Consistency in Photography

I read a lot of photography blogs, and something that has come up on a few of them has been the need to be consistent in your photography.  I read one blog where the author said they don't like when they see a mix of black and white and color.  Another gripe was the mixing of street photography with the odd landscape shot.  While I can understand disagreeing with mixing street and landscape shots, even though I personally like to see a variety of photos, the dislike of mixing color with black and white confused me.

Sometimes a picture will look better in black and white and sometimes it will look better in color. Should a photographer miss out on good shots because it doesn't fit their usual style?  Doesn't that limit a person's creativity?  Or if they normally shoot in black and white, should they just blindly make everything black and white, even if color would make the shot more interesting?

I normally prefer my photos to be in color but every now and again I will mix it up a bit.  Take this shot for instance.  It would have looked nice in color, but I felt the black and white just added something.

The next day I was walking through Union Square in Manhattan and I saw the chess players.  I snapped this shot, but I left it in color.  I felt that the yellow of the school bus and the different colors of the children's clothes would not be as interesting in black and white.  

Personally, whenever I'm looking through someone's Flickr stream and I see pictures that are all basically the same, I click out.  For instance, if the pictures are close ups of people's faces, and you have hundreds of pictures of people's faces, they all start to look the same after a while.  It's a case of "Seen one.  Seen them all."  There is no variation that makes me want to continue looking at your photos.  I'm not saying one way of photography is the correct way.  Art truly is subjective.  Maybe someone likes looking at pictures that are just close ups of faces, or just black and white, or just color or whatever.  I just get confused when people say that you should either only shoot black and white, or only color, etc.  To me, photography is about what moves you.  What motivated you to take a picture that day?  I personally am a street photographer who prefers most of my shots to be in color, but every now and again I'll throw in a black and white shot or a random landscape.  Like this shot:

I love this shot.  I currently live in NYC, but I am just not down for living in a place where you can't even move without bumping into someone, where the noise never stops and where you can't just stop for a minute and breathe.  I took this shot yesterday when I was walking around in the Bronx. I've never been to the Bronx, but I had some free time yesterday and decided to take the 4 train to the very last stop.  Fine, the Bronx isn't exactly some isolated spot in the middle of nowhere, but it was definitely less intense than Manhattan.  I loved it as soon as I stepped off the train.  This is the kind of spot where I'd just relax and read and be able to spend hours just zoning out.  This spot was so beautiful that I had to photograph it, even though it's not the kind of shot I normally take, like this photo:

There is a variety in my shots and that is how I feel comfortable.  That doesn't mean that my way is right, but it doesn't mean that it is wrong either.  At the end of the day, photography is a creative outlet and however one chooses to express that creativity is the correct way for them.  I have to have a camera with me at all times.  The one time that I forgot to take my camera with me, I was so annoyed because I saw three amazing shots that I missed.  I don't get the same feeling of happiness that I do when I'm photographing what I see.  My mind is always wandering to "this would be a great shot", whether it's when I'm on the bus, or when I'm working at some desk job.  To me, photography is a way to document the present and leave a piece of it behind when we are all long gone.

Liquor Store Incident

A few days ago when I was out trying to get some good street shots, I walked down this one block that was partially closed off for construction.  There was a liquor store down this particular block and a guy just standing outside the store.  I was already weary because as I stated when I posted this on my Flickr page, I don't have anything against people who go to liquor stores.  However, when you hang out at the liquor store, and in the daytime no less, you've got some problems.

As soon as the guy spots me and my camera, he starts with the stupid remarks.  "Oh, yeah.  Paparazzi.  Paparazzi."  I ignore him and keep walking.  As I pass him, he says to my back "I love you.".  That does it.  Few things in this world piss me off more than douchebags who insist on "giving compliments" and flirting like sleazeballs.  I turn around and say "Excuse me?"  He says "What?  I was talking to her" pointing to a woman who just happened to walk by.  "Why would I talk to you?  You're ugly."  (Yeah, I'm heartbroken that some drunk loser thinks I'm ugly.)  I aim my camera at him, and he does the following gestures.  I made a collage, complete with a full on face shot of the douche.

In between flipping the bird, he kept saying "Put this on Facebook!  Put this on Facebook!".  Thank you.  I did.  My only regret is that I wasn't able to get a video.  The sidewalk was narrow on account of half of it being blocked off and I didn't want to be the jerk who was preventing people from being able to get by.

Graffiti Project

As I mentioned in my previous post, I am starting a graffiti project.  I've been working on it for almost a month and so far I have walked around Manhattan and Brooklyn.  Just from what I've seen so far, I have to say that I've found more interesting graffiti/street art in Brooklyn, but that's just a personal preference.  As someone who was born, and spent the first seventeen years of my life, in Brooklyn, it holds a special place in my heart.  Most of these pictures from Brooklyn were taken around the Williamsburg Bridge area.

Near Williamsburg Bridge.  Sometimes the things people write are just as interesting as the things they paint.

Taken in Brooklyn.  This is definitely one of the more colorful examples of street art that I've seen.

Taken on the Lower East Side 

It seems that I am drawn to colorful skeletons and apparently I am drawn to the work of this particular artist.  I noticed that the name by the skeleton was Bradley Theodore, and it sounded familiar to me, so when I got home I checked some of the photos in my "graffiti/street art" folder and I came across this photo:

 Funnily enough, it was in my last post.  His work is so eye catching.  I wonder when I'll happen to come across some of his art again?  When I was looking up the artist, I found that this is actually a mural near L'asso Pizzeria on Kenmare and Mott streets.  As a New Yorker, I am all about pizza, so I might have to drop in there next time I'm in the neighborhood.

Stuck in a Rut

As much as I love photography, there are times when I just get stuck in a rut.  I always seem to walk the same routes and it does get a bit tedious after a while.  Sometimes it just feels like you've photographed every thing there is to photograph.  There are a few different ways that I like to handle this problem.  One way is to just snap pictures of anything.  Lots of times, you'll think that you've gotten absolutely nothing of interest, and then when you get home and put the pictures on your computer, you'll see that you've come home with a few keepers. Some of my favorite shots were snapped when I either wasn't going for them, or when I was going for something completely different.  Take for instance, this shot:

The light was changing, so I had just changed my camera settings and was about to take a test shot when this father and daughter happened to walk in front of me.  As I was waiting for them to pass, I noticed that they were dressed alike, and I thought that they looked so cute walking down the street that I took a picture of them.

Another way that I combat the blues is to go out with a specific idea in mind.  At first, I thought this seemed to be kind of limiting.  I mean, how could you possibly get good shots if you were only shooting a specific subject, right?  Well, my very first time using this method helped me get some pretty good shots.  Walking around NYC, you see graffiti all over the place, but it is such a part of the landscape that you don't really notice it.  Every once in a while, you'll see something funny, but for the most part, you see it without really seeing it, if you know what I mean.  I decided to work on a graffiti project.  Here are some of the shots that I've gotten in the past few weeks.

If anyone knows exactly where this is, I'd love to know.  I was walking around Soho and then I wound up here.  I'm not the greatest at directions, and when I'm out walking and "zoning out" as I like to refer to it, I never notice street signs.  I had another picture without the woman walking in front of it, but I liked this one better.

This was taken in Soho near Mercer St.  I wanted a picture of the wall, but a group of tourists was there for almost five minutes, taking multiple shots (with only one person, a few people, different poses, etc.).  Then, the man with the jacket comes along and takes their picture, so I take a picture of all of them.

Taken while walking along the Lower East Side.

Another shot taken while walking along the Lower East Side

Return of the Chinatown Singer

I decided to go back to Chinatown because during my wanderings, I passed by a bakery that had some amazing looking desserts.  (The Audrey Bakery and Cafe at 12 Chatham Square in case anyone is interested.)  As I was walking out of the bakery, I step to the side to turn my camera back on, when all of a sudden, I hear a familiar loud singing.  I think to myself "No way it's the same guy", but as I turn towards the sound, I see that it is indeed the man himself.  Here he is, in all his singing glory.

  

I was told when I posted this video on my Flickr page, that he was singing in a dialect called Toi San and that he was singing about wandering around and searching for something to eat. I was tempted to go back to Chinatown the next day and see if I could run into him again.  

Since this was last week during those icy cold days, I took very few shots before my numb fingers and toes forced me to go back home.  The majority of them did not make the cut, but then again, even on a day with good weather that is usually the case.

I was going for a shot of the man, but as usual, I hesitated too long and the woman turned around and caught me, but I actually like this shot.  I think it's because the woman has that something that makes an interesting photo.  The leather cap on top of her red hair is, in my opinion, a better shot than it would be if I had gotten the shot that I had originally wanted.

Black and white shot of the crowd crossing the street in Chinatown.

Wandering Around Chambers St. and Chinatown

I've been getting into a rut lately because I always walk the same streets when I go out, so I decided to walk to Chambers St. and around Chinatown, with no particular shots in mind.  I usually shoot that way, but normally I just walk and walk and if I see something interesting, I'll stop and get the shot.  Today I decided to walk one or two blocks and then stop for 5-10 minutes to see if anything interesting would happen.

I spotted this guy's hat from a block away.  It's so bright and eye catching and when I saw him I thought of how when you walk in the woods during hunting season you're supposed to wear bright clothing (usually orange from what I hear) so that you won't be mistaken for a deer or any other animal.  I've been seeing a lot of people walking around in bright neon colors like orange or pink.

Then when I was walking around Chinatown, near Catherine street, I kept hearing some guy behind me singing at the top of his lungs.  I tried to ignore him, but he was so loud that eventually I turned around to see what was going on.  When I turned around, I see this guy singing loudly and staring right at me.  I quickly turned my camera to video mode and got about 30 seconds of his performance.

I didn't get too many good shots that day, but I felt that the video made up for the lack of photos. I'm definitely glad that the weather is warming up and that the days are getting longer.  Longer hours, better weather and more people in the streets.

Wanderings

This weather has been really depressing.  The cold makes it difficult to stay outside for too long. Last week it wasn't too terrible outside, so I did manage to snap a few interesting things.

I used to love winter and I couldn't wait for it to roll back around again.  The past few years, I have slowly started to enjoy the other seasons.  With all the layering that we have to do in the winter, it's no wonder people have aches and pains.  I know that when I get ready to go out, my neck is hurting before I even leave the house because all the layers are restricting my movements.  I like this shot because normally, the people are the ones in the colorful outfits and the walls are drab looking and this is the opposite of what you normally see.  I found this to be an interesting twist on things.

Speaking of opposites, this was taken on the same day as the picture above.  I know that we're all anxious for warmer weather and when we get a day that isn't as cold as the rest, we get tempted to rush things, but this is how you get sick.  It wasn't so nice outside that you could strut your stuff down the street, half dressed, or undressed depending on how you look at it.

This was also taken last week.  I love this shot because I wasn't even looking for it.  I had just changed the settings on my camera and was about to take a test shot when this father and daughter happened to walk ahead of me.  At first I was going to wait until they had passed, but then I noticed how adorable they looked together.  I titled this one "Mini Me".  Every little girl is a daddy's girl and it's even cuter when they are dressed alike.

Big Exciting News

I am excited to say that I was interview for issue VII of Inspired Eye magazine.

When I was first contacted by Don Springer about being interviewed for Inspired Eye, I was very flattered.  It's always flattering to know that your work is enjoyed by others.  I've been doing street photography on and off for years, but only within the past year and a half or so have I started to take it up seriously.  Photography for me is a creative outlet.  Something that I genuinely enjoy doing and that I can get lost in doing for hours and hours.  I had a blast during the whole interview.  If only interviews for office jobs could be as enjoyable, right?