I am not the YouTube guy you come to for tips and tricks. But I have called this one compression is the lesson.
My most asked question is about long lens street. Most of my street photography is at 200mm. I own 24, 28, 35, 43, and 50mm lenses and I am not afraid to get close. But I prefer to fill the frame. Nothing fills the frame like compression. How you bring the background to the foreground. You condense everything together, turning it almost into a 2D picture.
Let me walk you through recent shots. A corner sitter at fifty feet, all the greens playing together, the sign, the vent, the shirt, the background. Subject unaware. I am fine with that.
X marks the spot. Or FedEx marks the spot. One woman in shadow, one in light, pink and orange palettes clashing.
A bouquet illuminated against a silhouette, fifty plus feet.
Comedy and drama mask. Waldo behind versus a woman’s frown. I waited for someone to cross the tree.
A woman playing a blow piano with limited notes, driving me nuts, with a man looking back. Around f/5.6, 7.1.
A hotel entrance stakeout. Valets, travelers, colors.
A man asked if I would pay him to model without any clothes on. I declined.
A girl on a sketch pad, not her phone. Let me get that while I can before sketch pads are long gone. A soccer taco sign compressed to one plane.
A girl lighting a cigarette, 200mm catching the smoke wafting.
Mannequins in a window. Not my proudest moment.
A green themed set. Work shirt, halter top, umbrella. I like greens.
I do not like to do a lot of photography of people from their backsides unless they have got a really nice backside. Jokes about a guy’s ass aside, it was the light and shadows and textures at 120 to 140mm.
A three frame series of a man getting off work, helmet off, walking into dappled sun. The last one, light on his face, is my favorite. Seventy five, eighty millimeters.
I do not think all street photography has to be up close and personal, because a lot of times you turn people off. You are not Bruce Gilden, and neither am I. And I do not want to be either.
Shot on the Canon EOS R8 in Knoxville. A lesson in compression.
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