Exercise: Standard focal length

31mm is the standard focal length for my DSLR and my starting point for this exercise was here in the Lanes area in Brighton:

P826: F5.6 @ 1/60  31mm  ISO 800

P827: F5.6 @ 1/200  31mm  ISO 800

P828: F4.5 @ 1/250  31mm  ISO 800

Thinking that maybe using narrow lanes was a bit of a 'cop out', I went over to Chichester to see what might present itself there. By this time I also wanted to experiment a little encouraged by my street photography research.

This time I set out with a borrowed smaller digital camera that fitted in my coat pocket and in my hand and used the 'P' setting recommended by Eric Kim with the ISO set at 800.The Canon Powershot A720 IS has a zoom lens which at 5.8mm I reckoned came to about 34.8mm in 35mm terms.

P830:F4 @ 1/800  5.8mm  ISO 800 ( Canon PowerShot A720 IS )

The lady above saw me with my Powershot as she came to sit down and thinking that I was taking the view through the arches, she obligingly lent back so as not to spoil my shot. That gave me a much better shot of a tired shopper taking the weight of her feet. 

 

P829:F4 @   1/500  5.8mm  ISO 800 ( Canon PowerShot A720 IS )

P829. I saw this stand being unloaded from a van and in true street photographer style followed it for a few minutes to see what exactly it was and where it was going. It turned out to be a doughnut stand offering some interesting images as in P852 below ( though at a about 70mm not a standard focal length).

P852: F4 @ 1/320  11.546mm  ISO 800 ( Canon PowerShot A720 IS)

P831: F4 @ 1/1500  11.546mm  ISO 800 ( Canon PowerShot A720 IS )

Sat down opposite, I was trying to use the background here as a frame and waiting for people to fill it for me ..something that David Gibson calls 'staking out' .I also held the camera low down, clicking when I saw people come in front of me rather than looking through the viewfinder. Interesting to do but not a very striking image above.

Then I switched to my DSLR with a fixed focal lens (40mm). Again not a true standard focal length but one forcing me to try to get closer to people.

P832: F5.6  @ 1/200  40mm  ISO 1600

Jack Simon is an interesting street photographer, a psychiatrist who has become fascinated by the possibilties of photography. I came across a very interesting video of his work published by DL Cade in November 2013 (  http://goo.gl/C4pnPg  ). The video' Eric Kim Hits the Pavement with SF Street Photographer Jack Simon'  follows Simon and Eric Kim walking round the Mission area of San Fransisco. The ensuing dialogue offers insight into Simon's way of working as well as interesting technical detail. He prefers to use a prime lens as not only does he know what he's going to see, it also reduces one level of decision which I thought was interesting. I noticed that he often uses F8 and auto ISO. 

Enough of the technical - he likes the different styles of street art  and the way it can sometimes provide a colourful background in street photography as I do. And his images are inspirational.

However, unlike San Francisco or Portsmouth come to that, Chichester has little street art or interesting grafitti to offer. So I was very surprised to come across some large figures in a narrow alley off the main shopping area. Definitely an opportunity! I waited until some shoppers appeared and took a number of images (no one took any notice -  reserve or too preoccupied? ) until I captured someone mirroring the gait of the figures.  I rather like the end result (P833),though it would have worked even better without the street furniture in the backround.

P833: F8 @ 1/320  40mm  ISO 1600

P834 :F6.3 @ 1/200  40mm ISO 1600

 

P835:F8 @ 1/320  40mm  ISO 1600

P836: F8 @ 1/320  40mm ISO 1600

P837 : F8 @ 1/320 40mm  ISO 1600

To my surprise, I enjoyed this exercise. OK, I adjusted the instructions a little but it was too good an opportunity not to draw on and practise what I've come across so far in researching street photography and photographers.