#11 some crowd shots. clique…
#12 taken outside fox theater while in line
Tag Archives: oakland
April 27, 2012 | Flower Girl Smiles
I like how there was just enough light and just enough space at this moment to catch her eyes and smile with my lens. This photo was taken in Oakland.
April 23, 2012 | People that ask for money for charities get their photo taken.
one of my goto subjects lately has been anybody who is asking me for money (that is not homeless), or anybody that is trying to pass out flyers or something like that. I hate being solicited to on the street. Its not like they want to talk to me, they just want to ‘talk me into’ something. I suppose that street photography is sort of invasive like solicitors are, but I’d like to think of street as a way of complimenting people, or at least a way of recognizing them as human. Solicitors just want money, and that is icky. I suppose when solicitors approach me and i shoot them, its my way of disarming them and taking the upper hand before they can get into their pitch. If I really wanted to get her goat I would have taken more shots, but my rule is 1 shot per person. Which I break sometimes, but I find that my first shot is usually better than the following shots, at least when I shoot digi…
So, I could tell that this chick was about to do just that to me, so I took her photo. I think her face really says this as well, because she is trying to greet me, but I’m already attacking her with my camera before she could attack me. i suppose what is extra-ordinary about this image is that when i was showing my girlfriend marisa my photos from this trip, she actually knew this girl, and actually was her roommate in santa cruz, long ago, and the girls name is Liz. She was telling me that i could afford charities if i managed my money differently. What about her stupid hair dye, her stupid ring, her stupid ear rings, stupid nail polish. all that cash could have feed a starving baby. i didn’t say that, but i did tell her i was a starving artist and i spend all my extra money on processing film.
April 22, 2012 | Lost In Thought
saw this bus stopped and this little dude sitting in the back just zoned out. did my best to make a composition as quickly as possible. luckily i got his facial expression amidst all of the reflections in the window. i suppose if i just got a CPL filter things could be different, but i sort of like shooting filterless and getting whatever reflections the glass gives me. in other news i received a stainless steel developing tank in the mail today, as well as a 28mm nikkor lens. so now my nikon fm is all wide angled out. the lens only opens up to f3.5, which isn’t so wide, but it was only 70 dollars for a minty nikkor lens. also it won’t meter, so i’ll be bringing my light meter around with me. which is better anyways, because when i meter through the lens, i’m always drawing more attention to myself. i’ve became quite good at using the light meter while walking the streets/predicting using sunny 16 and EV values as i move in and out of the shade. i haven’t been processing my film immediatly anymore. i’m sort of sitting on a few rolls, and i think thats how i’m going to roll. i here costco does develop and scan for just 5 large (color). i’m saving up my b&w film to process myself, although i’m sort of scared of buggering it up because the b&w rolls i’m sitting on have some special shots on them. more to come, thanks for reading!
April 20, 2012 | Couples Walking
April 16, 2012 | Free Tea
i guess these free tea people are sort of famous in oakland. i remember a few months ago a co-worker mentioning that this existed and that i should check them out. for whatever reason i wasn’t interested in talking to them, but i did want a photo. the guys in the frame were talking to each other ‘he is taking my picture’. well i sort of was. i like how garry winogrand says it: ‘actually, this is my picture’.
this is one of those times my 50mm lens was limiting. with something wider i could have gotten a better angle on the free tea sign, and there would have been some nice background in between the truck and the sign.
maybe i’ll get one of those 28mm nikkors soon… i’ve been shopping on ebay for a 28mm and there are about 5 choices that would work for me + a whole slew of non nikkors. the lens i have now is a nikkor, and they are all the hoot. the best one i could get is a 28mm 2.8. it focuses at 7inches, and has crazy nice construction. there are older versions with slightly less nice of builds but still pro quality, as well as f3.5′s that are good too and lighter. the cheap skate in me is thinking to go with the 3.5 because it is about 50-100 dollars less on average. but is the extra stop worth it? i guess i’ll still have my 50mm f2 even if i get a 28 f3.5? i’m trying not to buy any camera gear as well, because my film developing costs are rising…. okay thanks for reading.
April 14, 2012 | A little flare
i went to oakland yesterday to see the Andrew Bird Concert at the Fox Theater. Luckily I had some time to walk about before the show and snap photos of Oaklanders. I took 3 rolls of film yesterday, so editing through them there are a lot of potential keepers with some interesting elements. I thought that I would share this one first because of the dramatic lighting and the solar flare coming off of his chainring. this guy was moving fast, so i’m glad i had a really fast shutter speed to freeze him.
