damn good reads BRISTOL HEROES ife on the streets, and how to photograph it

LIFE ON THE STREETS

s a Christmas gift to you, Colin o ers eight tips to get you started in photo ournalism, shooting life as it happens, unposed, on the streets of ristol. Colin knows what he’s talking about. e’d listen if we were you. Words and photos by Colin Moody

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OK; it’s not a normal year. So in this special Christmas issue I thought I’d give you something di erent a street photography workshop.

I want to enthuse you to shoot on the street yourself. o find things that inspire you, motivate you, places you love, people you care about. It’s not just an exercise; it’s also about positivity. It’s good for your mental health, and the walking is good for you, too. So, grab your phone and camera, and take some snaps . . .

1Let’s talk about light. The way it changes in the day; where shadows fall. And maybe how we bring so much light of our own into this world. ere’s a ristol hero. fire o cer responding to an alarm in a high-storey hotel in the centre of the city, on the last Saturday night before the second lockdown began. hat blue flashing light has saturated everything the onlooker, the scene. ake snaps of light flooding in to the camera. Feel that. And try to add just a little contrast. In his cab, it’s the red light. I’m running this shot as hot and cold.

Maybe go and shoot that sunset. Look for the colours in the shadows. You may notice the sun setting, but it’s the details that make it memorable. Shoot the cloud above you, and look carefully. There are at least six colours in every cloud. o on; count them. et soft, di used light and colour into your shots.

2When a storm approaches, don’t wait until the sun comes breaking out of the clouds. Look at what the light does when the sun is hidden; how it pushes light out in waves. How it’s studio-lighting that cloud on the left there. And don’t be afraid of the big dark spaces.

The estates in this shot are like anchors that snag at that thin bit of light above them. Feel the shape of the cloud. Let that be the star. Don’t just shoot the landmarks. Follow the weather, and see where it takes you. See where the rain is blowing. Where the puddles form. Take a story of the day, and make it about this cloud, perhaps. Take several shots, and see how its form develops. Don’t worry if you get a splat of rain on the lens, like I did here.

3A missionary from Henleaze blowing an Israeli yak horn while flying the nion ack in ast treet. Things happen. Shoot them. And make a note where to stand. Don’t just shoot things right in front of you. n this instance saw the gra ti, and thought it would make more compositional sense to have it represented in the shot as if it was emitting from the horn.

Don’t worry about leaving other people in the shot. Sometimes your compositions might be a bit cluttered, so think what do you need to see in there se your instinct. Move closer, or back away, rather than crop. Get it right in the camera. used some flash here, but not too much. Needs it, otherwise it’s too grimy. We need to pop some light on him so he emits the energy in the scene.

4periment. ry long e posures. ou may not always like the results, but you can learn more about light and shade when you increase your time with them.

This is a cyclist passing by in the city centre, taken with a 3/4 second exposure. Focus on him. Track the camera. These out-of-the-normal play experiments might introduce you to new ideas of how to frame things, to learn more about where focus lies. Maybe someone

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is standing still, and everyone is moving. Set 1/4 second exposure on that, and they are sharp, while everyone else is a ghost.

Here I’m wobbling the camera deliberately to draw in those light trails, to make a new kind of geographic landscape. ry stu out.

Change your settings. ISO, the f-stop. Tripod and no tripod. Track with a passing car, or don’t, and let light trails fill your shot.

5Older gentlemen carrying his shopping home. Wait till his coat swings out to left and right, to anchor him to the top left. Let the lines and the after-the-rain reflection from the sun create movement. e can feel him moving, because of those lines. Don’t worry about mess. That’s my camera strap bottom left, but so what? It balances with that black area top right.

I’ve used a wide angle lens. It means the bag he is dragging bulges more towards the camera, stretches him out a bit, and the energy line between him and the base of the trolley is pulled to fullness. Why black and white? I wanted a timeless feel to this, yes, but also I don’t want the bright colour of the trolley to be in opposition to his grey suit. In black and white they are one. One dynamic event.

6Unbalanced compositions. I know some hefty books on photography talk about rules of thirds, chopping up the scene you see through the viewfinder into sections. But I want you be aware of these rules and then forget them. Look at the layers of things going on here. The foreground and background, yes, but also the deep foreground and back. Zig zags. Mushy grey clouds. et the elements flow through and right over each other. Rather than wait till the boy, Billie, is lined up perfectly, let the elements slide all over the shop in front

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“In a photo, art becomes real, and real becomes art, and they dance together. See it all, and then focus on what you want us to see”

of you and wait till it feels connected in a fun or powerful way. Then press the button. I was looking at the kink in the bottle and the leg kink from Billie there. The lamp post on the right is not letting our eye leave the shot. Jaws from Jody back there, and accents of red all over. Maybe it works. Maybe it’s practice. Train your eye. ake mistakes. verfill and underfill the shot with what’s occurring. Keep observing.

7To be a good documenter of things out there, here are a few tips. Don’t just shoot candidly from the other side of the street with a looooong lens. t’s a flat image. You want depth, and to get that you have to get in close. Talk. Mingle. Then when the time is right the people will get on with getting on, and you can start shooting.

Wait for connections between people in a scene. It can be just a gesture or a glance, like this. But look – they are both not talking. Talking shots don’t look good. Kills the energy. I call moments like this movies in still form. All those little leans, hands in pockets, held cigarettes, the line of the cap, what’s he looking at over there, the colours; that warming glow behind them of an unseen world.

But get this. Get the camera in the right place and tilt it a bit, and that silence and stillness starts to become energetic. Keep the camera halfway between head and hip, and it enobles the people more. The stringy things on his hoodie and his arms guide you down the shot; with the guy on the right, the triangle of the open part of his jacket and his arms guide you up and left at the cap. So the final composition is locked. t wouldn’t have worked if they we’re looking at each other.

8I enjoyed the dog just chilling by the artwork of some dogs, but the couple in the back being not aware is kind of fun too. So is making the composition work, making my own art out of all these random elements again. pots of red the lead, rose on right, ngland flag. Messy and yet organised. Sky pushing down to force us to look down at the dog. That discarded packet bottom left, pointing in to the scene. The dogs in the painting look as if they’re trying to get the attention of the chatting

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humans. In a photo, art becomes real, and real becomes art, and they dance together.

See it all, and then focus on what you want us to see, and see if it works. Unlearn reality and play with the elements you enjoy focusing on. Or just document it, and know that in 30 years the shot will be a “Wow, we used to do that!“ moment.

Final word. Keep taking photos every day. There is a lot going on outside your head, and street photography is a great way to explore it. We all have baggage, and with this type of work it’s good to at least in part put that to one side and see what’s out there to be discovered. Moments are happening all the time. o find them. here’s a good chance you will find things to be both real and unreal as you start to shoot. Good. You are on the right track.

Colin is available as a ‘mini-mobile PR/marketing/social media unit’, to shoot striking street-style photographs at live events: parties, launches, promos and performances, for impactful immediate social media. Fees start at £100 for a two-hour package. email: mrcolinmoody@gmail.com Twitter: @moodycolin; Instagram @moodycolin319 colinmoodyphotography.wordpress.com

ON THE RADIO KAM KELLY

Santa, maybe

Our favourite local DJ reflects on a Covid Christmas. At least we think that was what he said; he was wearing a really naff-looking mask at the time . . .

This Christmas, I gave you a mask, but the very next day you gave it away to chu n’ Gary, of all people!

You had a go at me, because the only place that was open on Christmas Eve on my way over to yours was a 24-hour medical supplies store. I had used (and been berated for doing so, by the way) 24-hour petrol stations on Christmases past. So who’s laughing now? Probably Gary, but we’ll never know, ’cos his face is so well hidden by the mask that I gave you, which you subsequently regifted.

After initial eyerolls, I can tell you that my mums (yeah, I’ve got two, just in case you thought that was a typo), my sisters (also plural), dad and stepmum agreed that masks were the perfect Christmas 2020 gift. I gave you all the exact same thing because it was cheaper to buy a job lot rather than individual masks. Also, when I bought the pack I got a free subscription to Masks Monthly, which has proved an invaluable read.

Anyway, this year, we may all want to rock around the Bristmas tree, but please observe current governmental deadlines for bubble numbers. If your bubble exceeds that, then just leave your

“Remember; your house will be the 100 millionth place Santa has visited that night, so imagine what he might have picked up along the way”

least favourite kids in the garden with whichever set of inlaws draws the short straw (drawn, of course, within a reasonable and safe distance).

Maybe you’re not planning on being at home for Christmas. I’m the last to blame you for wanderlust after months of lockdown. How about somewhere where the current leader hasn’t given a care in the world about Covid restrictions? Fine; go. Enjoy. But believe me New York is no fairytale at the moment. If you genuinely think you’ll get to hear the boys of the NYPD choir singing Galway Bay, think again.

They’ll probably get to “Gal...” before someone tells them that singing in public makes them a bum or a punk or an old slut on junk. Maybe you’re handsome, you’re pretty; maybe you were once the queen of New York City, but when the band finishes playing, there will be no one to howl out for more. There again, if said band were this side of the pond they wouldn’t have even been able to gather to rehearse, let alone perform. ow ust a uick final point. know that snitches get stitches, but if you do see mummy kissing Santa underneath the mistletoe, do report it. Mainly because it’s probably not the actual Santa. Around this time of year there are a lot of scammers out there trying to get a quick snog from the mums while pretending to be the jolly one.

And if it is actually Santa, then know this: your house will be the 100 millionth place he’s visited that night, so imagine what he might have picked up along the way. If in any doubt, report it by ringing Rudolph Rudolph Rudolph (I just looked up the Lapland emergency code and that’s what it is. Not even an area code).

Do the right thing! Merry maskmas. Kammy x

Catch Kam Kelly’s breakfast show, every weekday from 6am, Sam FM Bristol, 106.5fm