# Occasional Street Stuff



## Fred Berg

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## sashbar

Of all these four images I like the one with a couple walking along the wall. There is a lot of misery in it. Small figures and large empty spaces work well to underline this feeling of desolation.  With the last two it does not work in my view.


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## Benjo255

My fav is the one with the boys and the girl with the landscape in the background. Also the two old people walking close to the wall is great. I really don't like the others, especially the last one. Seems like you just shoot without looking in the last ones. Good the first one, really.


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## kdthomas

Like the two seated people


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## timor

Occasional indeed. I like #4.


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## Ocho_1

I really like this last one you posted


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## timor

^^ Nice.


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## timor

I think this one is the best yet.


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## Fred Berg

timor said:


> I think this one is the best yet.



Thanks. BTW, the processing on this one is meant to resemble the yellowing of the pages of a book over time.


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## timor

Fred Berg said:


> timor said:
> 
> 
> 
> I think this one is the best yet.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks. BTW, the processing on this one is meant to resemble the yellowing of the pages of a book over time.
Click to expand...

With this I actually not agree. For quite a few reasons...


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## Fred Berg

timor said:


> Fred Berg said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> timor said:
> 
> 
> 
> I think this one is the best yet.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks. BTW, the processing on this one is meant to resemble the yellowing of the pages of a book over time.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> With this I actually not agree. For quite a few reasons...
Click to expand...


Why not?


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## limr

These remind me of the work of Andre Kertesz. He had many pictures shot from above, or with lots of space around one or two people. He also had an eye for graphical shapes and shadows.


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## Fred Berg

limr said:


> These remind me of the work of Andre Kertesz. He had many pictures shot from above, or with lots of space around one or two people. He also had an eye for graphical shapes and shadows.



That's the second time in the last few days that my photos have been thought reminiscent of the work of others. I take it as a big compliment in both cases especially when considering with whom my humble efforts have been associated.


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## Gary A.

I like them all. I really like them all. Thank you for posting. I really like the consistency of your framing ... it is purposeful.


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## Fred Berg

Gary A. said:


> I like them all. I really like them all. Thank you for posting. I really like the consistency of your framing ... it is purposeful.



Thanks, Gary. As I mentioned towards the end of last year (Someone s Looking at You Photography Forum one of my goals for this year is to do a little more street photography and I hope to find and develop my eye in this genre over the coming months.


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## vintagesnaps

I like the one best of the man seated on the bench, great use of shape and pattern there. (I can't say it made me think of yellowing pages though, to me it seems to almost have a bit of a magenta tone.)

Kertesz is my favorite photographer, have a few books on him.


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## Fred Berg

vintagesnaps said:


> I like the one best of the man seated on the bench, great use of shape and pattern there. (I can't say it made me think of yellowing pages though, to me it seems to almost have a bit of a magenta tone.)
> 
> Kertesz is my favorite photographer, have a few books on him.



Thanks, Sharon. I was really lucky with the seated reader: I noticed him as I was driving past after dropping my daughter off at a friend's, and rushed back on foot having collected my camera from home to find him still engrossed. The tone you can see could be because this was converted using sepia with overlay in iPhoto.


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## MSnowy

Very interesting series. Actually reminds me of surveillance photos. Taken from a considerable distance so as to not be seen by the subject.


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## Designer

Fred; I like your capture there in post #27 (above) but whoever placed that "sculpture" should be fired.  Or never hired again. 

IMO


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## timor

Very nice looking mansion. Where is it ?


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## Fred Berg

timor said:


> Very nice looking mansion. Where is it ?



Herrsching - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia


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## timor

Ah, Bavaria.


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## timor

The last one is a good one ! Ha ha, two girls conferring with stone boy. Oh boy...


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## Fred Berg

timor said:


> The last one is a good one ! Ha ha, two girls conferring with stone boy. Oh boy...



Thanks, Timor. With this one I could tell from the other side of the street that they were going to sit down by the fountain, but, of course, how they positioned themselves in relation to the sculpture was a bit of luck. Nine tenths of street photography is luck!


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## timor

Maybe more than that. Luck starts with having time to do that.


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## timor

How they see "luck" in photography:
Of Course It s All Luck


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## Fred Berg

Well, 90% luck and the rest is down to chance.


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## timor

Fred Berg said:


> Well, 90% luck and the rest is down to chance.


Which is the same... Ha ha !
I am now on a project, where chance plays big roll. I have one location, one angle, one camera and I am waiting for interesting clouds. I wonder, if I will have 10 - 15 interesting images by the end of summer...


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## sashbar

Fred Berg said:


> Nine tenths of street photography is luck!





Fred Berg said:


> Well, 90% luck and the rest is down to chance.



The more you grow as a photographer the less of a factor luck becomes. In street photography, as in poker, luck is always a factor, but the longer you shoot the less your photography is determined by luck and the more it is formed by your vision, skill and aestetic principles.

Even more importantly, just as in poker, you need to be able to put yourself in a position to exploit your luck. And it does not mean just be in the right place at the right time, it also means to be able to see things and also be able to translate it into top class images. If you do not know how to grab your luck by the throat and maximise the outcome, there is very little value in that luck, be it poker or street shooting.

I just write it because there is a certain tendency or misunderstanding about street photography, often seen as a genre of snapshots with no regards to aestetic or technical things unlike portraiture or landscape.  I regard street photography to be as technical as these both two genres in that respect with the only difference that the street scenes do not allow you as much time as a posing model or a landscape. It does often have different aestetics compared to a portrait,  but to say that all you need is to see a scene and press the button would be completely wrong and a disservice to the genre as I see it. And you will never get far with that approach. I would say it is a permanent beginner's approach. Or the word "occasional", used in your header, comes to mind.


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## Fred Berg

sashbar said:


> Fred Berg said:
> 
> 
> 
> Nine tenths of street photography is luck!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Fred Berg said:
> 
> 
> 
> Well, 90% luck and the rest is down to chance.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> The more you grow as a photographer the less of a factor luck becomes. In street photography, as in poker, luck is always a factor, but the longer you shoot the less your photography is determined by luck and the more it is formed by your vision, skill and aestetic principles.
> 
> Even more importantly, just as in poker, you need to be able to put yourself in a position to exploit your luck. And it does not mean just be in the right place at the right time, it also means to be able to see things and also be able to translate it into top class images. If you do not know how to grab your luck by the throat and maximise the outcome, there is very little value in that luck, be it poker or street shooting.
> 
> I just write it because there is a certain tendency or misunderstanding about street photography, often seen as a genre of snapshots with no regards to aestetic or technical things unlike portraiture or landscape.  I regard street photography to be as technical as these both two genres in that respect with the only difference that the street scenes do not allow you as much time as a posing model or a landscape. It does often have different aestetics compared to a portrait,  but to say that all you need is to see a scene and press the button would be completely wrong and a disservice to the genre as I see it. And you will never get far with that approach. I would say it is a permanent beginner's approach. Or the word "occasional", used in your header, comes to mind.
Click to expand...


I was being modest and applying a little humour to avoid being embarrassed or sounding smug in response to what has been rather positive feedback so far on my efforts. You can take the boy out of Britain but you can't take British understatement out of the boy.


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## timor

Good dynamics of the perspective, but little confusing with the placement of the people. Like the boy got a little too close to the edge of picture for comfort of watching it.


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## Fred Berg

timor said:


> Good dynamics of the perspective, but little confusing with the placement of the people. Like the boy got a little too close to the edge of picture for comfort of watching it.



Yes, by the time the girl got to the right spot the boy had wandered a little too far. Still, despite being slightly awkward, I thought it worthy of being added to the thread.


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## timor

Fred Berg said:


> Still, despite being slightly awkward, I thought it worthy of being added to the thread.


 O yes, it is very close to be well balanced. Thanks for sharing.


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## timor

Nice. I think there is too much of the wall in the fore plan. Did you experimented a bit with the crop ?


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## Fred Berg

timor said:


> Nice. I think there is too much of the wall in the fore plan. Did you experimented a bit with the crop ?



Yes, I did play around a little with the crop. The boy at the front of the group is looking out of the scene, so I wanted to create a little more space on the right for his gaze.


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## Fred Berg

Shefalii said:


> I like 1st and 3rd



Thanks.


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## timor

Fred Berg said:


> timor said:
> 
> 
> 
> Nice. I think there is too much of the wall in the fore plan. Did you experimented a bit with the crop ?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yes, I did play around a little with the crop. The boy at the front of the group is looking out of the scene, so I wanted to create a little more space on the right for his gaze.
Click to expand...

I understand, what you mean, still, I would cut so boys head is 1/3 from the edge, right in strong point. I feel, that it would strengthen focus on the whole group. They feel like they are too far from me.


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## timor

For me much better, now the boys are total center of attention. I think that's a case of far - near relation. Maybe I was too aware of the presence of that wall.


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