In March 2016 I joined a free Street Photography Walk in NYC. Titled “Street Technique – Finding your flow: Workshop & Photo Walk” and hosted by Daniel Schaefer (Outlier Imagery) in cooperation with Adorama.
After Daniels introductory presentation about the “Inherent Narrative Elements in Street Photography” (Scene, Subject and Detail) our small group went out to photo walk and talk…
NYC Street Photography Walk
The photographic conditions were ideal on this unusually warm and sunny day. Our medium sized group of 10-15 people was equipped with various type of cameras and lenses. From full size DSLR´s, trough medium sized Leica´s & Fuji´s, down to compact sized Ricoh GR´s, a wide variety of photographic equipment was present.
As always I chose to work with my trusty Ricoh GR. Because I do not use a neck strap but only a hand strap it remains very movable. I can change and shoot directly in any position without having to hassle with straps.
Washington Square Park
During the first part Daniel directed us along 5th Avenue towards Washington park where we would spend some time to make photographs of the park visitors and live musicians. All who sought for creative or technical advice could ask Daniel who turned out to be a very pleasant and knowledgeable photo walk host.
I spend time talking and photographing a couple of people. First a musician and later a guy enjoying a face sunbath in a self made reflector.
China Town
Daniel was also very kind when he allowed me to try out his brass edged Leica M9 Rangefinder. A very fine camera that I definitely like. Having the opportunity to test different cameras from my photo walk fellows turned out to be a hidden gem of the photo walk! After Washington Park we headed further down South towards China Town.
While on the move I used smaller apertures on the Ricoh GR, between f8 and f16. Sometimes I got very close to the subject, interested how it would look like on the photo.
I learned later that for very close distances one needs to work with manual focus and set the distance accordingly. Focus set to 1,5m and f/14 would not provide acceptable sharpness along the needed depth of field. To learn more about this consider reading my Ricoh GR Zone Focus Tips.
We finally stopped out tour near Columbus Park in Chinatown where we enjoyed some famous Chinese-Cuisine snacks. The group dissolved after that and I went on looking for the last light. I found it again on East Broadway! A very good place for Street Photography. The light was setting along the street and I made the following shots in half an hour or so.
Thank you Daniel and Adorama! I enjoyed the free photo walk very much and recommend it to all photographers, not only those interested in Street Photography. Learn more about upcoming workshops here and check out Daniels website Outlier Imagery.
You’re damn close. Were you using macro mode in af or snap at 1m ?
Hallo Jean. I guess somewhere in between. That day I was playing aroud with the manual focus. As you can see I was either too far or too close.