Gavin Harrison - Guide to Street Photography

I ran across an excellent article on Street Photography featuring the work of Gavin Harrison. Below is a video tutorial on shooting and editing street photography. To view the original article, visit Engadget.

The Whole Story - Photo by James Neame

James Neame is one of my favorite street photographers on Instagram, in fact he contributed to "Tips From Ten - Street Photography" earlier this year.  Keep reading to find out The Whole Story of "The Lady and the Tramp and the Baby".

For a chance to be featured just tag your Instagram mobile photos with the hashtag #the_whole_story.

The Photograph

The Lady and the Tramp and the Baby © James Neame

The Whole Story by James Neame

For this photo I happened to notice the homeless guy standing in the rain watching the televisions in the shop window. I thought this was an interesting moment and showed the power of the moving image over us weak humans! So I lined up the shot and this lady appeared, looking unimpressed at this poor guy, which added a bit of social commentary to the image. During the editing process I noticed the baby, staring in at the televisions as well, which kind of brought this little scene full circle. A bit of good fortune goes a long way sometimes! 

As for editing, I try to keep it minimal these days; I want the photo to work because of the composition and subject, rather than how it's been post-processed. I generally don't wander outside of Snapseed - crop to square, tweak the brightness, contrast and saturation if required. Maybe lay a vignette in the corners and sometimes one of the vintage filters works to accentuate the image, but that's about it! 

The Photographer

James Neame - I've been interested in photography for about six years now, the usual attempts at landscapes, sunsets and some architectural compositions. It was only when I downloaded Instagram that I started to get into the whole street photography genre. This was a new and fascinating world to me, and once I'd started following the likes of Ian (@iangarrington), Dilshad (@italianbrother) and Patrick (@candidcameraman) I realized this was the style I wanted to pursue. Various books and other research duly followed!

Until recently I was playing around with the composition of basically two-dimensional pictures, with a lone figure properly placed to add to the overall effect (the well practiced "peoplewalkingpast....." tags started, as far as I know, with my #peoplewalkingpastdoors). These days I'm more interested in trying to capture a story-telling moment, although I think this is a very difficult thing to do. Hopefully practice will make it easier! I really admire those who can portray humour, sadness or really any distinct emotion in their photography; Bryan Stoke (@bstoke) and Elizabeth Huey (@elizabeth_huey) spring immediately to mind as newer discoveries for me.

Apps Mentioned:

Snapseed

Find James:  Instagram / Tumblr / Facebook

@dadseyeview on Instagram

The Mobile Photography of Tracey Renehan

It has been a great experience getting to know different mobile photographers through this interview series.  This feature spotlights the work of Tracey Renehan.  You may be familiar with Tracey's street photography, but her talent doesn't stop there.  She's also a very gifted portrait photographer and also explores the realm of abstract editing in her work.  I'm sure you will enjoy learning about her as much as I have. 

Contemplation

G:  What is your name and where do you live?

T:  My name is Tracey Renehan and I am an Australian living in Sweden.

G:  How did you get started with mobile photography?

T:  I have travelled extensively and have always taken a lot of travel photos with various cameras.  In 2011, I decided I wanted to learn how to use a “real” camera and bought a Canon DSLR. 
During my self-study of photography, I came across Mobile Photographers doing amazing photography and became curious.  Winter set in and it was too cold to take my system camera out, so I thought why not use my iPhone to at least practice composition over the winter.  It wasn’t until I joined EyeEm in April 2012 that my real journey into Mobile Photography began.  Looking at photos on EyeEm has been the equivalent of going to school.  It helped me see what both professionals and regular people can do and inspired me to learn.

Inner Prison

Sound Waves

G:  What device do you use?  

T:  I started with an iPhone 4S and received the iPhone 5 last Christmas. 

G:  Do you have a traditional photography or art background?

T:  I wish!  My learning curve would be far less steep if I had studied.  The only training I have done is two of the Story Telling Series Workshops with Mobile Photo Workshop.  Last autumn, I did the Portraits workshop and I just finished the Street Photography workshop last week.  Not only are Anton Kawasaki and Sion Fullana amazing Mobile Photographers, they are also gifted instructors. 

It is too early to see the results from the Street Photography workshop, but my photography significantly improved after doing the Portraits workshop.  I am actually very excited about seeing what I do in the coming months with what I just learnt from them. 

Waiting it Out

Erasing Thoughts

G:  Who or what inspires your work?

T:  Coming out of a tragic time in my life, I took up creative writing and wrote several short stories and a novel.  I realized I had a vivid imagination, but my writing skills needed a lot of work. The novel has been edited four times and I really love the story, but I don’t think it will ever reach the point where I am satisfied with the writing.    Regardless, one of my characters is an artist and in the course of the story she paints an image, which was related to my own personal story.  I considered commissioning someone to paint it and even casually mentioned it to an artist friend.  I’m now inspired to make that image myself.  It is still a long journey to reach the point where I have the skills I need, but hopefully I will get there.

I am also very inspired by images created by other mobile photographers. It is amazing what images are coming out of our mobile photography communities.  I just love when I log on to one of the photography sites and see work that takes my breath away.  Such images give me a high and I am inspired to try to create images that also speak to others.  There are many mobile photographers and traditional photographers I admire and look up to and I spend more time than I should looking at images. 

Face Off!

Morphed Streets

G:  Do you plan your shoots with a specific idea in mind?

T:  Mostly not, though I have planned some shoots.  Typically when I shoot portraits of people I know, I think about the person then have a rough plan of how I want to shoot them.  When I shoot street, I shoot what catches my attention.

G:  Your work is mainly in black and white.  Do you shoot in black and white with an app like Hueless or do you make the conversion afterwards?

T:  Even if I shoot with a black and white camera app, I always apply Snapseed’s black and white processing to my images. Color is still a part of my learning curve.  I hope one day to shoot more color even though I love and am mostly drawn to black and white images.

From Where I Stand

The Letter

G:  Do you shoot with the native camera app on your phone or a specialized app like Hipstamatic or ProCamera?

T:  So far I have mainly shot with Hipstamatic, 6x6 and Camera+.  I sometimes also shoot with Hueless, MPro and Pure, never with the native camera.

G:  Do you have any favorite editing apps?

T:  YES!!!  Some of my favourite apps are:  Snapseed, decim8, iColorama, ScratchCam, Blender, Pixlromatic, Photo FX, Filterstorm and BlurFX.  

Latte

PI Jones

G:  Do you do all your editing on your phone, or do you prefer a tablet?

T:  My preference is to edit on my iPad.  If I’m not on wifi, then I edit on my iPhone.  Some apps are only on my iPhone, so I go back and forth. 

G:  Please share a little bit about your editing process.

T:  First and foremost all of my images are processed in Snapseed.  It is a great app and sometimes it is all an image needs.   I edit both intuitively or with a specific edit in mind, so some of my images have gone through an array of apps.  I love playing with apps and can spend hours experimenting on getting different effects (some by accident, others with intent).  If I have a specific effect in mind and do not know how to achieve it, I will spend hours playing with different apps to try to achieve an idea.  Often I don’t quite manage what I had in mind, but usually get something anyway. This way of editing has given me the opportunity to learn apps and know what both the app and I are capable of. 

The Jogger

The Shadow

G:  When shooting on the streets, has anyone ever objected to you photographing them?

T:  So far I have been lucky.  If someone were to object, I would tell him or her what I am doing and offer a copy of the finished image.  If they still object, then I would respect his or her wishes and delete the photo.  Often I wish I had given some of the people I have photographed a card so I could send them a copy of the image.

G:  ‘Jaded’ is a most interesting piece – please tell me more about it.

T:  ’Jaded’ was created when I was trying to hone a special effect for a Poetry series.  I chose a portrait from my album, which had the right facial expression and applied the Bunker filter in decim8.  I then took the image to ScratchCam for texture and into iColorama for the colour tint, warping and transitional adjustments. I then blended a part of another image to balance it out.  The subjects are actually siblings in real life, so the story I imply is pure fantasy based on her expression and the colour.  I think it is interesting to think about why an image comes about and from where it comes.  With this one I can’t give you an answer.  Such images I think are like dreams, they have a meaning, but perhaps not always the most obvious one. 

Jaded

G:  Have you ever exhibited your work?  If not, any plans to do so?

T:  You know I am fearless when it comes to posting my images on the Internet.  The only time I feel nervous is when I post images to art albums.  I almost feel like I am an impostor and have no right to post.  I post anyway, but not without some trepidation.

If I were asked to exhibit, I would do so in a heartbeat and would enjoy every second!  

G:  Anything else you'd like to add?

Thank you so much for featuring me on your Blog.  I visit regularly and so enjoy reading your artist features and catching up on mobile photography news.  Great job, Geri!  I would also like to share that you emailed to ask about the feature on the day of my birthday.  I was both honoured and delighted to receive such a wonderful surprise birthday present.  Thanks again.

Silent Love

Find Tracey:  EyeEm / Flickr / iPhoneArt 

All images in this feature are copyrighted property of Tracey Renehan published on iART CHRONiCLES with the consent of the artist. 

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The Streets Through the Eyes of Sheppss

As a huge fan of black and white street photography, it’s no wonder that the gallery of @bws_sheppss on Instagram captured my attention.  Everything that I love about black and white photography can be found in Sheppss work – the stark contrast, the frozen moments, eye contact made and captured forever.   But his work speaks much more eloquently than my words! 

Daydreaming! (above)

Random Civilian (above)

Geri:  What is your name and where do you live?

Sheppss:  Name is Sheppss and I live in the UK West Midlands!

Geri:  How did you get started with mobile photography?

Sheppss:  I started off originally playing about with a 3GS and Instagram about 3 years ago but didn't take it seriously at the time. It wasn't until I purchased an Xperia S that I started really using the device for proppa photography purposes, that was just over a year ago.

Contra-flow (above)

To celebrate one’s life is no bad thing (above)

Geri:  What device do you use? 

Sheppss:  I now use an iPhone 5/4S as I soon realized that its not all about the megapixel count on these phone cameras. The apps are key!

Geri:  Do you have a traditional photography or art background?

Sheppss:  I learned how to use a DSLR for a hobby around 5 years ago and developed my own style from there really. Since then I have opened up my own studio doing portraits both indoor and on location. I am aiming to incorporate iPhoneography within the business at this moment.

Window Watcher (above)

Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance (above)

Geri:  Who or what inspires your work?

Sheppss:  Bresson from back in the day obviously and again it's guys like Koci and Konstruktivist who inspired me to shoot using as the quote goes "the best camera is the one that is with you" now I feel liberated to shoot everything and anything, whether I'm mountain biking, driving or on the train. It's great!

Geri:  I love your street style.  What I find unique is that you always seem to zero in on just one person. How did your style evolve?

Sheppss:  Now I have the freedom to shoot without barriers I can look more openly at things and capture moments in front of me in a more natural none obtrusive manor which suits me.

Streetwalker – 2:3  (above)

“There is a way which seemeth right unto a man” ~ Proverbs 14:12 (above)

Supergirl (above)

Geri:  Your work is mainly in black and white.  Do you shoot in black and white with an app like Hueless or do you make the conversion afterwards?

Sheppss:  I have two ways of shooting now, first one is Hipstamatic with a couple of B&W combos at the ready and the latest one is KitCam which I'm just starting to use again since it first came out, in combination with PhotoForge2 has most things I need at the moment so yeah, those 3.

Geri:  What are your favorite apps for editing your images?

Sheppss:  As the above, the other apps I most frequently run to are lo-mob, CameraBag 2, AfterFocus and Handy Photo.  

8 digits (I call you) – (above)

Some of us need new homes!  Others may need new bodies, but for the most of us I think it’s a new soul that is our greatest need! (above)

Geri:  Do you do all your editing on your phone, or do you prefer a tablet?

Sheppss:  Everything is done on phone but I am considering an iPad in the future. That's right! I don't currently own one lol.

Geri:  Please share a bit about your editing process.

Sheppss:  Well my current workflow consists of capture in KitCam and do as much work as possible within this app to achieve the desired effect, next step is to open from there straight into PhotoForge2 for anything like extra frames or filters that I can't get in KitCam and I'm done OR Hipstamatic straight and finished. I’m a bit tired of all the appstacking and prefer now to get it all processed quickly and as efficiently as possible. Specialist effects like depth of field will require AfterFocus and object removal is taken care of with Handy Photo.  That's pretty much it right about now.

Admire! (above)

This old fella was oblivious to the society that rules him! (above)

Geri:  Have you ever exhibited your work?  If not, any plans to do so?

Sheppss:   No intentions to or ever have exhibited my work, it's too laborious trying to get your work seen and exhibited, so I shoot for my own personal pleasure and whoever sees and likes my work then it’s a bonus. I have thought about hosting a gallery for iPhoneography at my studio but it’s a big project and I wouldn't know where to start, or how to fund it so at the moment it's just a nice idea.

As for me I'm not fussed about being seen and followed as you can see from my followers count on Instagram, lol, I enjoy the sharing of images and seeing others work when I can but my responsibilities with family, work and church take up most of my mind’s attention to really get to know people on all the different social sites going about.

The matrix is a system!!! That system is our enemy…(above)

Social Engineering 2 (above)

Geri:  Anything else you’d like to add?

Sheppss:  Extending from the last question, I have recently been invited to join the BWS (blackandwhite selective) team on Instagram showcasing people's B&W work when they tag us on #bws_artist_eu amongst other tags featuring works by talented artists from within each geographical location and I do my best to find new and upcoming artists as much as possible. It's a great and talented bunch of folks pushing the mobile spectrum of photography (in B&W of course ;)  And I thank you for noticing little me on IG and for the invite for this feature so God bless to you and I look forward to your future artist features. Cheers

Streetwalker 2:5 (above)

Find Sheppss:  Instagram / EyeEm / Backspaces / AMPT 

All images in this feature are copyrighted property of Sheppss published on iART CHRONiCLES with the consent of the artist. 

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Sacha Dohmen–Capturing Street Life in Belgium

It is always a pleasure to introduce another artist here at iART CHRONiCLES.  This week I have the pleasure of presenting the street photography of Sacha Dohmen (@maktub77 on EyeEm).  I applaud Sacha who with the help of his wife has overcome our language barrier to answer my questions in English.  Visit the streets of Belgium through Sacha’s eyes!  (Note, you won’t see Scottish Highland Cows on the streets of Belgium, but I had to include one of Sacha’s fabulous photos of this beautiful creature!)



Geri:  What is your name and where do you live?
Sacha:  My name is Sacha Dohmen, I live in Belgium in a small village in the middle of nowhere between Liège (Belgium), Maastricht (Holland) and Aachen (Germany)
Geri:  When did you get started with mobile photography?
Sacha:  I came to  iPhoneography by accident last year. One day before my annual leave, I broke the viewfinder of my Ricoh GXR, I was so accustomed to hide myself behind my camera that I was not able to take street shots and so I left my camera at home. Already at the airport I was very nervous because I could not photograph, then I remembered my iPhone.  I took thousands of photos within three weeks, most of them not usable but I really loved those were good. Back at home, I found in a library a book about iPhoneography from National Geographic with works of Carlein van der Beek and Richard Koci Hernandez. I was in awe. I had never heard anything about IPhoneography but I knew, that's what I wanted to do.

We Are All Puppets (above)

Geri:  Do you have a traditional photography or art background?
Sacha:  No, I’m self taught.  I bought my first camera, a Nikon D60, 5 years ago to photograph my holiday in Majorca.  I came back with a lot of photos but especially with the knowledge that I had a lot to learn. So I bought a book from Andreas Feininger and one to learn a bit about Photoshop. From then on, there was only photography for me.
Geri:  Who or what inspires you?
Sacha:  There are a lot of people who influence me. I really love the work of Roger Clay, Koci Hernandez and Dilshad Corleone, three of the best street IPhoneographers I know. My all-time favorite street shooter is Bruce Gilden.  Otherwise, of course Berenice Abbot, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Vivian Meier, Diane Arbus, Robert Doisneau, last but not least the ironic Elliot Erwitt.

Wait and See (above)

Miles Away (above)

Geri:  Your work is centered around street photography.  Do you find it difficult to approach people?
Sacha:  Yes, 99% of my work are street shots the other 1% Scottish Highland Cows.  My work is hazardous, I earn my daily bread to put me in danger. That made me fearless in the last 10 years.
Geri:  Has anyone ever objected to you photographing them?
Sacha:  Even with the IPhone, your shot doesn’t go unnoticed.  But it never comes to blows and I’ve never deleted a picture. One need only be confident enough.

The Devil in Me (above)

Geri:  Do you plan your shoots or just photograph what you come across in your day to day life?
Sacha:  I don´t think about it when I shoot.  I’m a walker and my iPhone is a part of the walking.  I’m attentive about the people and situations around me.  I capture a fraction of life later build a storyboard for this person.  All I need is a street and my iPhone to make something extraordinary out of the banal, to create a social drama, to awake emotions.  For me, my motivation to document life and take street shots is to capture and awake emotions. Photography is all about emotions.

 



Geri:  Do you use the native camera app or a specialized app like ProCamera or 645 Pro?
Sacha:  I use Hipstamatic a lot, then PureShot and Camera+.
Geri:  What are you favorite apps for creating your edits?
Sacha:  Snapseed  Lo-Mob  Big Lens, BlurFX, Photo FX Ultra, Scratchcam FX, Image Blender, The Amazing Type-Writer, Filterstorm, PhotoForge2, PhotoToaster 

The Torture Never Stops (above)

 

Geri:  Is your editing done on your phone or another mobile device (iPad or other tablet)?  Please share a bit about your editing process. 
Sacha:  I do all my edits on an iPad 3.  For the basics I always start with Snapseed or Filterstorm, then Big Lens or BlurFX to isolate my subject. PhotoToaster  PhotoForge2 and ScratchCam FX and a lot of others for the textures.  Most of the time Lo-Mob for the frame and The Amazing Type-Writer to add text or a title.

I’ve Got the Music in Me (above)

Dead-End Friends (above)

Geri:  Have you ever exhibited your work?

Sacha:  Only online on sites such as P1xels ( a special thanks here to Mr. Knox Bronson). I´m thinking about an exhibition here in  Belgium with other iPhoneographers. This would be a project that I’d like to achieve this year and perhaps a book about Street iPhoneography.  If anyone has interest, let me know!!!
Geri:  Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Sacha:  Yeah, a special thanks to you Geri for the opportunity to answer your questions.  I would also like to thank all the fantastic mobile community for the support and inspiration the last year.  Especially Catherine Restivo, Rosanna Capiello, Lene Basma and JQ Gaines.

Insomnia and the Hole in the Universe (above)

Thank you Sacha for sharing your work and your words!
Find Sacha:  EyeEm / P1xels 
All images in this feature are copyrighted property of Sacha Dohmen published on iART CHRONiCLES with the consent of the artist. 

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