Project 2 - People unaware

People & Place - Trying Something New

I haven't used blogging before even though I have completed TAOP and Project 1 of People and Place, but thought I would give it a go to see how it went.

 

Just started Project 2 called People Unaware and went up Broad Street, Lyme Regis, to see how I got on. People seem very reluctant to be 'in your photo' so it seems a case of focus elsewhere and then swing round to catch them. It's okay if their attention is elsewhere with active focussing but if you have to refocus then it can be difficult. Will post some pictures later.

Exercise 9 - A Comfortable Situation

I find working in the street quite imtimidating these days. I have been taking random pictures for over 25 years and in this last decade the atmosphere has changed quite noticeably.

Nowadays people make distinct moves away from the camera, almost as if they are afraid to be caught on camera. With street scenes you need people to give a sense of scale and a focal point. Without anyone walking towards you (walking away is not the same) the eye has something to focus on and then it can travel round the picture. Without that focal point your eye just wanders round and round, not sure what the main point of the image is.

When I first went out with my camera, I found myself pretending to photograph a building/shop/view and then swung round to get the people I had spotted in the picture. This can give rise to unfocussed subjects as you have to be fairly quick to get the subject in the picture before they turn away or realise you are using them in your shot.

Very often too people will hang back when they see you taking a picture so that they are not in it. Even if you wave them past, they will still avoid being a part of it. I have used an example, see right, of people walking down Broad Street in Lyme where the couple divide to go round me, like the parting of the waters in the bible.

Eventually, if I continue long enough, I find I become more comfortable with the situation and can stand and shoot images of everything around me, not worrying about those people who don't want to be part of the pictures.

Exercise 10 - Moment and Gesture

I agree that a few seconds apart can make or break a shot. I went out along Marine Parade in Lyme during Easter weekend and took several before and after pictures. The before shots were grab shots when I just wanted to record the action. If there was time then I stood back and took another picture with more time to compose the image.

There was one little girl in a bright red skirt running along the beach to a stone groyne. My first image was of her running along. I waited a couple of minutes and along came her father who lifted her up on to the wall and danced with her. This gave me a much better shot that the first one.

The two pictures outside the beach huts were with a standard lens and the telephone lens of my Olympus mju. The grab shot shows the couple sitting outside their hut reading in the sunshine, but a couple of minutes later they are hailed by people they know who are walking along the Cart Road. This makes a much more interesting shot as the seated couple are about to interact with the walking couple.

Exercise 11 - Telephoto

Lyme Regis, during Easter week, gave ample opportunity to complete Exercise 11. The sun shone brilliantly and the sea was so calm it gave amazing reflections with the coastline towards West Bay and Portland suitably hazy. There was so much going on on the beach and in the harbour that no one took any notice of people with cameras. There were so many cameras in evidence that you had to be pretty clever to avoid them.

There were plenty of situations that enabled me to stand back to take the wider view, then close in with my telephoto lens. I always carry a small camera in my handbag (at the moment I use an Olympus mju 6010 Tough as it's waterproof and shockproof with a 3.6 times optical zoom) and this quite adequately fulfils my needs. I really enjoyed this exercise and feel I covered it well, see examples below.

There was a charity rowing boat, due to take part in an Atlantic crossing race, and from about 50 yards away I could get the whole boat into the shot using the standard lens. With the telephoto zoomed in, I could only achieve half the boat at a time. Luckily some people stood beside it to give it a sense of scale.

 

 

 

 

Wednesday, 9 June 2010

 

Exercise 15 - Public space, public activity

This exercise asks you to take pictures in an organised space and lists a public beach as one area to consider. I have been taking pictures on Lyme beach since moving here last September and have found a selection to illustrate a variety of activities. These range from kite flying, digging, sun bathing, talking and the Brownies holding a meeting on a Saturday morning.