Irish street photography Guide by Des Byrne

IRISH STREET PHOTOGRAPHY GUIDE

DES BYRNE

DEFINITION

no news here, rather, the commonplace; although, the line between photojournalism and street photography is often blurry. Many of the best street photographers were photojournalists.

If you Google the Definition of Landscape Photography over 2 million result’s appear, Google the Definition of Street Photography and it rises to over 10 Million.. welcome to the World of Street Photography! It’s very difficult to find a definition that everyone agrees upon, as Street Photography is so subjective, the description that I find best describes it is this one:

Unlike travel photography, that aims to entice the viewer to visit a certain place or to fondly remember it, location is relatively unimportant, though busy cities with interesting architecture are commonly seen in these works.

Street Photography is a branch of realistic fine-art photography that records unposed scenes in public places (streets, parks, restaurants, stores, museums, libraries, airports; train, bus, and subway stations, etc.) The primary subject is people, at rest or in motion, alone or with others, going about the every-day activities of life (walking, sitting, standing, waiting, reading, eating, talking, listening, laughing, daydreaming, greeting, parting, working, playing, shopping, viewing art, sightseeing, etc.). The emphasis is not on the subject’s personal identity, as in portraiture. And unlike photojournalism, there is

Temple Bar Dublin

Irish Times Winner 2015

The primary emphasis is on capturing a fleeting composition, a temporary arrangement of lines, forms, textures, and tones–balanced within a rigid frame. While

Consistent with their overwhelming interest in composition, many street photographers–not all—shoot with a black and white final image in mind, eschewing color as a distraction. Another reason for this is the generallyconservative nature of the discipline. The early masters are revered and emulated, their styles and shooting techniques studied. Some purists not only insist on shooting un-posed scenes, they attempt to compose entirely in-camera, without cropping. Finally, the tone of these images

such photographs often document clothing styles or automobile design, these details are subordinate to the artistic elements; whereas, in strict documentary photography, content is more important than artistry. In street photography, the image can be sharp or blurred and impressionistic. Many images feature strong graphic elements which–considered separately–constitute interesting geometric patterns. Grafton Street Dublin

tends to be positive, celebrating life and its fleeting nature in the very act of seeing and seizing and sharing momentary beauty and meaning with the viewer.

that range and there will be no delay from when a moment happens to when you are able to click the shutter. It will be instant. In addition, this will allow you to shoot without looking through the viewfinder, if you decide that you want to ‘shoot from the hip.’

ZONE FOCUSING

Here is a specific example based on common settings that I use. With the 5D Mark II and a 28mm focal length, if I pre-focus my camera to 8 feet away at F8, then everything from around 5.5 feet to 15 feet away will be ‘acceptably’ sharp. Of course, as you get to the outer areas of that range the subject will not be perfectly sharp, but for fast-moving street photography, it gives me a serious range to work with.

Zone focusing is pre-focusing your camera to a certain distance away, say 10 feet, guessing the DOF that you will have at that distance with the settings you are using, and then photographing subjects as they enter that range, and hopefully as close as possible to the actual focus distance on the camera. it is also being able to change your focus distance quickly and accurately, without looking, as a subject moves closer or further from you. The reason for doing this is that both using autofocus and turning the manual focusing dial takes time (and often will be noticeable to your potentially candid subjects) and most of the time things happen so fast on the street that you need to be focused ahead of time.

At F11 or F16, even more soThe only problem is that you need to have a lens with a manual focusing meter, such as the one in the photo above, that shows you the distance that the camera is focused at and is easily manipulated. Many cameras and lenses don’t have this but some will

If your camera is already focused to an average distance away, then you can just wait for your subject to enter

tell you the focal length in the camera’s menu or viewfinder. While not perfect, this will work somewhat. 7

But if you want to do candid street photography then I highly suggest getting a lens with a manual focus meter.

So it should be obvious to you why we generally want the range of sharpness to be as great as possible when zone focusing (unless you want more bokeh for aesthetic reasons). It is for when we mess up slightly in guessing how far something is away so that there will still be enough leeway for our main subject to be sharp, or so we can get multi-

ple subjects at different distances to all be relatively sharp. These are two reasons that many street photographers prefer to use wide-angle lenses, such as 28mm or 35mm. My go-to focal length is generally 28mm. It is also the reason why you want to shoot at a high ISO in street photography (unless the light is strong). If you shoot with a high-ISO, it allows you to shoot with a smaller aperture. With my 5D Mark II, ISOs of 800, 1600, and 3,200 are usually my standards (unless the light is strong). For many cameras, the ISOs may not be ideal at these levels, however that is quickly changing these days with each new camera released. Test your camera at different ISO settings to see what its acceptable range is. 10

GUESSING DISTANCES If you are like me then you often do street photography in less than ideal lighting. When you’re shooting at F16 in bright sunlight, you don’t have to think as much about it. It won’t matter much if your subject is 9 feet away versus 10 feet away. But when you are shooting at F2.8 it really does matter. For this reason, it is important to learn the distances away from your camera’s lens, all the way up to around 12 feet away. I suggest using a tape measure and measuring

out the distances, from 2 feet from your lens all the way to 12 feet.

have one of your hands on the focusing ring.

Go out and practice. Find different objects and try to guess how far they are away. Before I go out I will still pick an object around eight feet away and focus on it to make sure

Practice manual focusing back and forth from 10 feet to 8 feet to 6 feet and so on.

I’m guessing my distances right. It’s a skill that you need to constantly calibrate. I have gotten a lot of strange looks over the years from people who have seen me focusing intently on lampposts 8 – 10 feet away. The other reason to get good at guessing distances is that people move and scenes develop. You might want to capture a person walking towards you at both 10 feet and 5 feet away. So when you hold the camera you want to always

Eventually, you’ll be able to capture someone walking towards you sharp at both 10 feet away and 6 feet away, without having to look through the viewfinder. It’s an incredibly effective technique. Doing this well, however, can be tough. My final word of advice is that if you have the time to autofocus or manual focus with a viewfinder on a subject without them noticing, then do it. That is much more consistently accurate than trying to guess distances and zone focusing. But for a majority of the time, zone.

HOMELESS & BUSKERS Shooting street performers or the homeless are easy targets. When I first started shooting street photography, they were the two subjects I naturally gravitated to. The logic to me at the time made sense—if I am shooting people on the streets why not these two people who are always on the streets anyways? The reason I don’t like shooting street performers and the homeless are because it is rare you will get a compelling or unique image. Not only that, but it is too easy. Street performers have their photo taken all the time, and aren’t challenging to take photos of. The homeless are a bit different—we try to

Haâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;penny Bridge Dublin

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Grafton Street Dublin

highlight their suffering in order to make an interesting image. Of course not everything in life is black and white. It is possible to make an interesting photo of a street performer of a homeless per son—in a humane and righteous way. However I haven’t seen many photos done well, so if you are used to taking lots of photos of street performers or the homeless—I suggest you to steer away!

the Project was called “IN SIGHT” I gave two Street Photography Presentations for two groups of Homeless People, we didn’t know how many people would turn up on the night and we were delighted when 17 people arrived for the first presentation, their enthusiasm for this project was amazing. It was the most rewarding thing I have done to date in Street Photography and more information and the final results, should be available for the public to view in May 2016! Thanks Lucy & Lynsey for asking.

I believe it is better to take an extraordinary photo of someone ordinary than take an ordinary photo of someone extraordinary. late 2015 I was asked to participate in a Photography project for a well known Dublin Homeless Charity

PHOTOGRAPHERS RIGHTS This question is always asked at Presentation’s and sometime’s I feel people use it as an excuse not to do Street Photography, common sense applies as in most situation’s . You can freely take pictures of anything you wish, when in a public place. This includes pictures of private property and people. You are not allowed to harass people in the course of your photography – stalking someone, or repeatedly blocking their way to take a photograph of them could be construed as harassment. Taking photographs of people in public is generally allowed – however, an exception is made where

IN-SIGHT PROJECT for

the Homeless

the subject would have a reasonable expectation of privacy.

If you do not have permission to be on the property you are a trespasser so the owner has the right to use reasonable force to remove you if necessary, however the property owner should not threaten or attacked.

You're perfectly entitled to take a photograph of someone walking down the street â&#x20AC;&#x201C; but hiding in a tree to take a photo of them in their home may get you into trouble. You are not allowed to obstruct movement on the highway (roads, footpaths, cycle paths etc), or the work of a police officer, while taking photographs.

The property owner does not have the right to confiscate or damage any of your equipment. The occupier of a private property, where he is not the owner, has the same rights as the owner. Security guards may also act for the owner or occupier in exercising these rights.

PRIVATE PROPERTY " On private property, you are allowed to take photographs, if you have permission by the property owner. However, the owner can impose conditions on your entry to the property, which may include a ban on photography of certain things, or a ban on certain types of photography (e.g., flash photography, etc).

Violating the conditions under which you were admitted to a property voids your permission to be there, and you may be guilty of trespass. Trespass is a crime in some unusual cases but damages are more commonly sought in a civil case.

If you enter a private property the owner is entitled to demand that you cease taking photographs, and that you leave the property.

If you are taking photographs on private property with the aim of selling the images you should get written permission in the form or a "Property Release Agreement" document signed by the owner. 15

LEGAL RESTRICTIONS

YOUR SUBJECTS RIGHTS

You may be found in contempt of court if you photograph and publish a photo of a defendant, where the identity is in question.

When taking photos you should take into account the "right to privacy", but in general at a public place or public event it is generally safe to presume that you can publish your photographs.

You may also be found in contempt of court if you publish a photograph that might prejudice the defendant by insinuating his guilt or a photograph that might reveal prior convictions.

Your subject has the right to object to the publication of any photos they are in if, the photographs are untrue or violating the subject's privacy. As a general rule, the photographer owns the copyright of all photos they take have been commissioned and paid for the photograph or if they are working for a company and its part of their job to take photos.

As a general rule if you are taking a photo of a subject, and you intend to sell that photo it is recommended that you get the subject to sign a "model release agreement". A signed model release agreement means that a person is acknowledging that you have the right to use the photos you took of them on a given date.

PLEASE NOTE: This information is provided for information purposes only, local country laws and regulations constantly change so we always recommend that you keep up-to-date with change in you local laws.

OFF THE BEATEN TRACK – don’t just go to all the touristy shots – try to get ‘behind the scenes’ and ‘real life’ scenes. STOLEN MOMENTS– anticipate moments between people before they happen. " TRUE COLOUR– black and white is often where it’s at with street photography but at times colourful situations arise and can really make a shot – be on the look out for these.

QUICK TIP GUIDE

IN THE BACKGROUND– what’s going on behind your subject can actually ‘make’ the shot. Billboards, signs, graffiti and other visual elements can really make a statement in a shot.

LESS IS MORE  – don’t take too much equipment and travel light. It’ll make you less obtrusive and you will be able to move around for the best shot quickly.

DARE TO GO DIAGONAL – don’t just hold your camera horizontally – experiment with angles. Street photography is a less formal medium – make the most of it. 17

OPPOSITES ATTRACT– shots which challenge the ‘norm’ in terms of composition and story/subject matter can be powerful. Look out for ‘surprising’ subject matter and composition.

fairs, St. Patricks Day, Pride Parade, parks, sporting events etc all can be worth trying. NEW ANGLE– find ways to get up high or down low – these new perspectives on subjects that are familiar can lead to eye catching shots. " PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT– over time and with practice your photography will improve. You’ll not only get better at technique but also spotting the things to focus upon on the street. " FORTUNE FAVORS THE BRAVE– sometimes the best thing you can do is to get close to your subject – this can be a little confronting but will produce powerful images

WHAT A PERFORMANCE– street performers, parades and other street entertainment can be great subject matter on the street, before or after the event is the best time for stealing Candid moments! " OFF THE STREETS – other places where people gather in number can lead to great shots in this genre – zoos,

FUN IN THE SUN – often we try to avoid shooting into the sun and the shadows that direct sunlight can produce – in street photography breaking these ‘rules’ can lead to great shots. READY TO POUNCE– have your camera out and ready to shoot at all times. Things can move quickly on

the street so if you’re not ready you’ll miss lots of opportunities.

more forgiving depth of field’ – use a wide angle lens (or even a fisheye). Expect the Expected – people can be suspicious of street photographers so shoot in places where people expect to see people doing photography. Smile, be polite and be willing to delete images if people protest.

REVISE THE REVISIT– street photography is not all about spontaneity – if you see a scene with potential don’t be afraid to keep coming back to it until you get the shot. " FROZEN MOTION – the Copyright: Mike Fahy street is a place of movement – to capture it and still get sharp shots make sure your shutter speed is fast enough. 1/125 or more with an ISO of 400 is what this article recommended as a base. I also think it can be fun to experiment with slower shutter speeds on the street – capture the movement as blur. " STREET WALLPAPER– blend in with the scene – shoot unobtrusively and unnoticed. LIFE THROUGH THE LENSE– ‘exaggerating perspective will help set your subject in context and provide a

Everyones a Tourist - On Grafton Street Dublin, everyones a Tourist and every Tourist has a Camera, easiest Street in Dublin to shoot. Location, Location, Location – really this is what it is all about. Choose places where people interact with one another and times when they are present.

STREET MASTERCLASS & PURISTS If you are thinking of taking a course in Street Photography the quickest way to decide if its for you or not is to view the work of the Photographer offering the course, don’t be fooled into parting with your money easily,

Temple Bar Dublin

join a free Group like the Irish Street Photography Group in Dublin or the Cork Meetup Group.

IMPROVE YOUR STREET PHOTOGRAPHY NO TITLES

While browsing photography forums, you’ll often encounter individuals identifying themselves as Photography Purists. They tend to claim things like: Manipulating photos is like cheating…

We see this all the time on www.blackandwhitestreet.com the Titles most times end up better than the Photographs! Place names are fine, We had a Photo on BW Street entitled “ Man with Beard” can you guess what was in the Photo?

I still shoot film because that’s real photography.. I try to have perfect photos straight out of the camera (SOOC), that’s real skill… I don’t like to alter reality…Run away from these people.

NO WATERMARKS Google the words “Remove Watermarks” and about 841,000 results will appear in (0.38 seconds) telling you how to remove them. Watermarks ruin good Street Photography shots! If you want , hide it within the imagemaking them only visable to you.

Being a Purist in Photography is nonsense. It doesn’t mean anything. Those individuals are usually amateurs who refuse to have anything to do with any processing software (because they often don’t know how to use it) or older photographers who refuse to keep up with the times and brag about “how it was better in the old days”.

NO TRIPODS A Tripod will bring you lots of attention and weigh you down! Travel light, leave the Tripod at Home. Some Countries wont allow them on the Streets.

LONG LENSE

SHOOT IN RAW

Starting out in Street Photography with a long lense is fine for building up confidence, but it is a bit like shooting fish in a barrel and I would advise you to ditch it, if you really want to be taken serious as a Street Photographer

With black-and-white preview RAW files give you a lot more scope to change the image in post production than JPEGs do. You can also decide later whether to choose colour or black and white. Setting your previews on the camera’s screen to black and white will help you decipher the light in your scene.

DON’T ASK PERMISSION POSED SHOTS If you ask permission first, then you end up with street portraits, which are different from what I’d call street photography. I started out asking the public if I could take their picture, and it turns out people tend to say yes! That gave me the confidence to shoot more daringly, which I find to be a lot more interesting. If someone sees that I’ve taken their picture I usually smile and say thanks. If you’re confident then it hardly ever causes a problem.

Lot’s of Street Photographers setup posed shots and pass them off as Candid? some of the greats did it also, setting up Copyright: Brendan Comey posed shots is fine, just be honest about it, as your only fooling yourself. Learn how to shoot candid, carry your Camera with you ready to shoot all the time and you wont be disappointed.

IPHONE PHOTOGRAPHY

You can find Brendan Ó Sé on the Web : " •" Website " •" Facebook " •" Flickr " •" Instagram " •" Twitter

The Irish Street Photography Community is a small but growing Community of Excellent Photographers and unknown to many outside this small group will be a lot of the Photographer’s featured in this guide, one Photographer who’s work I do admire because of its Artistic and Abstract Quality and because its less cliche than most is the work of Brendan O’ Shea from Cork. The good news is that Brendan is now teaching IPhone workshop’s in Dublin, the following small piece is from his Interview with 121 clicks.com in December 2015. Meet Brendan O’ Se from Cork, an inspiring Street Photographer with a particular eye for showing the unseen. Brendan says most of his photography is a procedural knowledge, without having fixed objectives, preferring to be open and above all he does accepts the fact that Street Photography does get frustrating at times. In this deep knowledge sharing interview with 121clicks.com, Brendan shared lot of very informative and useful stuff related to arts and photography. Speaking about his photography, I particularly like the colors and instinctive style of approach in street photography. Sometimes that oof does help really when you want to travel close to the subject yet without touching it. Be it the camerashake or the oof there is an essence of art to this portfolio. Take a look and be inspired!

CLICHE SHOTS

Adding layers to your composition will greatly improve a photo beyond a cliché. Things like steam, fog, reflections, framing or leading lines all improve a photographs composition.

Cliche shots are great for gaining confidence, when you are new to Street Photography and some can work very well. When I say Cliche Shots I mean Billboard Shots, Umbrellas, Strips, one man in a Tunnel, Silhouettes, Faces in the crowd..etc..you have probably seen one or two great examples in this guide, after a period of time you next to push yourself to the next level and “Think Diffrently” just like the Apple Logo said in the Eighties. There is a reason these shots are so prolific, people see shots like this with hundreds of likes and instead of exploring their own vision they succumb to the desire to gain “likes” or “followers” on (name your social media poison of choice). If you’ve tried this approach you’ll quickly find that peoples interest in this type of photography is waning. You can only see so many of the same type of shots before you begin t feel as if it’s all a bit trite. SILHOUETTE I like a good silhouette as much as the next guy but come on… How many more images can we make of a random silhouette walking into the sun or out of a tunnel into bright daylight? I’m not saying silhouette photos can’t be dynamic, on the contrary, I think when done correctly they can create some really great Street Photography. Think about what is going on around your silhouette, is it evoking a feeling or mood? What is the “Decisive Moment”?

The guerilla art form that is taking it to the streets ( Irish Independent Interview 2014 )

Street photography, the guerrilla art form that snatches moments of humanity from mundane situations, is growing in popularity, as seen in a http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/theatre-arts/the-guerilla-art-formthat-is-taking-it-to-the-streets-30506659.html

INSPIRED EYE - INTERVIEW

http://www.blurb.com/books/5196251-black-an d-white-street-group

http://eye-photomagazine.weebly.com/photo-review/ featured-photographer-review-with-deys-byrne

Edge of Humanity Magazine http://edgeofhumanity.com/2015/06/28/ireland/ Irish Times

Irish Street Photography Group February 2016

iSTREET Exhibition Launch SOL Art Gallery Dublin

To me, photography is an art of observation. It's about finding something interesting in an ordinary place... I've found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them. Elliott Erwitt

www.desbyrne.photos.com

“See Y! on " Streets” Des

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• LARRY E. FINK “BYSTANDER” A HISTORY OF STREET PHOTOGRAPHY • WWW.ERICKIMPHOTOGRAPHY.COM ( ERIC KIM BLOG / DONT SHOOT STREET PERFORMERS OR THE HOMELESS • WWW.MYMODERNMET.COM/ PROFILES/BLOGS/ELLIOT/-PRICELESS • WWW.DIGITAL-PHOTOGRAPHY-SCHOOL.COM / 20 QUICK STREET PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS BY - DARREN ROWSE • WWW.CANVAS-OF-LIGHT.COM/2011-A-PURIST-PHOTOGRAPHY-IS-NONSENSE ( STOP CALLING YOURSELF A PURIST IN PHOTOGRAPHY ) • WWW.121CLICKS.COM BRENDAN’ O’ SE - AN INSPIRING STREET PHOTOGRAPHER FROM IRELAND 9 DEC 2015 ) • WWW.DECISIVESHOT.COM ( DON’T BE A CLICHE - CREATE DYNAMIC STREET PHOTOGRAPHY INSTEAD ( BY JOHN BARBIAUX ) WWW.PHOTOCROWD.COM/EXPERT-HUB/19-14-STREET-PHOTOGRAPHY-TIPS ( 14 SECRETS OF SUCCESSFUL STREET PHOTOGRAPHY BY PAUL BENCE )

© ALL IMAGES SHOWN IN THIS BOOK CANNOT BE REPRODUCED IN ANY-FORM WITHOUT THE WRITTEN CONSENT OF THE PHOTOGRAPHERS FEATURED. MANY THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING PHOTOGRAPHERS: SEAMUS TRAVERS, ANGIE PAPPAS CONSTABLE, MARTIN J. MURPHY, CORMAC O’ CONNELL, BRENDAN COMEY, PETER O’ DOHERTY’ GREG MATTHEWS, DANIELLE HOUGHTON, BRENDAN O’ SE, DAVID J. O’ HAGAN, TONY LIVERIO, CEDRIC ROUX, GAGAN SADANA, GIUSEPPE MILO, GARDNER HAMILTON, ANSELM GALLAGHER, MIKE FAHY, SHAY FARRELLY, ESTHER MOLINE, KEVIN KEOGH. RINZI RUIZ, MIERLA MOMANU

ALL THE PHOTOGRAPHERS MENTIONED AND FEATURED ARE IRISH OR IRISH BASED PHOTOGRAPHERS THAT ARE MEMBERS OF THE IRISH STREET PHOTOGRAPHY GROUP OR HAVE FEATURED IN ONE OF OUR EXHIBITIONS OR HELPED JUDGE OUR SUBMISSION ENTRIES.