I attended a wedding the other day, and it was beautiful. The weather was great, the decorations were incredible, and it seemed like the whole town turned out in great spirits. With so many happy people around, it was easy to make candid portraits and see a lot of fun emotions. You should absolutely make candid pictures in public places. But when you want to photograph kids, it's a good idea to ask permission first--especially if you're a man. Don't Be Creepy It just makes parents more comfortable if you ask permission before making a … [Read more...] about Portrait Tip: Wanna Photograph Kids?
street
Photographer of the Day: Daniel Smith
Category: Street Photographer: Daniel Smith "Rome" "Rome" is a picture of a young, modern mom holding her son on a cobblestoned street lined with doorway but showing no cars, pedestrians or other signs of a vibrant city. Her delighted smile directed to the camera makes Daniel Smith the Photofocus Street Photographer of the Day. Originally shared on the Photofocus Group on Flickr here. To learn how your work can be featured on the Photofocus, please read this article. … [Read more...] about Photographer of the Day: Daniel Smith
Photographer of the Day: Sohail Karmani
Category: Street Photography Photograph: “Brick worker checking a kiln" by Sohail Karmani Beautiful capture during blue hour. The colors make this image pop. Sohail made sure to photograph this image at a slow shutter speed to keep the ISO low and to capture the blue light. Originally shared with the Photofocus Flickr community right here. To learn how your work can be featured on the Photofocus, please read this article. … [Read more...] about Photographer of the Day: Sohail Karmani
Photographer of the Week: April 10 ~ 14, 2017
Every weekday, Monday through Friday, Photofocus curators present a great photograph in the categories of Travel, Beauty, Outdoor, Sports and Street photography. The photographers of the day have touched us with their images. Each curator shares what they love about the photograph they feature. The Photographer of the week is selected from those images. Agree or disagree, your comments and thoughts are welcome. I look forward to engaging in the conversation. Travel, Beauty, Outdoor, Sports & Street Johnny Read curator Vanelli's … [Read more...] about Photographer of the Week: April 10 ~ 14, 2017
Photographer of the Day: Ian Lewry
Category: Street Photography Photograph: “Venice 2017" by Ian Lewry Sometimes in street photography you need to have the confidence to ask subjects to pose. Ian chose a great couple to photograph and framed them beautifully within the poles. Originally shared with the Photofocus Flickr community right here. To learn how your work can be featured on the Photofocus, please read this article. … [Read more...] about Photographer of the Day: Ian Lewry
Photowalk: Orlando, April 21st, 5:30 pm
We're at it again. We're getting together and practicing making pictures. This is a fun time to meet and make photographs and chat and have a fun time. Since we're visiting for Photoshop World, we'll meet at the Hyatt Regency Lobby where the conference is being held. We'll meet at 5:30 pm, head down International Drive and find some photos and maybe grab a bite before Stacy Pearsall's talk later in the evening. We can practice architecture, street portraiture, and even long exposure motion capture. We're looking forward to seeing you and having … [Read more...] about Photowalk: Orlando, April 21st, 5:30 pm
Photographer of the day: Scott Johnston
Category: Street. Photograph: "Time out. Gran Canaria 2017" by Scott Johnston (username "Scott Johnston" on Flickr). Originally shared on the Photofocus Flickr community right here. Why I picked this image: Street photography images can be a contemporary mirror of society. If you look back at the work of some of the masters of this genre, you will find a lot of images that have a strong documentary character and allow us a small peek into the daily lives of people from that time. These images will generally become more relevant, … [Read more...] about Photographer of the day: Scott Johnston
Photographer of the Week: March 13 ~ 17, 2017
Every weekday, Monday through Friday, Photofocus curators present a great photograph in the categories of Travel, Beauty, Nature, Sports and Street photography. The photographers of the day have touched us with their images. Each curator shares what they love about the photograph they feature. Every week I'll compile these photographs into a post that runs on Sunday. The Photographer of the week will be selected from those images. Agree or disagree, your comments and thoughts are welcome. I look forward to engaging in the conversation. Travel, … [Read more...] about Photographer of the Week: March 13 ~ 17, 2017
Fujifilm X100F – Star of the Street
The Camera that's Just Enough for Most Everything I had the great fortune to beta test the newest iteration of Fujifilm's X100, the X100F — the little camera that could! This camera occupies an odd niche in that its a fixed lens mirrorless, that is much more than just a point-and-shoot, but not an interchangeable-lens "system," with a cool, retro "old school" vibe reminiscent of the Leica rangefinders. The new X100F is pretty much the same size as the original, with the same 23mm ƒ2 lens. Most of the changes are under the … [Read more...] about Fujifilm X100F – Star of the Street
Photographer of the day: Pierre Pichot
Category: Street. Photograph: "Strangers in the Dark XXIII" by Pierre Pichot (username "Pierre Pichot" on Flickr). Originally shared on the Photofocus Flickr community right here. Why I picked this image: Tunnels make a nice stage for photography. The leading lines pull your eyes easily to the main subject. Yet lighting in tunnels is usually difficult if you don't want to bring your own light. And an external light is something that most street photographers chose not to use. Pierre overcame the lighting problem by facing … [Read more...] about Photographer of the day: Pierre Pichot
Photographer of the day: Ivan Rigamonti
Category: Street. Photograph: "Close Encounters" by Ivan Rigamonti (username "Ivan Rigamonti" on Flickr). Originally shared on the Photofocus Flickr community right here. Why I picked this image: I like images that tell a story or that animate me to make up a story to it - like thinking of a movie plot from just a single frame. In this image from a train platform in Switzerland, I can see different stories that could have happened between the man and the departing train. Did he miss the train and is upset about it? Did he escort … [Read more...] about Photographer of the day: Ivan Rigamonti
Photographer of the day: Ivan Rigamonti
Category: Street. Photograph: "Missed the Shot?" by Ivan Rigamonti (username "Ivan Rigamonti" on Flickr). Originally shared on the Photofocus Flickr community right here. Why I picked this image: One of the styles of street photography focuses on taking pictures in situations where unrelated parts of the frame on different layers seem to interact with each other to create a story. And this is what Ivan did in this photo. He waited for a person to walk by the splintered window which looks like someone has just fired a bullet and … [Read more...] about Photographer of the day: Ivan Rigamonti
Photographer of the day: thorpelyon
Category: Street. Photograph: "On The Run" by thorpelyon (username "thorpelyon" on Flickr). Originally shared on the Photofocus Flickr community right here. Why I picked this image: I enjoy street photos with subtle humor in them. You may be familiar with the famous image "Kiss, Me Stupid" from Joel Meyerowitz where he captured a couple kissing in front of a movie theater with the show title "Kiss Me, Stupid" on the billboard. I see a similar kind of humor in this analog film image by thorpelyon. The sign over the theater says … [Read more...] about Photographer of the day: thorpelyon
Photographer of the day: Juan Maria Rodriguez
Category: Street. Photograph: "Man in blu" by Juan Maria Rodriguez (username "Juan Maria Rodriguez" on Flickr). Originally shared on the Photofocus Flickr community right here. Why I picked this image: Shadow play offers a creative way in street photography. Shadow size can exaggerate some objects or people or let things from different layers appear to interact with each other. While I shoot most of my street photography, and especially those street photos containing shadows, in B&W, in Juan's shot the blue color of the wall … [Read more...] about Photographer of the day: Juan Maria Rodriguez
Portrait Tip: How to Find Portrait Locations in Unlikely Places
Here is a guest post from Rachel Gulotta of Mango Street Lab. Hi, my name is Rachel Gulotta and my boyfriend Daniel and I are professional wedding and commercial photographers with a mission to share what we know. We just released a tutorial on finding the perfect portrait locations when you're not given much to work with. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBBads18fr0 … [Read more...] about Portrait Tip: How to Find Portrait Locations in Unlikely Places
Photographer of the day: Lauri Novak
Category: Street. Photograph: "Hanging in the balance" by Lauri Novak (username "Lauri Novak" on Flickr). Originally shared on the Photofocus Flickr community right here. Why I picked this image: Street photography is a broad genre of photography. And while it is often perceived that a human element has to be present in a street photo, that does not have to be the case. It may be helpful to think of street photography as part of urban photography where you capture man-made objects, humans interacting with each other or objects or … [Read more...] about Photographer of the day: Lauri Novak
Photographer of the day: Anton Endaya
Category: Street. Photograph: "Untitled" by Aton Endaya (username "Aton Endaya" on Flickr). Originally shared on the Photofocus Flickr community right here. Why I picked this image: Anton captured a great artistic street photo with this image. By choosing a 1/4 of a second exposure time, the motion blur and camera shake transformed a street scene into a piece of surreal art. When printed and framed one would have to look twice to see if this was a painting or a photo. Since the exact outcome of these kinds of images is fairly … [Read more...] about Photographer of the day: Anton Endaya
Photographer of the day: Dean Holland
Category: Street. Photograph: "Untitled" by Dean Holland (username "Dean Holland" on Flickr). Originally shared on the Photofocus Flickr community right here. Why I picked this image: Dean managed to find an impressive location for a street photo. The interwoven circles shaped by the cobblestones and the table tennis plates would make for a great image just by themselves. But Dean managed to get this shot with an incredible light situation that also forms light beams on the floor. He then timed his shot perfectly with a person … [Read more...] about Photographer of the day: Dean Holland
Photographer of the day: Sven Conquest
Category: Street. Photograph: "Captain Hook" by Sven Conquest (username "Sven Conquest" on Flickr). Originally shared on the Photofocus Flickr community right here. Why I picked this image: This image is called "Captain Hook" and was captured in 1980 in Leipzig, East Germany (former GDR - German Democratic Republic). This image is a documentary street portrait that gives us a little uncensored glimpse behind the iron curtain. Growing up in West Germany in the 80's most of the images that I saw from official East German media … [Read more...] about Photographer of the day: Sven Conquest
Photographer of the day: Andrea Fucà
Category: Street. Photograph: "IMG_0913-3" by Andrea Fucà (username "Andrea Fucà" on Flickr). Originally shared on the Photofocus Flickr community right here. Why I picked this image: I love everyday street scenes that are captured and composed well. And Andrea did a great job with the composition, B&W tonality and the depth of field in this image. But an image gains even more importance to me when it makes me think of the story that is happening in the scene. Why is the man carrying these boards? Is he a street food vendor … [Read more...] about Photographer of the day: Andrea Fucà
Photographer of the day: Luis Alvarez Marra
Category: Street. Photograph: "The Thinker" by Luis Alvarez Marra (username "Luis Alvarez Marra" on Flickr). Originally shared on the Photofocus Flickr community right here. Why I picked this image: This image is a fantastic example of great composition, symmetry and the addition of a human element to a street photo. On static street photos like this, you have the time to apply the basic rules of composition just like Luis did here. As I have stated many times before, a street photo does not have to be up close and in your face … [Read more...] about Photographer of the day: Luis Alvarez Marra
Photographer of the day: Keith Hodgkinson
Category: Street. Photograph: "Manchaster, 2016" by Keith Hodgkinson (username "Keith Hodgkinson" on Flickr). Originally shared on the Photofocus Flickr community right here. Why I picked this image: Keith took this silhouette shot against a bright background that turned into a good subject separation. The man looking at his smartphone symbolizes most of us in our daily routine. Therefore I find the choice to leave the subject to be an anonymous silhouette beneficial to the storytelling of this photo. The extra bonus here is the … [Read more...] about Photographer of the day: Keith Hodgkinson
Photographer of the day: Jeff Clouet
Category: Street. Photograph: "x-stairs" by Jeff Clouet (username "Jeff Clouet" on Flickr). Originally shared on the Photofocus Flickr community right here. Why I picked this image: This street photo by Jeff Clouet stands out by its symmetry. The escalators form interwoven X's while the tiles form a mesh of squares and rectangles. The black and white processing works the symmetry and contrasts out nicely. This photo is also full of human elements that breath life into the image. Take a close look at the individuals and see the … [Read more...] about Photographer of the day: Jeff Clouet
Photographer of the day: Ivan Rigamonti
Category: Street. Photograph: "Daydreaming" by Ivan Rigamonti (username "Ivan Rigamonti" on Flickr). Originally shared on the Photofocus Flickr community right here. Why I picked this image: Street photographers have an eye to see the extraordinary in the ordinary and document these scenes with their camera. Ivan captured a beautiful silent moment of a woman daydreaming and looking out of a train window. Quite an ordinary scene that you may have seen many times. But in 2016 I don't see many of these silent moments in big city … [Read more...] about Photographer of the day: Ivan Rigamonti
Mini Review: Tonality (Spoilers: It Makes Great Black and Whites)
So many of us started photography with black and white processing and the love of monochrome has stuck with us. Adams and Weston still haunt my dreams with black skies over Yosemite and pleated peppers. Digital black and white photography is even better because we have more control, far more options, and our fingers don't smell like Rodinol. There are several terrific ways to make your pictures black and white, but the most powerful and my personal favorite is by using Macphun's Tonality. Tonality has an intuitive interface, presets that make … [Read more...] about Mini Review: Tonality (Spoilers: It Makes Great Black and Whites)
Photographer of the day: Paul Henni
Category: Street. Photograph: "Priestly Communications, Florence." by Paul Henni (username "Paul Henni" on Flickr). Originally shared on the Photofocus Flickr community right here. Why I picked this image: A priest wearing his "cassock" robe is already an interesting subject for a street photo. But this image captured by Paul has more to it. The main object that dates this photo to a present day is the modern smartphone in the hands of the priest. Without it, the photo could have been taken half a century ago. The smartphone also … [Read more...] about Photographer of the day: Paul Henni
Photographer of the day: Karina Ter
Category: Street. Photograph: "Pisa, 2016" by Karina Ter (username "Karina Ter" on Flickr). Originally shared on the Photofocus Flickr community right here. Why I picked this image: This artistic street photo by Karina grabbed my attention due to the interesting framing, depth of field perception and the nice silhouette of the man with a hat. People wearing classic hats are rare these days. But they always make a silhouette much more interesting to me. I really like how the natural frame, maybe of a railing gap on a bridge or … [Read more...] about Photographer of the day: Karina Ter
Photographer of the day: Dan Schneider
Category: Street. Photograph: "Tunnel Vision" by Dan Schneider (username "Dan Schneider" on Flickr). Originally shared on the Photofocus Flickr community right here. Why I picked this image: There is always light at the end of the tunnel. Well, almost always. And that makes a tunnel a great spot for silhouette street photography. By setting the exposure to blowing out the highlights at the end of the tunnel, you will get a clean white background. Now you have to wait for a person to walk into or out of the tunnel and align the … [Read more...] about Photographer of the day: Dan Schneider
Photographer of the day: James Meeks
Category: Street. Photograph: "6AM Series - Dixie" by James Meeks (username "James Meeks" on Flickr). Originally shared on the Photofocus Flickr community right here. Why I picked this image: “Sharpness is a bourgeoisie concept.” This quote was made by one of the most famous street photographers of all time - Henri Cartier-Bresson. This quote stresses to put image content and story first, and technical perfection second. Motion blur can add dynamic, drama or mystery to a photo. And that is exactly what James has done in this … [Read more...] about Photographer of the day: James Meeks
Photographer of the day: Dirk Marwede
Category: Street. Photograph: "Untitled" by Dirk Marwede (username "Dirk Marwede" on Flickr). Originally shared on the Photofocus Flickr community right here. Why I picked this image: I did not have to think long about picking this fantastic photo by Dirk Marwede. This is a fine art street photo that has been carefully framed and composed by the rules of photography. And besides the pleasing look, spot on B&W conversion and great timing of the pedestrian captured in a stride, this image can also tell a story about lonelines in … [Read more...] about Photographer of the day: Dirk Marwede
