Street with a tele

Jose A Martinez · Aug 4, 2008

Markok765 said:
I went to a gallery in Torontos distillery district today. I saw some street done with just a tele 200mm lens. I spoke to the photographer, and he said that a wide limits you in street photos. He also said that Canon zooms are as good quality as Leica primes. He also said that digi black and white is the same as film black and white.

I can't believe this.

Me neither. Question is, how the images were?... did he sell?... 200 mm for street shooting? bull****... As Robert Capa said, if your photos aren't good is because you aren't close enough.

Markok765 · Aug 4, 2008

Thats what I told him! Apparently he also shoots street with a 100-400 zoom.

Anupam Basu · Aug 4, 2008

Markok765 said:
Apparently he also shoots street with a 100-400 zoom.

Apart from the issue of engaging your subject etc, a long lens will affect perspective severely. It might be useful for picking off people from the distance like a sniper but it will result in severely compressed backgrounds. Might be good for candid portraiture but I don't regard that as street photography really. If I shoot portraits on the street I want them to be environmental portraits, people interacting with their surroundings, with each other and, on occasion, with the camera.

This shot I almost consider to be a portrait on the streets - 21mm - I was barely 4feet away:

Simplicius · Aug 12, 2008

Funny I have been doing all my (attempts at) Street Photography with a 50mm lens and have been pondering moving up to 85mm or 135mm and seeing how that works. I tend to prefer a fixed lens, somehow the zoom gives me too much fiddle time and whatever shot I thought I saw is gone in the flow of the crowd.

I always aim for 5 foot away (with the 50mm lens) from the individual who catchs my eye and I am often caught due to the proximity. (Aside: My height doesn't help either I fear at 6'6'' but that is another thread about leprecauns are the optimum height for Street Photography)

Anyway, I'm hoping being 10- 14 feet away will make those instances of being caught less frequent.

The main thing is though as I stumble blindly on in this journey is getting a good shot is still such a buzz and long may that continue.

f/stopblues · Aug 12, 2008

Simplicius, I'm actually going the other way with street photography. I started out with a 50mm, then 35/40mm.. now I'm really craving a 28mm!

We'll see how that works out. I'm also vertically gifted at 6'7" I haven't noticed any problem with that style of shooting so far, though. Maybe I'm just used to people gawking at me!

Paul Howell · Aug 12, 2008

Good street photography is not for the faint of heart, to over quote and perhaps misquote Robert Capa, "if your pictures are not good enough you are not close enough."

Dave Wooten · Aug 12, 2008

...no rhyme nor reason...

In the late 60's and through the 70's 99 % of my photography was street photography. I had one camera and one lens a Pentax Spotmatic and a 50 mm F 1.4 lens. I still have that camera and lens. It remains my most favorite set up for "knocking about" in the street. At times I used the Rolleiflex 3.5 Tessar 80 mm.

Since I have added Nikon 35 1.4 , I have continued this series of street photos with the Pentax 50 mm and the Nikon 35 mm. I like late evening and night shots and bar room shots, and old alleys.

I recently -due to the currently low prices- have picked up other 50 mm primes.

The RF 645 Bronica, with the 65 mm lens I have worked with when light is not a problem, (lenses 45 mm , 65 mm and 100 mm are all F/4) its quality is exceptional, I like it for color and often use the tiny flash attached. Its vertical orientation I like for street portraiture.

As of late I have been working on becoming more fluent with the graflex and the 90 mm and the 135 mm 4 x 5. Also the 6 x 12 and 6 x 17 with 90 mm f/8. The Brooklyn bridge photo Matt Blaise used for the center of the Apug ad for a past Silver Convention was shot with this set up....90 mm and 6 x 17, hand held. You can see this camera in my gallery, in the tech gallery.

90 mm and 135 would be long on 35 mm cameras, but on 4 x 5 are normal and wide.

I have had minimal problems with the public. In NYC 2 years ago, a food stand vendor berated me, (in Chicago they loved the camera). Mix in with the crowd, act as if you belong in the environment, don't sneak about and hide, be agressively positive and positively agressive, keep moving.... hang out with Les McLean and develope an affinity for the wide lens and improve your people skills. Learn depth of field and to pre focus, your shorter lenses really shine here.

I know this post is asking about tele s in street photography. I like the look and perspective that is "normal" focal length to wide....if one needs to "get back" you can get the similar perspective by moving up in format size.

I really like street photography, as long as it it not a job, and has no apparent rhyme nor reason.... just the surprise of having the proof of what you thought you saw.

Paul Howell · Aug 12, 2008

Dave Wooten said:
In the late 60's and through the 70's 99 % of my photography was street photography. I had one camera and one lens a Pentax Spotmatic and a 50 mm F 1.4 lens. I still have that camera and lens. It remains my most favorite set up for "knocking about" in the street. At times I used the Rolleiflex 3.5 Tessar 80 mm.

I agree, most of the classic photojournilism done in the golden days of the
30s though the early 80s was done with a normal prime lens. Look at pictures from that time peroid of a gaggel of PJ mobbing someone, almost all used a TLR, 4X5 press camera or 35mm with a normal prime.

AutumnJazz · Aug 12, 2008

Paul: James Nacthwey uses a 16-35mm zoom lens.

Funny, I just did a bunch of street photography in NYC. First time in NYC, only done it around town, here. I must say, it was exhilarating. Exciting, even. I did it with a 35mm, and wished I had a wider lens! lol

montecarlo · Aug 13, 2008

Hello everyone.

I'm new to this forum and (almost) new to photography (I started two years ago with a Zenit E camera and a digital P&S and now I use digital but never gave up film), too and I like this kind of photography (street photography) the best. This kind of photos never made me get bored and usually no photo is like another.
Regarding what to use (tele, normal or wide) I think is also about what do we want to show in the photograph and how. I use all kind of focal lenghts for street shooting, starting from 28mm to 200mm especially whan I want do have a more narrow DOF.
I like the street photos from onexposure http://www.onexposure.net/?photos=street and of course the majority of the shots posted on http://www.in-public.com/photographers and http://www.public-life.org/photographers/ . Among them Bruce Gilden's way of making photos http://www.public-life.org/media/bruce-gilden/5/ striked me the most.

Andy K · Aug 13, 2008

Hi, welcome to the forum.

Dave Wooten · Aug 14, 2008

For an in your face technique see Montecarlos post above on bruce gilden, magnum photographer, note the flash technique. Flash is not mounted on camera (leica rf) but held in hand. Bruce "confronts" each of his subjects from a few feet away....Bruce is a pro....is this technique for you? Just thought I'd ask...

Thanks Montecarlo and welcome to the forum

John Koehrer · Aug 15, 2008

"I use long lenses" "I use short lenses"
Ever notice how opinions are like assholes? Everybody's got one!

eddym · Aug 16, 2008

John Koehrer said:
Ever notice how opinions are like assholes? Everybody's got one!

And as my dear old daddy used to say, "...and they all stink."

arigram · Aug 16, 2008

You can do street with any lens you want.
The thing is that you need to learn that one lens.
You have to learn how it sees the world, how it affects perspective, what kind of DOF it has, how fast it is.
You have to learn to compose with that lens.
That lens becomes your eyes.
With street you don't have the time to pick different lenses for different scenes.
You also need to be able to visualize the photograph before even bringing the camera to your eyes.
The most important thing is that, like I said, the lens becomes your eyes. The lens becomes the way you see the world, the way you create the photograph.
That's why you have to choose one lens, any lens and stick with it.

JBrunner · Aug 16, 2008

Aristotelis Grammatikakis nails it.

arigram · Aug 16, 2008

JBrunner said:
Aristotelis Grammatikakis nails it.

Jason Brunner, that is maybe the first time I see my whole name typed on this forum and I must say I am honored. I never liked being called "Ari" but I understand the difficulties of spelling 28 letters. Thank you.

benjiboy · Aug 16, 2008

My favourites are my 35mm f2, and 50mm f1.4 for street, and if one of my subjects who is bigger and younger than I am tries to stick my camera "where the Sun don't shine" they won't be as painful as a telephoto.

tim elder · Aug 17, 2008

Just as an aside, Harry Callahan did a beautiful series of street photographs of women in close-up using a long lens - my point echoing that of Arigram's, that it's not the size of the lens that matters but the use of its characteristics in order to realize your ideas.

Tim

benjiboy · Aug 17, 2008

Wasn't it Harry Callahan who used a Smith and Wesson .44 Magnum for his street shooting ?

gerryyaum · Sep 1, 2008

200mm? hmm where is he hiding in the bushes somewhere? Guess Cartier Bresson, Frielander and Winogrand were wrong!

gerryyaum · Sep 1, 2008

tim elder said:
Just as an aside, Harry Callahan did a beautiful series of street photographs of women in close-up using a long lens - my point echoing that of Arigram's, that it's not the size of the lens that matters but the use of its characteristics in order to realize your ideas.

Tim

hmm size does not matter but how you use that size...ok thanks

SilverGlow · Nov 3, 2008

gerryyaum said:
hmm size does not matter but how you use that size...ok thanks

I dunno...ask most women these days, most would rather be shot with a long lens then a short one.....

André E.C. · Nov 4, 2008

I've done some street stuff with my 180mm , I did it with pretty much every focal lenght along the range. 20,24,28,35,50,85,17-35,28-105 and 180mm, what's best, what's worst? Everything is fine if it works for you, street photo with a tele is rather interesting, it's more of a sniper aproach, gives you the confort of distance and invisibility, it's also nice for your subject matter, since you are not there in their face with a flash blasting at their eyes and a optic pointed at their face, it's just another way to do the job, it works, believe me.

André

fmajor · Dec 29, 2008

benjiboy said:
Wasn't it Harry Callahan who used a Smith and Wesson .44 Magnum for his street shooting ?

Yup - a S&W Model 29 with an 8 1/2" barrel. There was a movie where ole "Dirty Harry" used an 11 3/4" barrel, but was a chromed version and seemed rather ungainly - despite obvious gains in velocity and resultant boosts in kinetic energy. However, i digress...

Street with a tele

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