Vintage Banff

In February I tried my hand at some street photography in Vancouver with my Nikon 1 AW1 and I was quite pleased with the results. Recently, in Banff I was able to try my hand at this again but this time with my much more powerful Nikon D810 accompanied with a wide angle 16-35 mm lens and 70-200 mm lens. What surprised me most was the success that I had with the 70-200 mm lens.

On his blog in late September, friend and fellow photographer John Enman discussed some tips for street photography which are as follows:

1. Use a wide-angle lens. 

2. Get close. 

3. Look for juxtaposition. 

4. Focus on the essential. 

5. Look for the light and shadows.

6. Look at the foreground and background. 

7. Tell a story.

I did use a wide angle lens but like I mentioned, this time I found more success at least in my opinion with the mid-range telephoto which actually forced me to get further away. I didn’t focus too much on juxtaposition or any particular subject matter or even telling any kind of a story either. Rules of composition such as managing light as well as foregrounds and backgrounds were followed but that was pretty much it. My best advice for street photography? Let the street tell it’s own story, just take lots of pictures. There’s always a lot happening so you don’t want to miss anything by trying to construct something that isn’t really there. dsc_3504dsc_3511dsc_3538dsc_3548dsc_3575dsc_3602dsc_3630dsc_3638dsc_3642

2 Comments on “Vintage Banff

  1. These are really nice Martin. I know that some Street Photogs insist that getting up close with a wide angle lens is the only way, but as you have demonstrated, that isn’t necessarily so…at least not all the time.
    You wrote, “Let the street tell it’s own story”. I like that.

  2. Very nice photos! The wide angle (35 mm likely) advice for street photography is actually meant for photos of people and their surroundings, or interacting with others. Look at the work of David Allan Harvey for example. You have completely different subjects here.

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