Halloween Portraits II - C&C welcome

[Chato]

Another series of portraits from Halloween, with my Sigma DP2. No flash was used for these images, all shot in ISO 1600

These two young ladies saw me with a camera, and immediately went into "pose mode." They got very upset that I didn't take a picture, because they saw no flash. I had to run after them to show them the image.




Another series of Halloween portraits. Death and his girlfriend?




This guy, without much make-up, has to be the Best Roman, I've ever seen.




Some sort of building?




These two guys were being "Thugs." They immensely enjoyed being photographed!



Dave

[JohnG]

Dave - I understand the concept of street photography but IMO these are just bad snapshots. Subjects are blurred and not in a way that is at all beneficial. Shot 3 could be interesting except for the post right in front of the woman's face. Shot 4 has a poor angle looking down on the subjects. The rest have no redeeming photographic quality. Again I think there's a difference between street photography and a badsnapshot - these fall into the bad snapshot category - certainly not something I would label as portraits.

If you want to avoid flash and take decent photos of humans in low light I think you need a better tool than the one you're currently using. I just don't think sticking the 'street photography' label on something makes a bad snapshot into a good photograph.

[DRGSin]

As harsh as that sounds-Id have to agree. Attach a flash with a diffuser and try capturing a story. Its a tough genre to do correctly, as Ive learned, so dont get discouraged.

[lesmore49]

John makes valid points about equipment that would be good to consider. Two famous photographers (my favourites) who did quite a few street photos...were Eisenstadt and Cartier-Bresson. They used small Leica Rangefinders and I believe pushed their film ASA. I'm not suggesting you get a Leica...but you might want to make a thread on the "What Camera Should I get' forum at this website and review your needs and ask people what they would suggest for a reasonably priced camera/ lens outfit that would meet your needs.

I know you are trying to avoid flash, but flash can be effective in street photography...note Arthur Fellig's work of times gone by.

I like photo # 3, quite a bit, except for the pole in front of the woman, as John pointed out.

I think of all the photo's, # 3 is the type of photo you are going for...it doesn't appear posed, looks spontaneous and has that big city at night look.

Except for the pole...which you maybe able to edit out. I am not an expert on post processing, so I don't know what can be done re; editing the pole...but maybe some poster can make a suggestion.

[vvcarpio]

Think of it this way, your pictures make mine look good just kidding!

I was actually spooked by the first photo. One of the "twins"' blurred face reminded me of the movie "The Ring".

I forgot to add, I'm a horror movie fan and watch Ghost Adventures on Travel Channel whenever I could. Here's my favorite clip from the TV show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhGcCocStds

[Chato]

Originally Posted by vvcarpio

Think of it this way, your pictures make mine look good just kidding!

I was actually spooked by the first photo. One of the "twins"' blurred face reminded me of the movie "The Ring".

I forgot to add, I'm a horror movie fan and watch Ghost Adventures on Travel Channel whenever I could. Here's my favorite clip from the TV show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhGcCocStds

Well, if all the criticism I am recieving is correct, than Nan Goldin is one hell of an overhyped photographer. (If people don't like her work, it's all after all a matter of taste.

Criticism about the images being blurred, as if ALL my Street Photos are blurred is a bit off the mark.

Now essentially, I would ask people to go out on a dark street and [I]actually analyse what they are seeing.[I] What your eye see's, except when you're right on top of someone is indistinct, vague, a blur, which the eye/mind combination puts into some coherent order.

Now since I do not Ever ask permission to take any photo of anyone, I feel it's an assault to flash people. A flash blinds people, and is an imposition on the person. I DO ask permission to use a flash, but basically I LIKE this kind of photography.

When I first started I was not happy with the results. Lately, after going full manual, and capturing what I see, I'm starting to like the results. Indeed, I'm quite pleased with these shots.

All the remarks I've recieved are appreciated, even with the above response. It's a niche catagory of photography. In good light, I avoid bluring the image, in night scenes, I am trying to use the blur.

Ah, well, I'll post again...

Dave

[SharpShotGal]

I have to agree with VVCARPIO the first one reminded me to of the movie the Ring and some others ... it looks very scary maybe street photo shoots are not what you need to be doing I would recommend doing something else there... do stills and see if they come out right or maybe you have the wrong cam or wrong settings for for night street shots ... Blurry is not what people want .... I my self take over 200 a day when I do get out and I come home and go thru them all after down loading them of course and I choose which ones I am going to share and even then I end up a with a few bad shots but that is cause I was either in a hurry to gat out of there cause something got nagging me or my battery is going on a blink or the weather is not right. I can wait for my C list to start filling up working on it got my BCards done ... and flyers now to go passing and hanging them all.. Look for the post of it ... Avery done .... we all do a good job of doing though not trying to put any one down at all.... there are so many things to do in Photography and with it. Keep snapping Shutter bugs...

[vvcarpio]

Oops sorry I didn't mean to say your pictures are bad. I felt like the odd man out so I took the funnyman approach...

[JohnG]

Dave,

In photography it's still all about the results. You're taking posed shots and they're blurred. If you don't want to use flash - fine, use a better tool for the job. A DSLR with ISO 6400 and 1.4 lens gets you 4 stops advantage over these shots. Instead of 1/3 shutter you'd have 1/50 - significantly less blurring.

The tools exist to do a better job at what you're doing. But right now it's akin to someone taking a 50mm lens and shooting birds in flight at 200 yards away and saying they just don't want to use a longer lens and 50mm bird in flight shots are just niche photography. No, it's not - it's using the wrong tool for the job resulting in a poor photo. Just like these shots. If a posed shot has this much motion blur it's just a bad shot. And given that you have the budget to buy $5000 DSLRs using the wrong tool for the job shouldn't be an excuse.

[Bynx]

Originally Posted by Chato

Well, if all the criticism I am recieving is correct, than Nan Goldin is one hell of an overhyped photographer. (If people don't like her work, it's all after all a matter of taste.

Dave

Nan Goldin is an example, to me, of someone who has some people in influential places who declare she has NEW CLOTHES. Many non thinkers rally and say she has NEW CLOTHES. There are also others who see her for what she is and declare she is NUDE. As for me, I think she is naked as a Jay bird.