Photo Shoot - Ashby de la Zouch - Theme 2: Street Photography

Street Photography - Shoot 1

**WORK IN PROGRESS**

So, if I am to pull this theme off I really need to get out and start taking some photos.  Although, this style of photography really interests me it also scares me!  I'm not the most confident person and the thought of going out into the street and pointing my camera at complete strangers is pretty scary.  However, I want to really try and give this theme my best as I believe it will give my confidence a huge boost and I can hopefully get some great images.

After looking at a couple of photographers and getting some inspiration, I forced myself out onto the streets of Ashby de la Zouch.  Ashby is a market town and is quite local to me and I thought this would be the best place to start as I knew the area and the town has some areas that I thought would make good images.

The equipment I took with me was my Canon EOS 1000D with my 18-55mm standard lens.  I also took my husband, as a bit of moral support.

What went well ....

Although this style of photography still makes me nervous, I've actually been out and managed to come back with some reasonable images, so I think that the main achievement was a slight boost of confidence.  I have also learned what went wrong with the shoot and will hopefully be learning from my mistakes.

What not so well ........

There were many floors to the trip, the first being the amount of time I gave myself.  It all felt a little rushed and I didn't really give myself any time to sit down and assess the area.  Instead I was walking up and down hoping to come across the perfect shot.  What I should have done is found a good spot and waited for a while - giving myself to a chance to choose the perfect composition and just wait for the subjects - something I had read about but didn't put into practice.

My lack of confidence was also quite important, as most of the images are of people walking away from me!  Although this works well with some of the images, I don't think I can get away with this for all of the images.

The quality of the images are not perfect as a lot of the time I was just pressing the shutter and moving on, without actually taking the time to think about the settings - some were overexposed, some underexposed and some blurred.  The sun was very bright and so this obviously had an impact on some of the images.
 

After getting the images onto the computer and converting them to black and white, I have some images that I am happy with - not necessarily the best quality but it's a starting point.  All of the images were taken in colour and have been converted to black and white.  Some of the images have also been cropped to enhance the composition.  I intend to carry out more post production in Photo Shop to   

F/5.6, 1/400, ISO100
I really like this image.  I have used the rule of thirds with the focal point being the girl. 

There is evidence of lines and patterns from the railings and the shadows.  I like the contrast between the dark tones of her clothing and the background and the brightness of her face. 

Although the quality is not perfect, and the subject is not completely sharp, I still like the composition.

F/5.6, 1/400, ISO100

Again, I really like this one, mainly because of the amount of lines and patterns in the image.  I am also pleased with the narrow depth of field, which has created a subtle focal point, which is the girl leaning on the railings.  The majority of the lines lead the eye to the subject.  There is a great range of tones in this image, which has been created by the highlights and shadows.  Again, the rule of thirds is evident.

     

F/5.6, 1/125, ISO100

F/5.6, 1/800, ISO400

F/5.6, 1/125, ISO200

This is my favourite of the images that I have taken. 

Looking at the images taken by Eric Kim, I think this falls in with that kind of style - obviously not to the same quality.

I like that this image captures the closeness of the young couple sharing a walk together.

The image shows the rule of thirds. There are also elements of patterns and shapes from the paving.

The focal point, the couple, is highlighted by the darkness of the clothing contrasting with the brightness of the buildings.

F/5.6, 1/250, ISO200

F/5.6, 1/125, ISO200

F5.6, 1/200, ISO200

F/5.6, 1/200, ISO200

Framed by the arch

F5.6, 1/125, ISO200

F5.6, 1/160, ISO200

F5.6, 1/160, ISO200

F5.6, 1/125, ISO200

F/5.6, 1/400, ISO400

Evaluation .......

The whole point of this shoot was to make a starting point and to see if I was brave enough ... I'm still not sure that I am, but I definitely feel more confident now I have actually been out and done it. 

Next step ..........

I now need to think about what went well and what I did wrong and plan another shoot.  I am looking to go to somewhere a little more touristy where people expect to see photographers.  At the moment my plan is to go to Matlock, where I have been before and feel comfortable with the environment and did not feel out of place with a camera.  I think more research is needed before then and a little more practice.