Today's Street Session

[Omaroo]

I had a great day with my OM-D. What a phenomenal camera, and coupled all day to the 75mm f/1.8, I think that maybe 270+ out of 330 taken are keepers. The AF is amazing when it's called upon to work in unison with the 5-axis IS. All shots were composed via the EVF and it was good. My only criticism is that the EVF takes a second or two to wake up between shots, but it doesn't need to be active for the next shot to be taken anyway, so no biggie. Just shoot! The 75mm f/1.8 lens is a pearl. It's fast, accurate, sharp. It's the perfect "street" length at 150mm in full frame parlance. You can get those shots that you might have difficulty getting away with otherwise. I'll have to get the 45mm f/1.8 now, which will be a perfect short portrait lens. Very happy. :thumbsup: Obviously , these uploaded versions are low quality to fit within the limits.

[Bassnut]

Excellent Chris, top work.
Question. Ive done some street photo portrates with my daughter of hard ass looking characters, a bit like some of yours. Its a bit awkward with these types. I try to make it canded, but they usually cotten on whats up and get a bit agrevated. How do you handle that, ask, be very sligh, or just click and run?.

[Omaroo]

LOL.. Thanks Fred. Yep, it can get a little touch and go at times, but I generally get away with it giving a smile, a nod and a salute.

For the hard target, I've found that the secret is to focus on someone else or something at similar distance, lock it, then swing on to your target and fire. It's when you spend time focusing and composing on them that people become uneasy with a camera. One of the other things is to use a lens with focal length anywhere between 100 and 200mm and keep your distance. The Oly 75mm is a great length because the Micro Four Thirds system doubles it to 150mm - which is ideal. Image stabilisation is important here - because you're always hand-held and sometimes in dappled shadow or even darkness.

Failing any of that, as soon as you take your shot, move to one side and fire again - pretending that they were in the way! Works most of the time... :thumbsup:

[rcheshire]

Looks like you had a lot of fun Chris. They are great shots. I like #6 in particular. The OM-D looks like a nice setup - BW works really well in this setting.

[leon]

Wow that is so good Chris, love it, that new camera of yours seems to be a joy to use, well done.

Leon

[Omaroo]

Thanks so much Leon. :) I'm going to head out again today, and take just the one body and the one lens. Travelling light - it's wonderful. :thumbsup:

[sheeny]

Nice work Chris!

Monochrome is good for a lot of street shots - stops uncontrolled colour detracting from the subject.

Al.

[Omaroo]

Thanks Al. I've always loved black and white for many reasons - one of which is, as you say, colour getting in the way of what's otherwise important - tone. I actually think that colour gets in the way most of the time. Obviously, there are those startling scenes where colour is everything, but most can do without it. My father was a president of a large Sydney camera club for nearly a decade and his specialty - for which he won hundreds of awards - was black and white. The proper darkroom we built at home always smelled of chemicals because we were constantly developing both film and paper. I guess my appreciation for colourless presentation comes from this.

THis is one of those "colour" shots... :lol:

[Tamtarn]

Chris this is a marvelous series of shots.

Having never taken any candid images your info on ways to go about it is very helpful, must try it at sometime.

David.

[Omaroo]

Thanks David! :) Give it a go for the August challenge... it's "street"!

[Deeno]

Great stuff, the guy peering through the door is a cracker!

[Omaroo]

Thanks Deeno. LOL... He smiled about three seconds later.

[mercedes_sl1970]

Nice, no great set of photos. I like 1 (that streetlight is so sharp), and 2 (says so much about Sydney) the most.

Andrew

[Omaroo]

Cheers Andrew - thanks so much!

[rally]

Chris,

What is nice here is you seem to be having a lot of fun.
Heck, I am even enjoying the ride !

Sometimes photography gets in the way of the pursuit of enjoyment - you get so caught up in the technical aspects and driving the gear itself, that you lose sight and purpose of the reason for doing it !

Of course its not always just for fun either, but its nice if it can be both.

Cheers

Rally

[Omaroo]

Thanks Rally, and you're right! I am having fun. Lot's of it. Taking just the one lightweight camera and single high-performance lens is key. You challenge yourself to capture everything with the one focal length. I's amazing how creative you end up being - adapting to the situation rather than merely dipping into the bag for another lens or resorting to a zoom - not that there's anything wrong with that... LOL :)

I have a meeting in town this morning (well, a business lunch at the Malaya) so I've decided to go in a couple of hours early just to photograph the streets around Central, Haymarket and Town Hall/QVB. Can't wait to get there. :thumbsup:

[iceman]

Fantastic results Chris, looks like you're having fun with that camera.
I only noticed the ads of the camera after seeing your posts here :)

[Omaroo]

Thanks Mike :) LOL... it's always like that when you buy a new car - you see them all over the place! I think the ads are a bit over the top, but they have a winner on their hands for sure.

Off to take a bunch more this morning :thumbsup: