Street Portraits – Entry 5

I took another trip to London, this time it was raining and so the sun was hidden by the clouds. Still needing a few more portraits I decided to get my camera out and take a few more pictures. It was a clear, bright day so the lighting was perfect.

Street Portraits – Entry 4

Before Uni, my fellow student Amanda and I went out to take a few more street portraits as I still needed to get a couple more to complete the set. A lot of people refused and it was quite disheartening; some people were polite about it, others were downright rude. Akin to in when I went to London, it was a really sunny day and this made it difficult to get a good picture without overexposure, though when in the shade the pictures came out lovely as there was the right amount of light for a nice shot.

Street Portraits – Entry 3

A few days after my trip to London I ventured out to get a few more photos, I struggled and only ended up taking photos of one person down Cardiff Bay.

The lighting was perfect for these photos, it was the afternoon and the sun was setting so there was just the right amount of light. The shadows on the face are soft and flattering. I really like these photos, hopefully I can get the rest of the photos to look like these. I have found that the photos look best when the person is stood slightly to the side, it looks more relaxed and natural.

F7.1 – ISO 200 – 1/125 sec

Street Portraits – Entry 2

I went to London for a movie premiere and so I took my camera, I thought it would be a good opportunity to take some more street portraits.  With a few friends with me I felt I could easily talk to people in London in comparison to in Cardiff as I’ve found Londoners to be friendlier and more approachable. I managed to take quite a lot of photos, though it was really sunny and so it was quite difficult to get the settings right. Sometimes the photos turned out a little overexposed. Overall I’m quite pleased with how the majority of the photos turned out though I will probably have to go out and take some more photos.

Street Portraits – Entry 1

This was my first time venturing out to take pictures of random civilians in the streets of Cardiff. I went with my friend Tula for support but found we both struggled to pluck up the courage to ask people. We wandered around for a bit trying to find people who looked friendly enough to approach but it wasn’t working. Worried I would be annoying them if I asked and that the camera settings would be wrong when it came to taking the picture. I took a few test shots on one of Tula’s friends who we bumped into, I quite like how they turned out. I eventually said to Tula that we should just go for it and so I asked a few people; only one agreed, the rest said no or said they would but got nervous and started laughing so I couldn’t take the picture.

Although test shots, I think they turned out nicely. The lighting was really nice as there was an overcast, not too much sun to deal with. Her face is really illuminated and her complexion looks fantastic, I’m rather happy with this set of photographs. The first image was in slightly softer focus so I took a few more to get it right.

F5.6 – ISO 1oo – 1/100sec
F5.3 – ISO 100 – 1/100sec

F5 – ISO 100 – 1/100sec

 

The only person that agreed to a photograph, he was sitting down but the photograph still turned out as I hoped. The sun was a little brighter where he was sat and so his skin looks slightly more pinkish than it was in real life. I knelt to his level so that I was not looking down at him as this would make for a rather strange looking portrait and the perspective would be wrong.

F5 – ISO 100 – 1/100sec

Street Portraits – Research

I have seen various examples of street portraits and street photography during uni but I had never really examined a lot of them in much detail to know what makes a great street portrait. Having the confidence to approach people and then taking a photo with great lighting and composition takes a certain time of character, its like an art form.

When it comes to street portraits the first thing that comes to mind is Humans of New York, I love this project and the photographs that are used. It shows real people and captures their personalities, each picture tells a thousand words.