[alamo5000]

I don't get to the city as much as I would otherwise, but this weekend I went to a baseball game in Houston. Outside of the stadium there was this guy playing his guitar...

I didn't have much time to compose or do anything other than 'shoot and pray'... here's one that I think turned out ok.

Questions: If you were cropping, how would you crop this shot? What do you think of the choice to do it in B&W? Any suggestions for composition for next time?

I don't get to do much (if any) street shooting, but this is what I got for now




---------- Post added 06-15-14 at 03:08 PM ----------

K-5, 43mm, f5.6 1/50 shutter speed.

[Richard Briggs]

How about the crop below? As far as B&W goes I'm afraid I rarely see the point. I'll often desaturate to the point there is little colour but I've never quite 'got' the penchant for B&W. If God had invented colour photography from the word 'go' black and white would never have existed. I know its just a personal thing so ignore me on this


Richard

[esrandall]

I think the tighter crop makes the scene a little more personal (more up in your face), which really works for me. I personally love B&W, more for people, than probably any other scene. I like the contrast on the guitar, and clarity of his tattoo. Really nice shot

[rbefly]

Hello Alamo,
First off, what works for me; The pose is good, expressive and clear. The subject is sharply-drawn and clean, except for slight motion blur. You did a fine job on the exposure and PP, pulled out shadow detail (hair, guitar) while keeping the whites even-toned. The shallow depth-of-field is near-perfect, one-half to one more full stop (open) would be slightly better. Generally, for a stage closeup, the more OOF blur 'wipe' or softening, the better. Just the artist and lighting, everything else is a distraction. You're nearly there!
What I'd change; My crop would be different, a horizontal with cropped left (to his hand), right (to guitar) and enough vertical space to make 4:3 ratio.
A couple things that might be changed, if not improved. The motion blur bothers some, but I like it and use it frequently, especially to show 'movement' important to the scene and subject. My favorite speed for music performance is around 1/100s, slightly faster than your sample.
Also, photos of people while their eyes are closed is generally considered a no-no, but exceptions are made and stage performance (especially while singing) is a big one. Here it conveys emotion well.
Last, B + W for this shot, no question. When there's clean stage gels illuminating a performance the colors are great, very dramatic. But that's a controlled environment. Outdoors, a whole different story. Unless the background is completely cropped out, it is nearly guaranteed to contain signs, cars, lights and lots of conflicting visual junk, none of which help the photo, quite the opposite.
Whether B + W is more realistic for people-shots, I happen to think so, generally. Again, dramatic (colored) stage performance photos would be an exception, but even then I often PP/convert to monotone.
JMO, good start to music photography!
Ron

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Last edited by rbefly; 06-17-2014 at 08:32 PM.

[alamo5000]

Thanks everyone for the comments!

I chose B&W because as I went through the color version there seemed like a lot of the background was a lot more distracting. Using B&W the subject seemed a lot more prominent and many of the distractions were gone.

Me personally, I think B&W adds a lot to some photos, and in this case I think it adds because it subtracts and focuses the eye on the subject. In this case it just seems like it gives more 'pop'.

As far as the shot goes, I had my camera set and there was a mob of people right behind me. If I didn't take it when I got it then I possibly could have missed it due to so many people crowding and distracting the shot. That said I have toyed with the idea that if I took the shot vertically it could have added something as well... which brings to the point made by rbefly about the crop. Either that, or go in with the 31mm instead of the 43mm...that being said I didn't have much choice because that's what I had on the camera.

rbefly... you've obviously put a whole lot of thought into how to shoot these things...thanks for your comments...

I noticed the eyes closed too... but when I combined that with all the other elements of the shot I thought it added a bit of 'soul' to the feeling portrayed in the image. As for the motion blur, in this case I like it as for my personal tastes because it demonstrates something not being static.

Thanks again for all the comments and compliments!

---------- Post added 06-16-14 at 08:24 PM ----------

Another thing that I find interesting about 'street photography' is how to incorporate the subject into the scene without having a bunch of annoying signs and stuff being overly distracting.

I live about an hour and a half away from Houston way out in the country so my opportunity to shoot 'street' or even shoot people is very limited.

[mikeSF]

very nice work! the tighter crop is more intimate and still has all the necessary context from the street. nice BW conversion too

[alamo5000]

very nice work! the tighter crop is more intimate and still has all the necessary context from the street. nice BW conversion too

Thanks Mike!

(I'm a big fan btw. I like your photos. I've seen em around on the forum)

[mikeSF]

Thanks Mike!

(I'm a big fan btw. I like your photos. I've seen em around on the forum)

aw thanks!
I am a guitarist btw and always appreciate when the left hand is visible on the fretboard. I cringe at concert videos when the guitarist is wailing on a solo and the camera is tight on only the strumming hand...arrrgh!

[Richard Briggs]

Or even when they focus in on the wrong guitarist!

[mikeSF]

Or even when they focus in on the wrong guitarist!

Grrrrrr! I was watching a Crossroads festival recently and as Clapton was soloing, the camera went straight to the rhythm guitarist until Clapton finished his solo, then cut back to Clapton for the verse, WTH?!