street photography

It has been quite a while since we have had rain in Brisbane and yesterday looked like the best chance of actually getting wet.  Unfortunately there was not much rain in it but I had about 30minutes to spare during the day and decided to get out and take a couple of photos and also play with the camera in the rain.  Here are a couple of pics from around Brisabne taken with the Olympus OM-D E-M5 with the Panasonic 12-35mm lens and the Olympus 60mm Macro lens. 

Its easy to have excuses for not getting out there and shooting with your camera - especially the things that you enjoy shooting.  Photography, like most things takes practice to master and while I have not posted here for a couple of weeks I always ensure that I spend a little time shooting and continuing to learn.  With a new camera, such as the Olympus OM-D E-M5 it takes a lot of time to master and fully understand it before using it for professional work and then you often just choose fairly simple assignments to shoot.

This is the second part of the story (or photos) from the Queensland Unions Rally in Brisbane. While the photos try to capture the essence of the rally it must also be noted that I was also having a little fun playing with the 75mm lens and if I had focused just on the rally I would have perhaps shot a number of the photos quite differently.  You will also notice more general street photos at the end of this post.

Today’s street photography shoot was a little different to the usual shutter therapy session due to the Queensland Unions rally taking place at close to the same time I was heading out for a few photos with the new Olympus 75mm f/1.8 lens.  As a street photographer, this is the perfect opportunity to truthfully portray what is happening on the street and let your photos tell the story.  The photos below depict what I saw during the rally and a few photos  near the city markets after the rally.  I have divided this post in to two parts due to the unusually large n

I unexpectedly received my Olympus 75mm f/1.8 lens this morning and couldn’t wait to find something to shoot with it.  I had ordered this quite some time ago, however this lens has been quite difficult to come across (especially in Australia).  I had briefly shot with this lens back in June while shooting on the streets in Malaysia with Robin Wong (see his reviews at http://robinwong.blogspot.com) and was super impressed with it at this time.

More recently, with so many different types of cameras and lenses to choose from, it can be quite confusing for any street photographer (or in fact any photographer) to choose the right camera and lens combination that works for them.  I believe that each person develops their own style of shooting and this includes finding a camera and lens combination that feels comfortable as well as performs to their expectations.  All working cameras can take a photograph, but it takes practice, skill, expertise and a little patience to capture a particular moment or memory.

I had to walk through Brisbane city today so decided to pack my camera and take a few photos on the street.  I didn't get more than about 100m from the bus stop when I realised that there was something common about all the people around me.  It seemed as though so many of the people on the street today were actively using their mobile phones as they went about their business - in fact I hadn't really noticed how consumed so many of us have become with mobile technology.

I have had a few emails over the last few weeks asking if I actually shot on the streets of Brisbane and if I had any photos to share.  Now I have no excuse for the lack of posts about my street shoots in Brisbane.  I could blame it on a re-design of the site but for some reason I find it easier to post images and write stories when I am mega busy and traveling.  While at home I seem to find excuses not to post as often.  I promise to make a little more effort to post some local street pics considering I live in Brisbane and usually head out for a little shutter

Photography is about having the ability to see and capture a particular moment in the best way you can.  Capturing a moment should not be limited to what photographic technology you have with you at that particular time.  While there are a plethora of ways in which a moment can be captured the intent of this blog entry is to talk about capturing the moment, through photography, with mobile devices and processing the resultant photo.  It is not an argument for or against the various ways of capturing the moment and which method is the best.  There will always be t

Vietnam has to be one of my most favourite countries to visit for both work and to catch up with a few good friends. The food is always good and the local people very friendly. My visits there are often quite disorganised and unplanned at the best of times - but they just work out to be such great fun. This last trip (nearly 2 weeks ago now) was no exception and while I had my latest camera in for repairs I was left with an old Olympus E-PL2 to play with on the streets. This is not usually my choice of camera for street photography but I will work with whatever I have at the time. For most of the street pics that I took on the streets of Vietnam I used a wide angle 12mm f/2.0 Olympus lens and occasionally the 45mm f/1.8mm lens or the voigtlander 17.5mm f/0.95 lens.

I often hear people talk about needing to use a specific lens for street photography (and some are very adamant about their choice), however, I believe in thinking about where and how you are shooting and what sort of a story you want to tell at the end of your day on the streets. My favourite lens for many years has been the Olympus 50mm f/2.0 lens mounted on either the Olympus E3 or E5, but this was the first travel abroad where I had decided to travel light and use all micro four thirds gear (shame my Olympus OM-D E-M5 died only 3 days in to the trip).