The coffee house rules are simple. Coffee houses were once places where people met for a chat about their businesses or politics of the day. The rules at this coffee house are that the chat is about Street Photography. But photography in general is fine too!
Please go to THE ENTHUSIASTIC EYE page for info about my latest E-book
Black and White Street and Urban Photography
All text and images on this website are the copyright of the author. © Keith Towers
All text and images on this website are the copyright of the author. © Keith Towers
Welcome to 'The Coffee House Rules'. Please feel free to take a look around and to leave a comment.
B&W or Colour
Quite a few photographers have asked if street, or urban photography, should be done in B&W, or if colour photography is OK too. I personally prefer B&W for this genre, but there are times when colour photography works just as well, if not "better" in some instances. During those dark old days of film the choice of colour or black and white depended on what roll of film you had in the camera at the time. Many photographers would have carried two cameras with them, so that the choice between the two was as simple as using one camera or the other. Back then, black and white film was the standard emulsion on offer, and stocks were plentiful and a lot easier to process. Now of course, with digital media at our fingertips, we have the choice of shooting both all in one camera, and we can select which is best for the shot either before, or after we have taken the image.
Digital photography has come on in leaps and bounds in just a few decades, whereas film developed very slowly over many decades. Whether digital is now better than film is a matter of personal belief, but even if it is better, it hasn't prevented black and white photographers from trying to get that magical and often imperfect look that film produced into their digital black and white photography. And I must admit I try my hardest to achieve that look myself.
Even though we have the flexibility with digital photography to choose either at the time of processing or shooting, it is a good exercise to try and see your image in black and white beforehand. Just decide what you are going to shoot for the day and think of nothing else. If it is black and white you want to work with then start looking at the shadow areas in terms of rich black, the mid tones in various shades of grey, and the highlights as pure whites. Remember that good black and white images are usually contrasty. Blocked shadows and blown highlights can often add to the drama of a shot.
Tip: Look out for patterns, shapes and texture!
Equipment
I have used all sorts of equipment from rangefinder to DSLR, with lenses as long as the Canon 70-200mm L series lens and as little as a 24mm lens for people photography. At the end of 2012 I decided to sell all my heavy Canon gear and purchased a Fuji X100 LE fixed lens camera with some of the funds. Wow! Using this little camera was like a breath of fresh air. It made me look more closely at what I was doing, and above all, I was suddenly invisible to the people I was taking pictures of. I worked for two years with that camera and found myself enjoying photography in a way I had come to forget. At last I could spend all day with my camera without having the usual back ache or a neck ache at the end of it. I now use the Fuji X Pro 1 and find it even better.
Tip:
Be prepared – See – Move in - Take the shot – Move on!