Yesterday I was doing some street photography while strolling through the alleys of Intra at Italy’s Lago Maggiore. It was really too hot and humid to get the creative juices flowing. This is the only shot that is a keeper from the outing. I saw that mural and what message it seems to convey, and the luxury coffee store across the street. Then I saw the approaching sunlit family of casual Saturday shoppers. More contrasts. I snapped away with my iPhone.
In post I debated whether to convert to monochrome. But I like how the colors work together in this image. One photograph I like is enough to be happy with a day of otherwise energy-less shooting.
If you feel energized to head out with your camera (or smart phone) to capture some street photography, check out my free Learning Center for lots of tips and inspirations around shooting in the streets.
“Ground Control to Major Tom” – I’m sure, you know the lyrics of David Bowie’s legendary song “Space Oddity”. I would question whether Major Tom would be available on the other side of the line. Not only, because yesterday NASA had to cancel for the third time the launch of the new Artemis moon rocket due to technical problems (I would be curious if they dubbed one of the travelling passenger dummies “Major Tom” – if anyone knows please comment below). But also because this astronaut, depicted on a mural in a restaurant in Genoa we (fittingly) visited last night, sure looks to be offline.
Let’s hope NASA fixes whatever probs they have with the Artemis rocket soon – and then goes on the radio:
“Ground Control to Major Tom Commencing countdown, engines on Check ignition and may God’s love be with you”
iPhone 12 Pro Max snapshot, converted to monochrome in Lightroom Classic. Oh, and the food in this place was awesome!
“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women, merely players”, said William Shakespeare once. It’s also the motto of this blog. This monochrome street photograph is yet another example of it.
As I wrote in a previous post, there are two ways to approach Street Photography. You can actively “hunt” for an interesting image to happen, for example following an appealing subject until it enters the right background scene. Or you come across a background that catches your eyes first. Then it is a matter of you waiting for the right subject to enter the scene to get the photo you are after. I call this the “gathering” approach.
This was the case when I saw this colorful mural in Portland. I loved its shape and dynamic, and its colors that really came to life during the blue hour of this late Saturday afternoon. I really wanted to capture it in a street photo, but taking a photo of a mural by itself is a bit lifeless without a foreground that adds interest.
I was with my PEN-F and the 12mm F/2 prime lens, which limited myself to this composition, as I had to stand between to parked cars half on the street to have mural and sidewalk filling my viewfinder. A frontal position would not have been possible as due to the lens being very wide angled, I couldn’t stand behind the car parked in front as the roof would have blocked the lower part of the mural.
Then it was a matter of waiting in the freezing cold wind for passing people, and there weren’t to many around. The first that passed came in groups, blocking the mural, then people passed on my side of the sidewalk, with only their top half visible in the frame, also blocking the mural. I needed someone to pass close to the wall, so I could capture the whole person in front of the big face behind him.
With this guy I finally got lucky (after about 15 minutes and a few unsuccessful shots), as he passed close to the wall, and I managed to capture him in full stride, always something I look for when pressing the shutter. Perseverance paid off once more.
