There he sat, on an old dusty sofa on the sidewalk in front of an old pawn shop. Sitting there, just watching the world. I’m happy I met him.
Shanghai Street Photography
One thing for me that is great about shooting street is that I know I won't have to do any major retouching so the editing goes really fast once I have decided on what color or black and white feel I want.
Read MoreShanghai Street Photography B/W
Just a quick post before I head off to do other things. Here are a few shots that have been marinading for a while. Shot around Shanghai they show 1 side of life here. Never a dull moment on the streets, all you have to do is look out for them.
Read MoreShanghai Streets In Colour
The Weather these days in Shanghai is trying to become semi decent an I thought it was a great excuse to go out and shoot some street again seeing as it has been a while since I've done it. Unfortunately I didn't get one decent shot, somedays it happens. It could be wrong place at the wrong time but in a city as vast as Shanghai I think it's more realistic to say that I just wasn't on my game and I wasn't looking at the city and the people through the right eyes.
Read MoreKrabi Thailand
Beautiful and friendly Thailand. Every time I go to Thailand I enjoy it more and more. The people are always super friendly and respectful, always willing to help in anyway they can. Now trying to find something interesting and authentic to shoot becomes a little tricky when you find yourself in a tourist spot like Krabi but with the help of a great tour guide I managed to get away from the usual more well known places.
Read MoreStreet Photography Using Flash
AAAARRRGGGHH, This is the 3rd time I am writing this post because my blog keeps on crashing.
Read MoreThe Long Road To Consistency
Once again it's been far too long between posts. Life has been crazy for the past 5 months and I have had to learn to manage my time differently. Having said that, as you can see from the lack of posts I haven't been entirely successful but I'm getting better.
Read MoreSouth African Street Portrait
Aaaarrrghh, Ok so take two of my blog post because the little internet decided to delete my last post as I was finishing it.
Ok so lets start again. It's been a while since my last post. Life has been crazy busy with shooting and general life stuff. I also spent 3 weeks in South Africa on holiday and managed to organise a couple of shoots while I was there. I think most of my holiday snaps I will post on Instagram so look out for them.
I was cruising around Johannesburg looking for old 35mm cameras in old junk shops when I noticed this guy just hanging around outside one of them. I was immediately interested by his face and knew that I had to shoot his portrait. After talking for a while he agreed and we just carried on talking about life in general while I snapped away. Turns out he regularly goes to the local gym to lift weights with his daughter and on the day I saw him, he was just killing time waiting for her. Really nice guy and I was happy to have met him.
The black and white shots were down when I found myself on a construction site. I would have loved to spend a bit more time there shooting close up portraits of the workers but I wasn't able to that day, maybe next time.
Anyway, everyone meet Vic.
Shanghai Streets In Color
Shooting street in Shanghai sometimes feels like cheating because there is so much of interest you barely have to walk 20 meters to find a subject but this too comes with it's own problems. I find it challenging to push myself to think of new themes, to look beyond the obvious street vendor shot right in front of me. At the end of the day we all add our own touch to each photo and view the scene slightly differently to everyone else no matter how many times it has been done before, this is how we differentiate ourselves. I am sure that is the goal of many photographers, when you take a shot of something that has been seen before but whoever is looking at it can recognise it's your work by the style of the photo.
The lesson to be learnt is keep pushing yourself, the harder you push the more you surprise yourself. Appreciate the failures, those are the building blocks from which you make success.
The rate at which Shanghai is expanding and modernising is impressive. It also makes for a great contrast, out with the old and in with the new. In a way though, it is sad to see all of these old buildings crushed to rubble.
