Building on my confidence from Day 1 (nothing had gone completely wrong), I once again stepped out into the throng of Northampton's Christmas shopping streets armed with my camera and slightly higher self belief than last time. As before looking to find people to photograph just being themselves, as with the previous occasion, I didn't want to just take photos from afar with a zoom, preferring to use my 50mm lens and work with the subject to get a good image.
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Once again I started with a double espresso from Caffé d'Italia (did I mention that they were amazing ?), this time bolstered with a dark chocolate bounty, which I had every intention of eating whilst i was preparing for the day (yeah I forgot, but it made a nice treat when i got back home).
Last time I had used my backup camera (Nikon D7100), this time I went with my Nikon D500 as I can change settings much faster and adapting to the changing light is key. Based on my experience from last time (day 1) I also did not want to accidentally change quality settings (from RAW to JPEG) when adjusting ISO, something that would be a lot harder to do by accident on the D500.
Opposite Caffé d'Italia in Northampton is Costa (yes, another town taken over by a proliferation of coffee shops) sat there with with a few friends was a young lady with a fantastic smile, finishing my coffee I wandered over and asked if it was ok to take her photo.
Last time I had used my backup camera (Nikon D7100), this time I went with my Nikon D500 as I can change settings much faster and adapting to the changing light is key. Based on my experience from last time (day 1) I also did not want to accidentally change quality settings (from RAW to JPEG) when adjusting ISO, something that would be a lot harder to do by accident on the D500.
Opposite Caffé d'Italia in Northampton is Costa (yes, another town taken over by a proliferation of coffee shops) sat there with with a few friends was a young lady with a fantastic smile, finishing my coffee I wandered over and asked if it was ok to take her photo.
She, as most people probably would, was surprised that someone would want to take their photo, but seemed happy with the result on back of the camera. Walking off up to the high street it wasn't long at all before I found my next subject.
Given that I could hear him singing Bob Marley songs from where I was sat previously, it wasn't far to go at all. A point to the camera and him, a nod in response and we were off, putting some money in his hat as he had kept me entertained whilst taking his photos seemed the least I could do.
I think I had made a few circuits of Abington Street, Grosvenor Centre and St Giles Street by this point, but as I was also looking vaguely at some ideas for Christmas shopping I didn't really mind. Walking past Moss Bros an absolutely fantastic jacket caught my eye and I wandered in for a closer inspection, the staff upon seeing my camera volunteered their services as models
I had obviously had to change settings pretty quick from being outside in the fading afternoon winter sun to the interior lights of the shop, but the camera was up to the task, easily facilitating these changes. Just outside the shop was my next subject, a complete change and contrast to the formal setting of the work environment, he was happy to have his photo taken and engaging as to what and why I was doing. Thank you lil_bird__ for your support.
This is one of my favourite photos from the two days of this experiment for me. But, not staying still in one place, I was off on my walks again. I seem to be drawn to caffeine as both of the last two photos were taken outside cafés or coffee shops. This time however I managed to resist the call of the coffee and just focus on the photography.
Ending up in Bewiched Coffee, Northampton I sat down and looked through the photos on the camera, I couldn't wait to get them on the computer to edit.
So, that's my two days of street photography blog done, I feel much more confident in talking to complete strangers, I have found some of the best coffee in Northampton, and I'm very pleased in the way that the photos have come out.
The next blog will be "Playing with traffic - Night Photography"
So, that's my two days of street photography blog done, I feel much more confident in talking to complete strangers, I have found some of the best coffee in Northampton, and I'm very pleased in the way that the photos have come out.
The next blog will be "Playing with traffic - Night Photography"
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Thanks to:
Caffé d'Italia, Northampton
Bewiched Coffee, Northampton
#NikonUK #SigmaLenses