It is Day Two at the Out of Chicago Photography Conference. Today's workshop is a repeat for me from 2016. I am eager to walk around Chicago again with New York photographer James Maher in a session called Street Photography Concepts and Techniques. We have a short session in class before heading out for the day into the Loop.
Photo by James Maher
If you read the post from the day before you read about Marie's techniques in the streets. James is different--more restless. Our task becomes hitting our targets while we are on the run. Because the goal is NOT to lift the camera up and use the viewfinder, most of these photos were taken blind, from the hip, while moving.
These first photos were taken as we waited at an intersection.
While the eyes may be the window to the soul, I really enjoy when I get an abstract like this.
I think this photo is enhanced by the capture of a legible word that adds meaning
It is not considered cool to shoot street people--but who could resist this?
We walked over to "The Bean" (or "Cloud Gate" by artist Sir Anish Kapoor) in AT&T Plaza at Millennium Park. The photos shot here are shot through the camera viewfinder as people in a public area like this are not as vulnerable as those just out walking on the streets.
I love the abstract nature of this shot
I included this one because the adult dude in the baseball cap is our leader James Maher
The Bean is all about getting photographed and distortion so it is the perfect place to plant yourself and to start shooting.
The is something weird and abstract about these kids and their reflections
The fate of modern street photographers is the device--but we need to deal with it. I took this photo of this tourist and then all her friends making sure her photo was great. Evidently it was not as she went back into selfie action--and I got the third photo which is by far my favorite.
Then we were back on the move on the streets of Chicago.
I left the group briefly when I came upon this cow. I decided to use it as my stage and see what happened.
Some folks are weary.
Some folks walk by without a care.
Some folks do the tourist thing (and I love the addition of the hand stage right)
One person decided to ride the bull (and hang her purse from its ear)
But my favorite of the batch was this family affair
I began with a "moment"
The moment got better when another person gave them their space
...but then the little one busted a move and I had my favorite photo
Sometimes not getting it all means you do
Now it was time for a specific assignment. James shoots with a mirror-less camera up around his shoulder--I shoot with a SLR at my hip. My assignment was to walk back and forth on this bridge and shoot my subjects while in motion. Here are the results:
Had to do this one in color
Here below is another one of those less-is-more street photographs for me.
Next we headed down to the river. If you read the previous post you might notice that we are walking on some of the same turf we did yesterday. Isn't it interesting that we do not get the same images?
I love this shot
Down by the river, I parked myself on a cement bench and fired away.
A street dance, perhaps
Well, it is the Windy City
I am always willing to take any kind of photo that presents itself
Could not pass this one up
One of my favorite photos of the day came when I climbed a L-platform as I had done on Thursday
We came across a fashion shoot in the street so I took advantage of it without getting in the way
Thanks to James Maher for his patience in leading us around Chicago all day. It was great and I learned a lot about photography...and myself.
After the walk it was back to the conference center for the opening talk. Denice, Bob and I went out for dinner and we skipped the photocrawl because the day had been...
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