Photo educators and workshop leaders frequently exhort newbies to venture out with their cameras because one never knows what one might come across—like Norton I, Emperor of San Francisco and Protector of Mexico. I was in SF on Sunday, haunting the Embarcadero looking for images, and had just taken a forgettable shot of something or [...]
Street photographers are supposed to compose with a scene and actors. I modified that last week to a backdrop and, well, people. Not even really actors. There are lots of murals in downtown Oakland that make good backdrops. I found a couple of people to pose in front of them. I need to work more [...]
There weren't a lot of people out and about in downtown Oakland today because everyone was at Super Bowl parties. So maybe the street people stood out even more. Here are two I talked to and photographed. I could see this man's tattoos under his unbuttoned shirt and started talking to him about them. He [...]
I went back to the racetrack one more time to capture some images that tell the story of a day at the races. I didn't have a good "establishing shot," that is, a shot showing the viewer where the portraits were taken. I took a couple: one of the entrance to the racetrack and [...]
Howard Schatz has talked about the importance or utility of having a "personal image bank" of images you've seen and stored in memory, which you can use as a source of ideas for your own images. Walking around San Francisco on Thursday, I passed a building with massive pillars. Individuals or small groups of people [...]
Last Sunday was my seventh time going to the track to shoot spectators. People have been very willing to pose and I've enjoyed the experience. The track now takes a break for a couple of weeks and I'll wait to hear back from my client about what he'd like to do with the photos [...]
It was a bright, sunny day at the track last Sunday, unlike the previous Sunday when it was overcast and perfect for outdoor portraits. I took only one shot in the direct sun because it was a group and I couldn't avoid it. You can see why it's a bad idea. Even with bringing up [...]
It was a rainy day at the races last Sunday. I went anyway, intending to get some detail shots and maybe some indoor shots. The overcast sky did make for an evenly lit wide shot of the track, with no people in the foreground. I decided to take photos of some track employees. Here are [...]
I went back to Golden Gate Fields for the fourth time on my project to capture the range of people who go to the horseraces on Dollar Days. My goal this week was to shoot environmental portraits that showed people and the track instead of posing individuals against a plain background. We again had great [...]
Advanced photographers talk about "layering" their street photography and street portraits, which means showing more of the environment and having visual elements at different distances in the scene. Like the "have a foreground, mid-ground, and background" advice for landscape photographers, the "aim for layering" advice for street shooters is about adding visual interest by showing [...]