AcroYoga

@the occasion of Haein’s Opening Party, some photos.

AcroYoga: not all about flying, it’s mostly about teamwork, and so is partying 😉

The streets of Gent

[music: Games without Frontiers – Peter Gabriel]

Delna and I participated in the Gent Photo-Marathon last weekend. We took the opportunity to take a few street shots. People were surprisingly friendly and good natured about having their photos taken, especially when we showed them our cheesy blue ‘PhotoMarathon’ shirts.

Lessons learnt:

1. Black & White is great for these overcast days; great exception to appear on Delna’s blog (soon?)

2. Staying still is a good way to observe and capture people.

3. People are friendly, we had a couple on their second honeymoon pose for us, a few people lent us their umbrellas (including a young girl)

4. Photo-Marathons are great ways to bring even more creativity to our photography

 

each in their own universe

girl and her sheep

along the river

pumping bike on a pink bench

reflection of the train station

hens at the train station

mother hen

street view with borrowed umbrella #1

street view in colour with borrowed umbrella #2

from another time

will they still be doing this in 50 years?

street photographer

boy running

Street Photography

[music: Where the streets have no name – U2]

I have been doing some reading about street photography. And I thought that it would be useful to post what I am finding with annotation.

Bangkok Fruit Stall

My first stop was this 3 part video documentary called the Human Condition by Chris Weeks that DelnaK recommended me, here are links to part 1, part 2, and part 3. The documentary is interesting, but was of limited value to me. My 2 principal complaints are the following:

1. The suggestions where too general, “you need to understand light”, and sometimes it’s simply non-sensical.

2. Too much emphasis on means that only professionals or the independently wealthy can afford, Leica rangefinders, film cameras….

On the plus side, the video allows us to see street photography in action and see how they do it. And it is interesting to hear from photographers on their views of street photography.

Here is a link to some free e-books on Street Photography (thanks Claus!). I haven’t read them yet, but when I do, I will post my thoughts.

Amongst the hundreds of tips and steps and guides and tricks, I also found this post from Digital Photography School entitled 7 secrets every aspiring street photographer should know. I found these suggestions to be very useful for a beginner like myself. I started to think about some specific goals I could set for myself on my next photo walk : stand still, photograph the eyes, take a photo that’s going to stand out in 30 years.

There are also countless pages on equipment recommendations. Most of these are a waste of time to read, a good photo does not depend upon having that M9. I would say that going out with a fixed focal length lens is going to help you to improve your street photography by forcing you to get close to your subject and interact with the street; there’s no sense in hiding behind a zoom lens, it’s all about what you find down on the street  not espionage or paparazzi photography 🙂

If you have any suggestions, recommendations or links to cool sites, please post them in the comments. Thanks!

Stavanger to Bergen by boat

Photos from the Norled express boat from Stavanger to Bergen; most are snapshots of the Fjords and ships along the way. I also included the first views of Bergen and the Hanseatic Trading Post quarter of the city. We were lucky enough to be welcomed by a Tall Ship leaving the city. There were also two Skjold Class missile patrol boats docked there. Next up: Bergen, the bus trip back to Stavanger and a few photos of Lysefjord – and my commentary on the visit.

Leaving Stavanger

Hanseatic League Trading Post

UFO over Dublin

My camera caught a UFO flying over Dublin.

And a few other things as well.

Yellow Umbrella

Conductor

Morning Chat

Afternoon @ O’Connell Street

Evening by the Liffe

Temple Bar Night