was definitely a great experience. It’s one thing to listen to the media portray the Occupy movement, but it’s a whole different thing to actually go to the protest site and see what’s really going on. Occupy LA was a very peaceful event compared to other cities around the US. There were different classes about politics, money, agriculture, etc. going on around the protest site. It was great to see that people weren’t just there to waste time, but to make a change.
When I first arrived at Occupy LA I thought that people would be bothered by someone taking their photo, but that wasn’t the case. The photos I took at Occupy LA were just a way to document what was going on inside the protest site. I think as far as that goes the photos did it justice, but I’m sure there could have been more that could have been photographed.
Q. You shoot mostly in black and white for your street photography (X100), is there a reason for that?
I actually shoot all my photos with the FujiFilm X100 in color and during the post-process I decide if I am going to keep the photograph in color or convert it to black and white. I will usually leave a photoraph in color if there’s some story that is being told by the color in the photo.
As far as the reason why I convert my photographs into black and while it’s all about feel. I love the look and feel of black and white images. They tend to have a more classic/vintage look to them. There are also amazing black and grey tones that can be brought out in a photograph that help it tell a better story.
Q. What gear do you use?
I’m currently using the FujiFilm X100, Nikon D7000 and my trusty iPhone. For street photography I stick to the FujiFilm X100 because it’s less intimidating to the people I photography than the larger Nikon D7000.
Q. What advice would you give budding photographers?
Take your camera with you everywhere you go. Shoot, shoot, shoot and shoot. Lean how to use your camera (read that manual). Also, learn to compose your shots and eventually you will do it without even thinking. Once you get that down, you can focus on learning everything else.
You can find all my social media links at http://about.me/oracio.
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As usual, Comment, Like, and Follow for the latest updates!
&&Phil
Steve Huff & I Review the Fuji X-Pro 1 (AF update)
Well, not really. Steve Huff did a comprehensive review, and it’s very well written. You should check it out, it mentions both its merits and the quirks/AF woes in deep detail.
On the other hand, I FINALLY managed to get my hands on one in my local Camera store. I’ve got to say, I’m impressed with what Fuji’s vision was in creating the X-series. I’m not surprised that Dpreview came away impressed, the construction of the camera looks good. But Steve Huff is dead on in saying that it feels cheap, or at least lighter than it looks.
I tried to test for Steve huff’s quirks, but strangely I had no trouble with the on/off operations, and controls were responsive. I’m guessing uncleared SD cards usually pose this issue, and I had that same problem on my X100 before I sold it.
Give me some time to play around with this, I’ll be back later to test its AF..
*AF UPDATE 1
Shooting in the bright lighting of the camera store, the AF felt responsive. I tried it in street situations, and it quickly picked up focus. Raising the camera to my eye and quickly pressing the shutter button grabbed it excellent focus. I was using the 35mm f/1.4 lens.
But the trouble began in the narrow, dimly lit hallway of the store. Even with a much smaller focusing distance compared to the X100’s lens, I couldn’t get it to focus on a vase. It took 4 tries. No street photographer focuses 4 times on a subject. By then you’ll have already missed your shot.
In twilight (7:30pm), Steve Huff’s observations stuck as well. In hunts, misses, hunts, misses, and then maybe nails it on the third shot. Realistic street movements/actions including: raising the camera to your eye for immediate shots, or shooting from the hip are completely unreliable, primarily due to the lack of any image stabilization. For some reason, Leica glass never seems to suffer from this IS; it may be the electronic sensor that is more prone to movement. I don’t know, I have no technical knowledge in this area.
Unfortunately they didn’t let me take out any samples from the card, but this was more than enough to convince me that the X-Pro 1 needs a severe update to the AF. I went into the MF mode just to see what it was like, but the similar focus-by-wire design is still close to unusable. I’ll see if I can sneak out some images later.
Come on, Fuji. You can do better.
&&Phil
The best way to keep with my latest updates is to like my facebook page, or follow me on Twitter!
A Great Explanation of Depth of Field!
StandardDOF? What is that, Defense-Offense?
Well, no. It stands for Depth of Field. You might have heard the term being thrown around, but aren’t sure.
This video explains the technicalities behind DOF quite well, have a look!
The Shadow photographers #2: FiatFlux (Justin Kwon)
In these series I hope to introduce some of the most compelling street (and non-street) photographers who have inspired me to start or keep shooting. The double entendre is that Street photographers tend to experiment with and work with available light (which tend to be shadows), and also tend to stay hidden out of “popular” photographers (dominated by studio photographers, landscape photographers, etc). I hope that you will enjoy discovering these hidden talents as much as I do. Remember, there is always a street photographer near you, somewhere…
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Today I have the honor of introducing to you a friend of mine, FiatFlux (or, Justin). Although not strictly defined as a street photographer in a traditional sense (i.e. people), I see a lot of elements of street photography in his photos that inspire me- timing, coloring, and juxtaposition. A very interesting character, and a Pentax gear geek, we get a peek into the mind that loves to toy with the latest in digital developing.
Q. What got you started in Photography?
A. a gift from my dad. Back in high school, my dad bought me a film slr… I think it was pentax mz-60 or something… don’t quite remember… didn’t shoot much since films can be quite costly and didn’t really like going to photo huts a lot… so it kinda phased out… went back to guitars, other instruments, and music.
Then I came to Berkeley. First year, the usual. A lot of drinking and playing games in the dorms. Then second year, decided to pick up something new. So I decided to pick up a dslr. Bought a used Pentax K100d and it started there.
Q. What subjects do you like to photograph most? What interests/inspires you when you’re out shooting?
A. Anything that happened to be around me. Events that I’m involved in, parties that I am at, taking a day off at the SF piers, etc. As much as I like studio shots, I like to mettle with the viewfinder as little as possible.
Anything that seems interesting at the moment, I’ll take a picture of it. That’s the beauty of digital cameras. Don’t have to be frugal with shots. You can take many photos as you want without worrying about getting another film.
Q. What is your philosophy behind your creative process when shooting/developing photos? Any rules you abide by?
A. Stay as far as possible from the project. Don’t mess with or try to adjust/arrange it. From there, go as crazy as you can. Once I take the shot in the natural state, I like to tweak it around. Lightroom ftw. Different white balance, saturation, highlights, etc etc. You can come up with a photo that has totally different vibe/ambiance to it. If you don’t like it, just reset it and start again. Of course, there is also a chance I like the photo without any adjustments, then just keep it the way it is. It’s all personal preferences.
Q. You cross-process (color) your photos in a very interesting way. Any reason for this? Fondness for vintage colors much?
A. I like messing around with everything. People, photographs, magic tricks, poker, etc. It just seems more interesting to me. Or more dramatic?… I don’t have any specific reason for it. I just do it.
Q. How do you identify with the phrase “street photography?” Or do you not? And either way, why?
A. I generally think everything in a VERY simple manners. It tends to get rid of overthinking and complicating it in my own head. So, street photography = photos taken on the streets. Not in studios, or film sets. Just on the streets. How and/or What the photographer sees the world around him/her at that moment. So I guess I do take street photography. But I rather not try to think about it. That would be me classifying it and then it would get defined and stuck in that mentality, blah blah blah. You get the idea.
Q. What gear do you use?
A. Pentax. With a lot of old school manual lenses. Yes, I know. PENTAX? Why??? I had Pentax Film SLR so I just naturally went on with it. A lot of my friends do have Canon, and others Nikons. I’m definitely the minority in that category. But as many Pentax users will tell you, its color tones have something about it that other brands just don’t have. Many do jump over to Canon and Nikon for full-frame. But they either keep the original Pentax as a sub-camera or do get rid of it but end up missing that color tones. Eventually, they come back or buy another one. It’s a strange relationship. Plus, I love the older manual lenses. Yes, I have to manually focus every shot, but you get used to it rather quickly. Then it becomes just more fun and forces you to really focus on the viewfinder to get what you want.
Q. You seem to like photographing food a lot. Why?
A. I’m a meanie, so to speak. or a jerk/asshole to be precise. I like to mess with people, just because I can. Not in any harmful way, but in ways that are amusing… probably just to me.
Apart from being a jerk, I like eating good food. I yelp and google around to find good food that people around me don’t know about, or only few know about. I go eat the food, take pictures of the food, edit them to make ‘em look more delicious, then upload them. When it’s 10pm. To make people hungry and just to tease/torture them with delicious food.
And no, I’m not joking.
Q. Any interesting episodes/happenings from your shootings if any?
A. I bought an OLD but a rare lens but it had a considerable amount of dusts/particles. There weren’t any shops that I could go to clean the lens because it was old and there wasn’t any shops that knew how to deal with the particular lens. Ended having to look up online for the blue prints of that lens, and tried to clean the lens myself. Long story short, it worked. It took me a whole weekend. Had few mini heart attacks. Not a pleasant memory. Lesson of the story – Don’t try to clean/fix lenses yourself. Find a shop that can do it for you. If you can’t, just use the lens as is. It will save you a lot of time, effect and stress.
Q. Anything you want to share/advertise (website, twitter, portfolio, etc.)
A. facebook: /fiatflux
Twitter: @fiatflux88
Thanks for reading this post…
As always, talk to me on twitter, or like me on Facebook to keep up with the latest Shadow Photographers.
&&Phil
Andy Bond: A Tourist in His Own Town (Leica Blog)
LinkAndy Bond: A Tourist in His Own Town (Leica Blog)
The Leica Blog is always an interesting forum for different users of Leica, like myself. I recently discovered Andy Bond on this website, and am in love with his work. I appreciate that he mixes his opinions between digital and film, and introduces strange juxtapositions. Have a look.
Phillipe Han - Street Photographer 