Citysnaps

Against the wall

Just a little more rain…

I am getting so tired of the rain and umbrella pix. Should be the last for a looong time….

Jon the barber

One of the great things about wandering around San Francisco with a camera is bumping into different people from all walks of life. That’s what jazzes and energizes me. And that’s what makes it so I can never get enough street shooting. Emilio Bañuelos, one of the instructors in the workshop I participated in recently, likens it to taking vitamins. It’s something you do to recharge yourself and feel better.

I came across Jon playing with Kiki the dog and Michael, Kiki’s owner, about a month ago in Northbeach. Since I blogged about Kiki and Michael earlier, I figured it would now be good to introduce Jon. The three of them were hanging at a Northbeach cafe enjoying the afternoon and were great about having some photos taken.

Jon is a barber and cuts hair at a shop on 2nd and Mission where he’s been for 8 years. He also hangs out in Northbeach and plays guitar. I snagged a couple photos after posing him against a nearby wall. My photo-friend Jen who I was shooting with at the time photographed him full length with his guitar case in the context of the street.

The outcome was two different portraits. And now with prints to give him in the future, I think he’ll like how both turned out. I’ve blogged a couple times in the past about giving small prints back to subjects I expect to see again on the street. There’s always a bunch of 4×6 prints in my camera bag. For me, it’s always satisfying seeing how people react. It’s easy to do and costs almost nothing. But the rewards are great. It’s a small way of giving something back.

Not surprisingly, I ran into Jon again two weeks ago in Northbeach and chatted a bit. What was nice was he remembered me and then gave me a light-hearted ribbing on how I should be trimming my beard. Sometime in the future I’ll stop by his shop and let him take a professional whack at it – that might be a good trade for a print…

On Polk

.

The photo above of Carla and Stan is one that I keep going back and forth on as to whether it should stay in color, or rendered to black and white. Usually I favor B&W, but in this particular portrait I’m liking the way the colors in Carla’s face and glasses work with Stan’s shirt.

This was taken two weekends ago during the Wandering in the Company of Strangers workshop that I blogged about earlier. Was great shooting with a couple of other workshop photographers (Susan and Rikki) as we went through the City…

.

.

Edit 2/5/10: Here’s the black and white version.  And I’m liking it better now – her expression feels much more intense…

On Powell

Every once in awhile I go out and shoot with my 10-22mm super-wide lens and digital Rebel. It’s a great combination for street shooting being so light in weight and small. I’m holding onto that cam and lens for a long time…

Upcoming presentation at The Exposure Gallery

If you’re free and in the area this Thursday night, please stop by The Exposure Gallery and experience what will no doubt be a great exhibition of work and talk by documentary photographers from Black Boots Ink, a Bay Area documentary photography collective.

The reception opens at 6pm, the presentation begins at 7pm. The Exposure Gallery is at 801 Howard St, at 4th.  Should be really interesting, hope to see you there….

The Wall on Valencia Street

I went back to 1240 Valencia to see how The Wall was looking and to take a few wide-angle photographs. This is the wall that was pasted-up with photos taken last weekend during the Wandering in the Comapany of Strangers workshop.

Hanging around on the sidewalk, the first thing I noticed was some people were slowing down and looking at the photos when walking by. Seemed like a good opportunity to find out what people in the neighborhood thought about the exhibition and to take some portraits.

Here are portraits of Amber, Valerie, and Gus with his dog Moko.

All thought it was pretty neat bringing art back to the people. And everyone said the photos were terrific. People asked how long the photos would stay up. The answer, of course, is until new art is pasted over what’s there now….

When it rains…

This was photographed last weekend through the car window of one of the workshop participants. As a passenger it was great snapping life going by. Or in this case, what seemed mostly like the absence of life.

Bringing it back to the street

It was paste-up day in The Mission this morning. Participants and instructors from the San Francisco Wandering in the Company of Strangers workshop got together at 1240 Valencia to put up some photographs made during the weekend. The goal was to bring back photographs that were taken in the City back to the people, on the street, for all to see. Photos from the Guadalajara workshop were put up along side and LA photos are coming after that workshop. Fortunately the weather was decent so it went pretty smooth, taking less than an hour and a half. Everyone had a good time and it was nice hooking up with the other photographers again.

Come check out the wall if you’re in the area – it looks really great!

I met Malik while wandering in the company of strangers

Meet Malik!  He’s one of the many people I engaged and photographed on the street this weekend in San Francisco while participating in Black Boots Ink’s Wandering in the Company of Strangers workshop, hosted by photographers Emilio Bañuelos, Ibarionex Perello, Elena Carrasco, and Unnikrishnan “Unni” Raveendranathan. I had a terrific time, learned a lot, and came away very charged up.

Wandering in the Company of Strangers is a workshop that travels between San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Guadalajara. It’s an opportunity for photographers at all levels to improve their people engagement and relationship building skills photographing strangers on the street, as well as learning to reveal narrative through photographs. Reciprocally, it’s also an opportunity for workshop photographers to give back to the people through exhibitions of photographs on the street giving voice to the area (and other workshop cities) in the process. Barring bad weather, our photos are going up in a couple days at a space at 24th and Valencia.

I learned new skills, was made aware of some bad habits, and overall am more confident about taking my urban photography and street portraiture to a higher level. I also met and was inspired by many very talented photographers. I’ll be writing more about the experience in subsequent posts, and including some portraits I made while in the workshop.

.

Edit 1/26 AM: We’re going to be wheat-pasting our photo-posters into a mural on an outdoor wall at 1240 Valencia Street on Wednesday at 10am.This is part of an on-going community undertaking through the (de)Appropriation Project. Please stop by and say hello if you’re in the area!

.

Also….

When I first approached Malik and asked if I could take his picture, he declined, but eventually said, “OK, but only one.”  I posed him against the building’s corner column so he was in context of the street. Initially not being all that friendly he was determined to give me the attitude you see on the left. In many ways I think it is a more powerful image.

I ended up talking with him for probably close to half an hour. Over that time he loosened up a ton and became very engaging and was full of character. I ended taking a lot of photos. One of the messages of the workshop is SLOW DOWN, linger, and spend more time with your subjects – rather than snap and run after taking one photo. The result in this encounter was coming away with the image above, which in my opinion, is much more representative of who Malik really is – a very engaging, funny, and soft-spoken person.

City Lights (Comments: Sniping from what seems like 20,000 feet)

I really haven’t done much night street photography. But last Sunday I went out with a photo-bud and shot a lot in Chinatown and Northbeach. This was taken through a window on the 2nd floor while having a beer at Vesuvio Cafe on Columbus. That’s City Lights book store to the left, with Jack Kerouac Alley in-between. City Lights was the place to be in the 1950’s if you were into Beat Generation literature and poetry. Shooting from the upstairs area at Vesuvio is pretty neat because you can watch the world go by below, and snap when something interesting comes into view.

Still raining…

One year ago today…

That’s Frydoon. He’s a Chronicle vendor and sells papers at Powell and Market. I snapped this street portrait a year ago today – it’s one of my favorites. His face says it all capturing his pride of the history-making inauguration. We traded email info, and after an exchange, I sent him a couple of prints. What really made my day was finding out he was sending one to his mother in Iran.

On Powell street portrait

This street portrait’s a little different. At the time I had a borrowed 15mm fisheye lens on my camera. And rather than disturb the moment to switch lenses and try and pose the subjects, I just snapped from a couple feet away and moved on. What I’m learning is that lens can be used on the street effectively, though you have to be aware of its effects.

Reflect

On Stockton Street

Don’t…

.

.

For me, photographs should stand on their own without a lot of help from words and accounting to carry the idea or message. That’s especially true for street photographs. Lately I’ve been writing more than usual and think it’s been getting a little stuffy. Ideally, photographs should breath without explanation or suggestion; though that’s kind of at odds with what personal photoblogs are generally about. Will be taking a break and cutting back on that to see how it goes, though I do have a few photo stories/essays of individuals coming up, and of course those are different.

Say Hi to Kiki!

That’s Kiki upfront there. Though she’s a sweetheart, at that moment in time shooting just a foot away, I was wondering if my camera was viewed as  just a minor annoyance on the way to some pretty tasty finger food.  Fortunately, Michael her owner had a good grip on her leash!  Snapped at an outdoor cafe in Northbeach on a photo-walk with Jeanne and Jen.

Vladimir Friday

Photo Copyright © Vladimir

That’s the latest postcard print that came in the mail from Vladimir. He characterized it as a “Grand Slam in spite of the atrocious cross-lighting.”  And further said that it “called for timing and agility compared to which the classic 12 O’clock High pass by a B17 is easy.”  I’ll take his word on that…

A couple of photographer buddies and myself ran into him on Market Street a few weeks ago. It was a good time to snag shots of people engaged in the holiday gift buying madness. He’s holding Fangio, an old Leica M2 (one of eight similarly brassed M2s) named after the 1950s era Argentine race car driver, that he chemically de-chromed down to the brass base metal. Darren, one of the photographer’s I was shooting with had a nice looking M3 and was getting the rundown by Vladimir on how to do the de-chroming.  Pretty sure he’s not going to go that way…

More context for 2010

Yesterday was the first time I’ve been out shooting in more than a week. Last Wednesday I came down with what I suspect was food poisoning from eating some bad chicken and have been pretty much out of commission since. Sure felt great shooting yesterday. I’ve really missed all the energy and excitement out there, though it seemed the level was a little subdued compared to recent outings around the Holidays. I talked to a few people, took some snaps, handed out prints to a couple SFPD officers, and took a couple of street portraits.

In the late afternoon I found a protest forming on Market near 3rd. It was a group of close to a thousand union hotel workers in dispute over contract health care benefits with local hotel management; resulting in worker walkouts and boycotts. The group ended up at the Hilton Hotel where there was a sit-down in the lobby resulting in some arrests.

One aspect about my photography I’d really like to improve for 2010 is context. That is, capturing subjects and events with more supporting environmental information.  For the last couple of years, I think I’ve been getting too close to subjects (usually to reduce clutter) at the expense of missing important contextual supporting features that can help make a better photograph from multiple elements coming together in a pleasing manner. IMO, that’s one of the toughest challenges to creating good street photography. So, that’s my photo-resolution for the new year – more context for better photos….

Staking out a place to shoot – Part 2

This is another take on a background I used in a previous blog post a month ago about staking out an uncluttered background and waiting for subjects to enter the frame.

I think I like it a little better because of the richer interpretive possibilities. As I’ve mentioned before, photographs that work the best for me don’t reveal answers with everything presented, but rather pose questions.  They release narrative possibilities to stir the imagination into interpreting what’s depicted. By the way, that’s far different than the notion that pictures tell stories. They don’t!

Wishing everyone good health, good luck and nice light for 2010!

Pix from last Saturday

Seems I’ve been shooting a lot with other photographers lately; just about every time I’ve gone out for the last month or two. That’s an aspect of the hobby I really enjoy. Usually it’s from a local group of SF urban photographers known as Blow-Up!.  There are more than 70 photographers in the group, with about half that are social, engaging in shootings, get-togethers, beer-and-gears, parties, etc. We even have a large exhibition coming up soon.

What makes it great is that everyone loves the street. There’s a certain energy and rhythm that for me defines what street photography is about. There’s a difference between taking photos on the street and engaging in street photography, but that distinction is probably worthy of a post of its own someday. In any event, there’s nothing better than being out there with like-minded shooters who share a similar aesthetic and respect for the genre, as well as those who are curious and want to see what that it’s is all about. I always learn or discover something new when shooting with other photographers.

The photos in today’s post (as well as the one from the previous post below) are from shooting with four other shooters from last Saturday. I ended up snapping a lot of candids and a few posed street portraits. The street portrait above is one of my favorites as there are eight subjects and all are relaxed. And I’ve never seen the CHP in downtown San Francisco before…

In it

Christmas Shopping

Merry Christmas!

Or…

“Best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2010 , but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures. Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.” (From the net in many places and edited – proper attribution not possible)

With all that aside, Best Wishes and Happy Snapz to all! Hope your 2010 is bright and with lots of photo opportunities ahead.

And finally, a big Thank You to everyone who has stopped by here over the last year to visit – I really appreacitate it!

…

Street Portrait: Stephanie

No Words: Contemplation

…

Mozart Forever!

While wandering about the Civic Center area yesterday during a photo-walk with a couple photographer friends, I was struck by this carved-in-cement scrawl just of the sidewalk. I’ve seen all sorts of inscriptions, art, and graffiti applied to just about every imaginable surface in the City. But this one with its simplicity caught me off-guard and piqued my curiosity more than most. As far as being photo-worthy, it did resonate and pose questions – which for me makes it a suitable subject. Who took the time and risk to carve such a bold proclamation in wet cement?  A kid humming a Mozart symphony walking by? Hah, not likely…  It was across the street from Davies Symphony Hall. Perhaps it was an older couple exiting the Hall resplendent in tux and gown after enjoying an afternoon Mozart concert freshly motivated to keep his spirit alive. Eh… also not likely, but who knows…

In any event, the scrawl caused me to flash back to a scene from the movie Amadeus, where young Mozart goofs on Salieri’s masterpiece as the older and bitter court-composer was presenting it to the Austrian emperor.

…

Street portrait: In the Mission 2

That’s Jonny and Erica in the photoset above. They were snapped in the Mission last Saturday on Valencia Street. Jonny is an audio engineer and lives down the Peninsula; Erica is a bartender and lives in the Mission. Both are incredibly photogenic and were great for some impromptu street portraits. Why do they like the Mission district in SF? Because “It has everything and always has the best weather in the City!”

….

French Connection

Well, I think this will probably be the last of the super-wide fisheye shots for awhile…

….

Street portrait: In the Mission

This street portrait was snapped in the Mission last Sunday down Clarion Alley, off Valencia St. That’s one of the alleys in the area covered with murals from different local artists. Click this link to take a Google street view tour of the alley – though the murals have changed since Google’s photos were taken. Lydia is on the left, Shin at center, and Audrey at the right. All live in SF and were good sports for pix. Lydia and Shin work at Tsunami Sushi Bar and Audrey is at Andalu restaurant.  Good places to visit when you’re hungry…

…

Upwards

….

Hanging out…

….

Ommwriter

The above is a screenshot of Ommwriter, here’s a link to the company.

.

12/13/09 PM Edit:

For those that aren’t familiar with San Francisco, when people say they are going to “the Mission,” that refers to a neighborhood or district in SF. That neighborhood is where Mission Dolores, a Spanish mission founded in 1776, is located.

Had a super time shooting this afternoon. Met a lot of interesting people on the street and took some posed street portraits which I’ll post in the next few days. And was fun shooting with photo-bud Quyen who isn’t shy about getting in front of and engaging strangers for street portraits – there’s always something learned in the process.

…

A nice NYC experience

One of the highlights of my recent NYC trip was visiting B&H Photography – a pretty AMAZING and well-run operation. Every photographer should visit B&H at least once in their lifetime…

After the visit, a handful of photographers from the group were hanging around outside in front. Having camera in hand, I was snapping anything that looked interesting; including a cute dog who was with his owner and had just come out of B&H.

After a few ground-level snaps, the owner said please don’t take my picture. In response I nodded, even though it was his dog I was shooting, and thought that was that – not a big deal. Ten seconds later, seeming very concerned, he asked why I was photographing him. To which I replied I wasn’t; it was his dog. We went back and forth a little more, a little tense but still friendly. Gave him my card (showed him several Moo cards each with a different photo) and told him I do a SF urban photography blog and that I would like to take a portrait of him and his dog to post later.

The engagement and card made it happen – he (it was now Brandon) said sure. I found a spot and took a few snaps Overall it turned out to be a great experience. We bs’d a little more and both left happy.

BTW, I highly recommend MOO Mini cards – they’re a great ice-breaker and with the ability to have a different photo on each card, a handful of them become an instant portfolio. I have both the regular size (actually larger than standard US size) and the mini-cards. People warm up to the mini-cards much much more (I have some funny stories) than the regular ones.

…

Drum Circle at Hippy Hill

A couple Sundays ago I went shooting in the Haight with three other photographer friends and we ended up at Golden Gate Park’s Hippy Hill. Was quite an experience never having been there before. There was a little bit of everything; families enjoying the day chilling on blankets, dogs running around, a few solicitations for weed and stuff stronger, twirlers, hula-hoopers, picnickers, people doing yoga – as well as a few that seemed lost and generally not well. Ages ranged from the very young to the elderly. Overall Hippy Hill was wrapped in a carefree free-spirit ambience and aroma that probably hasn’t changed much since the 1960s. Looks like it would be a nice way to relax for an afternoon.

In the middle of it all was the drum circle; an interesting informal and eclectic mix of people jamming with different varieties of congas and other drums. It was all very mesmerizing – kind of like watching fire. There were also people coming in and out playing harmonica, flute, cello, and sax. Overall it was pretty mellow, but was glad I went with a few friends. No hassles at all, but I was definitely getting a vibe about snapping so close; and thinking ahead what to do if the situation changed. In spite of that, I have a couple project ideas in mind and will be going back soon.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Click the green triangle above to hear a little of what was recorded – it’s muddy though…

…

Some NYC photos…

Monday evening I met up with a group of photographers who traveled to New York City a month and a half ago for some urban shooting (put on by Foothill College as a field study workshop). We had a fun time showing our photos Monday and it was great seeing what others snagged!

Thought it was time to post up some of my snaps as a collection. Click here to view the set.  Or, here for a different presentation of the same photos (which also has a slideshow button option at the bottom). I’m curious to know if people prefer one presentation method over the other…

…

A Christmas Carol

Another MUNI bus snap…  This one is at night and on Market. Kind of like the mood set by the people lit in the bus against the signage outside.

…

Caught snapping on the street

Just another photographer snapping; no idea who he is. Think I surprised him when he put his cam down from his eye and I was right in front of him…

…

Fisheye on the street

I’m trying out a new lens. And not just any lens, but a Canon 15mm f/2.8 fisheye that has 180 degrees of diagonal coverage. It’s actually a loan from a photo-friend yesterday and I took a bunch of pics to see how it works for street shooting.

As expected, there’s a lot of fisheye distortion causing straight lines at the edges to become curved, creating kind of a trippy feel. And from the photos displayed, there’s also perspective distortion – but that’s more about shooting upwards which causes vertical lines to slope inwards.

Nevertheless, I think that lens can be a great choice for some circumstances – especially where a wide field of view is desired and the special “effects” can be used well.

In the next couple of days I’m going to try out some fisheye correction software to see how well that works on the curving verticals.

…

.

…