2 posts tagged “street photography”
...or maybe it would be better titled "Book Store Photography." Don't try it unless you want to get hassled like I was but let me back up a little.
This photo was shot with my older DCC Leica M3. Let me make it clear, I have two point-n-shoot cameras; a DCC Leica M3 and a DCC Leica M3 Plus. The M3 Plus is the newer of the two. I will note which camera was used for each photo so there is no confusion. I have several photos that I took with the M3 (vs the M3 Plus) while I was testing it so I thought I would begin to post them since I have not taken any photos with the M3 Plus for a few days.
I carry my M3 in a small black pouch that is attached to my belt loop—I carry it where ever I go. The pouch is made by Pelican, is constructed from neoprene and, has a drawstring and belt clip attached to it. It feels a lot like the fabric used to make diving suits without the rubber part.
We went into Borders Books & Music one Friday night like we usually do. My wife was off looking at magazines and my son was somewhere else. I was walking around looking for my son when something grabbed my eye. There he was sitting in a chair concentrating on a magazine article. The composition seemed so obvious to me, he was wearing a white t-shirt so he was the brightest thing in the scene and surrounding him were many, many books. This made my son, a smooth peaceful subject amongst all this busy detail that made up all the books.
I took the photo you see here and then I moved closer to the rack just in front of me to get a closer photo of him while having the books in the foreground out of focus. At that moment the store book Nazi showed up and demanded to know what I was taking photos of. I told her I was taking photos of my son. She did not look conviced. She told me to stop taking photos and went on her way. I didn't let it bother me and I had no need to take any more photos so I put my M3 back into the pouch and went onto other things.
I actually like taking candid photos in stores when possible. It's kind of like watching an old video that has previews at the beginning. You get to see what was "hot" at the time and in the case of the store photos, sometimes you can see how much things cost on sale signs that might appear in your compositions. These "references" give the photo a historical reference.
Be sure to click the photo for post processing information.
There is a Chinese restaurant in the parking lot where I work. It was recently painted and I have been wanting to photograph the rich colors on my way home from work for some time. In the evening, when the sun is low on the horizon, the colors really jump out. Today, I took advantage of the light and took out my little camera. As I was photographing the kitchen side where the flag is, the owner came out and asked me why I was taking photos, was I from the management or leasing company etc. I neglected to introduce myself but I did tell him that I worked just a few yards away at the computer company that had all the vans in the parking lot. He smiled and said it was ok. I explained further that I had been wanting to take photos of the new paint for some time.
While he and one of his employees were watching me from their door, I took a couple of photos, including them in the composition. One of them you see here.
As I moved around to the front of the restaurant, the red, yellow and black paint on the wall really stood out and the turquoise with the yellow beam against the blue sky harmonized so nicely; but the shot was missing still something. Just then two birds flew onto the roof so I quickly took a few photos before they flew away.
The photos you are looking at are not straight, pure-as-the-driven-snow, unretouched images that came right out of the camera—these photos have been retouched, cleaned up, post processed or whatever you want to call it. In addition to being a photographer, I am also a photo retucher. I want the photos I take with the new DCC Leica M3 Plus to be as good as possible. I am not here to show what the basic image that comes off the camera looks like—at least not yet, perhaps in another post. I want them to look the best they can so I will post process and retouch if necessary so you can see what is possible.
I will try to indicate what enhancements I have made to each photo in the blow-up description. You just have to click the text link below the image to see this information.
I realize there are a few Leica-street-photography-purists out there that this may not sit well with but you have to understand, like brushing teeth, putting on deodorant and selecting a nice combination of clothing to wear; the same holds true for photos for me. As a photo retoucher/photographer, I cannot go out the door without cleaning-up first. I hope you purists understand that and will start to brush your teeth as well.
The important thing to note though is that unlike the DCC Leica M3, the
Plus version produces a much better image to work with. I mentioned in
a comment to Lee in my first post "My First Leica" that I was having
some sharpness issues. I installed a firmware update and that seems to
have taken care of most of the problem although in scenes containing
extreme contrast, such as the stars in the flag, you can see some
ghosting. I tried to remove it as best I could in the photo above.
