Street - Fuji 23mm f1.4 - Colour or B&W?

This is a cross post with my blog at Derek Clark Photography for the following reason. When it comes to street photography I've always had my feet planted in the black and white side of the fence as it just looks more interesting to me. It strips away the distraction of colour and narrows the photograph down to composition and content. It also gives street shots a timeless quality. This blog has had only three colour pictures (I think), which were on the earliest posts. Since then it's been B&W all the way and even the post processing has been the exact same home made recipe that I cooked up in Silver Efex Pro way back. But lately I've noticed that some colour street photography has been catching my eye and that's unusual for me. I tend to think colour street shots look a little too bland, but never say never!

So here's the thing. All the shots on this post are in black and white, but you will find the same ones in colour over at DerekClarkPhotography by clicking HERE. They were all shot with the amazing new Fujifilm 23mm f1.4 on the X-Pro1, a pair that hasn't been separated since the lens was released. Have a look at both blog posts and see what you prefer. I'd love to here what you think. Do they all look better in colour? Do they all look better in B&W? Or does it depend on the individual photo?

Have a look at both B&W and colour versions, then leave a comment & use the poll bellow (or both).

[polldaddy poll=7679802]

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Filipino Life On The Street

I like the way people hang around in hot countries. Everything slows, nobody's in a rush. Most people on UK streets are heading somewhere or shopping, but people don't hang around on street corners, just living their lives, they're somewhere between A and B. They're in Transit.

I like street photography that has hidden gems that are not always visible at first glance. In the shot above, your eye immediately goes to the girl, but there's more to it.

A few steps back reveals what's behind. A family gets washed Filipino style, each taking turns to pump the water while the others shower.

Drenched

I've been crazy busy these last few weeks. New stuff coming soon, but in the meantime here's a shot from the rainy mean street of Davao Philippines shot with the Fujifilm X-E1.

Slow Streets Of Hong Kong :: Street Photography With A Tripod???

Here's a couple of long exposures that I shot with the X-Pro1 and the 18-55mm f2.8-f4. It might be a bit odd to shoot street photography with a tripod, but it's something I've wanted to do for a while. The shot above was 2.5 seconds at f18 ISO 200 and the shot below was at a quarter of a second at f6.4. I've posted some long exposures of a different kind HERE.

I almost forgot. This is post number 100 here on 35mmStreet. Thanks to all of you who've stopped by here, left comments or clicked like. It's thanks to you guys that I know I'm doing something right. You've gave me so much confidence as a street photographer. I'm in no way comparing myself to Vivian Maier, but maybe if she had a blog (and internet), she would have realised she was doing something right?

Wan Chai Market - Hong Kong :: part 2

So here is more photos from Wan Chai Market in Hong Kong, or to be more precise, four shots from the market and one on the way back. My stay in Hong Kong is coming to an end on Saturday. Next stop will be the Philippines. My next post might be more HK, or Macau or somewhere in the Philippines. But it will depend on wifi availability. Speaking of the next post, it will be the 100th post on this blog. But, I'll talk about that in the next post.

I don't feel I'm ready to leave Hong Kong, I like the way of life, especially staying on Lamma Island like we have. There's no cars on Lamma. It's relaxed and peaceful, but the buzz of Hong Kong is just a ferry ride away. Best of both worlds for a street photographer.

I think his was the last shot on the way back to catch the ferry to Lamma Island.

Wan Chai Market - Hong Kong :: part 1

I shot these photos in and around Wan Chai Market. It's an outdoor market in Hong Kong that is set on two side streets that cross through each other.  The photo above is one of the vendors, shot through his own merchandise. All of these photos were shot with the X-Pro1 and the 18-55mm f2.8-f4. This lens has turned out to be extreamly useful on this trip to Asia.

These next two photos show how you stand your ground, even when spotted by your subject. You can see that in the first photo, I'm busted. I took the shot then kept the camera to my eye. She turned round to see what I was shooting, then goes back to her phone convinced it wasn't her. Click.

These two shots (above) are especially for Don. If you read the coments in the London post, you'll get what I'm talking about

Part 2 coming tomorrow.

Hong Kong Streets

I caught the earliest ferry from Lamma Island at 6:20am. 15 minutes later it arrived at pier 4 at Hong Kong, with the X100 ready to go. I wanted to get on the streets of HK early enough to shoot people arriving for work and avoid the 36 degree heat.

Hong Kong is a fantastic place for a street photographer, but being here early in the day was just magical. I was listening to an album on my iPhone called 'Flumina' by Ryuichi Sakamoto and Fennesz. It's a mixture of ambient synth and piano, it couldn't have been any more suitable for shooting street in such a Blade Runneresque city scape. I walked and shot on the HK streets for around three hours and it was like therapy. All I had to think about was what was in my frame.

This was also my first proper street shoot with the Fujinon 18-55mm f2.8-f4. I hadn't thought of it as a street lens, but it focuses pretty quick on the X-E1. The light is amazing in Asia and the colours from the X-Trans sensor look so great that it's a crime to convert some of them to black and white. For that reason, I'll post some colour shots from this crop on my photography blog (link at the end of this post). The shot bellow was created with a combination of long exposure and zooming. The one bellow that was a long exposure shot with the camera on a window ledge. I used a two second timer to avoid camera shake.

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Street photography is a loaners sport. You need to get in the zone and in my opinion, that only happens when you're alone. it takes great concentration, but it should never feel like you're concentrating. I think I've said it before on this blog. It's photography jazz, you learn your scales (or in our case shutter speeds and apertures) and then you don't have to think about it. You just feel.

That's it for this post. Don't forget to have a look at my other blog for some colour shots by clicking HERE. And if you missed my post on the equipment I'm carrying on this trip, click HERE. I'll post more street photos from Asia as soon as I can. I've just got back to Hong Kong after a two day trip to Macau, so I'll have some shots from that crop soon. I'll also be in the Philippines soon.

London By The Themes

I have a Hong Kong post ready to go, but I thought I'd just through up a few shots from London first. I'll post the first Hong Kong shots on Monday.

Glasgow * Edinburgh * London * Hong Kong * Macao * Philippines

It's travel time. These shots are from Glasgow (first shot) & Edinburgh (all others) in Scotland, which is not exactly traveling for me, but I've had them sitting in a folder waiting to post, but just haven't had time. Next up should be London and then....well, the title of this post will give a road (air & Sea) map of where I'll be heading.

I'll be shooting documentary work at orphanages in two cities in the Philippines for an NGO. But apart from that, I'll be doing whatever I feel like, That will include black and white street photography for this blog, and lots of documentary and travel stuff on my other blog at DerekClarkPhotography. I'll be tweeting new posts with #dcpAsia.

Click HERE if you would like to see what gear I'm taking on this trip. I't's obviously a Fujifest. So stay tuned on both blogs, look out for #dcpAsia on Twitter and follow me on @derekclarkphoto & @35mmStreet. I hope you come along for the ride.

And finally. You've got to love this; A Japanese tour guide in Edinburgh to show Japanese tourists around. Makes sense to me.

Death And Taxes

Three leftovers from my Death Makes Angels essay on The Kage Collective. Margaret Thatcher wasn't exactly the most popular person in the UK.