Because I’m shooting film much more than digital of late, I took my film camera into San Francisco a week ago and took photos at a Chinatown street fair, on Market Street, and around Yerba Buena Center. It was a different experience from shooting digital, mainly because, unlike with digital, there’s no immediate feedback: I had no idea whether I’d gotten a good shot or not. I only found out several days later when I got my negatives back. In a way, not having an LCD is a benefit: You’re not spending time reviewing your photos, and don’t leave the moment to do so.
I was walking down Grant Street when Miss Chinatown suddenly appeared and was surrounded by admirers. They frame her in this grab shot.
Another grab shot—I was walking down Market St. and this composition appeared. Very good “figure to ground.”
A street person? Not sure. But instead of the usual dog, he had his cat with him.
This image was about timing and composition. I separated the light poles from each other, and used the wall of The Mexican Museum as a backdrop. Then I had to wait for my actors to walk onto the stage and take up their positions. Even the pigeons cooperated.
I talked with this “ambassador” for a couple of minutes, then asked to take his photo. He smiled, I asked him not to, and here it is.
Using a film camera for street photography does require a different mindset—no chimping, no multiple frames of the same scene, no burst mode to help capture the right moment (I don’t do that even with a digital camera), and a wait for the results. But I get negatives I can print in the darkroom, and there are only 36 shots to go through. Like they say, everything’s a trade-off.
