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Street Photography Smart Phone Photo Critique

Lesson 19 from: Storytelling with Mobile Photography

Ed Kashi

Street Photography Smart Phone Photo Critique

Lesson 19 from: Storytelling with Mobile Photography

Ed Kashi

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Lesson Info

19. Street Photography Smart Phone Photo Critique

Lesson Info

Street Photography Smart Phone Photo Critique

So this is lovely seeing here what you're doing. I just wish that she was a little more to the left, so she wasn't overlapping her. That's just a matter of maybe shifting a bit to your right. But other wise, what I see here is, I see a more sophisticated level of seeing and observing that you're capable of doing. That's really cool. Is that Indonesia? [Female Audience Member] Yeah, different bike going on a different boat to a different island, but in Indonesia. Cool. Thank you. Alright. We have the same players. (everyone chuckles) I think of this more of a, almost like a landscape sense of place picture, and (clears throat) these elements here are colliding with each other. There's not enough separation. There's not enough separation between them, but there's also, in terms of going laterally across the frame, but there's not enough separation between them and the background. And then you've got this huge, wide open foreground. So again, this is a case where it requires one to be...

patient and to stay here. And also, it looks to me like the lighting is a bit flat. I don't know if it was overcast that day. So in terms of waiting, it's not like the light's gonna change and it's really so dramatically that, could you imagine if there was someone right in the foreground? If you had something, maybe on a bicyclist, someone walking, something in the foreground. Then you'd have three layers. There were actually two shots after this, two guys walking in right front, but then I worried it looked too cluttered. But now I, from this, can see the foreground, middle, background. But what would your advise be to visiting a place, 'cause this is in San Francisco and it was just fogged out the whole time I was there, so there were no sun breaks, which happens here a lot. So, do you have any advise getting around that or working with that? I mean unless you have access to the weather gods (everyone laughs) not really. Or a seeing machine, no. I mean I think you've, I've learned I've gotta work with what, like when we were out Sunday and it was raining. I didn't give up, I just worked with it as best I could. You adapt. But fog can be quite beautiful. Yeah, that fog unfortunately wasn't very beautiful. (everyone laughs) Yeah, well everything's very Flat. Right. So then I'd be looking for, depending on what you're going for, like if you're shooting black and white it can be, it can create a lovely aesthetic, but if you wanna shoot in color, then I'd be looking for the places where there is color. Or go for a real monochromatic color look, you know? You just always gotta be thinking and pushing and seeing. I know exactly where you are. I probably, I probably would've picked, I probably would've looked for a place that had more open space and more color. Okay. Naturally occurring color. Alright? 'K, this is wonderful. That's really nice. I might've just slightly lightened, those beautiful blue eyes. Who is that? Is that someone you know? So I was sitting on the other side of the window in a cafe and that's someone I don't know. Okay, so I probably would've lightened this area, just a little bit more because it's so bright. I'd probably make this darker. You see how it's a little busy? I think I like it 'cause I love that you're trying to do it. I love the effort. It's not ideal that this white banner is in the mouth. It's a case where maybe you needed to move around a little bit to get just the right spot. Reflections are a funny thing. Sometimes they come together perfectly and sometimes they just, there's something there but it never quite works. So yeah, I would probably just lighten the highlight areas and then, sorry, darken the highlight areas and lighten that area. Just to bring into a little more balance. This reminds me of what you were just saying earlier about it's like flexing a muscle, because I was out with my Canon all day in my neighborhood in Hayes Valley, just, I don't know, looking for texture, color, different things. And then I sat down at my favorite cafe to have a tea, and she was on the other side of the window and I saw that, and I pulled out my phone. Right. And she was with her mom, so actually to move around, I would've felt a little creepy. Yeah. You know what I mean? But as soon as I saw that, I was like (gasps). And that was for me, my favorite picture of the day, and I was probably out for like three hours total. It's rare that you-- Yeah, and I bet if you had pulled out a 35 millimeter camera, it would've drawn more attention as well. This is a case where mobile photography allowed you to be more sort of, more discreet. Yeah. So, cool. Thank you. That's me. Doctor. Oh that's my email. I know, there's a doctor in the house. This is a nice, this is almost, just the framing is off. I wanna see all of the woman on the left. 'Cause other wise, it's very imbalanced. And then the feet. Either you include the feet, or you crop it like here. Right. It's about proportion. The moment is nice though. I like that all three of them are sort of in these different poses, and I love the light on his face, and I like the way she's got her-- I like what's going on, it's just not framed well. And it was one of those things where, it was in that moment, I wanted to capture it and I just, the framing, that muscle memory, still wasn't kicking in. Yup. Well, how dow you get it? By doing it a lot. Yeah. Maybe not 10,000 hours (audience laughs), but you have to do it a lot. Thank you. Alright! Well thank you guys in the studio for sharing your work. So, that's really nice. Sorry I just have to see one thing. Aw, it's too bad there's this little head popping out of her cheek. (everybody chuckles) But I probably, maybe burn that face down a little bit so it's less obtrusive. But this is a really intriguing moment. Don't you agree? It's something intriguing about it, and the light is quite beautiful. It's quite an expression huh? So, for me this feels very snap-shotty, there's not a lot of photographic, there's not a lot of photographic language involved here. You've got the woman's hand, arm coming out of the side of his head. You see that, right? And the fact that, I don't know if it's a he or she, I think she, looking in the camera. Is it a portrait or not? It's not really a portrait, I don't know. Do you guys know what I mean? It's an in-between thing. So first of all, I would've moved to the right so you separate the person in the foreground from the person in the background. That's the first thing right off the bat. And then, who knows how many frames this person shot of this scene, but I would've worked it if I really felt-- That's another thing. If you are committed to your subject, you gotta work it. Okay, sometimes you get that one (fingers snap), that picture from one or two frames on the fly. Sometimes that happens. But often, you're really working a scene. You're really working a scene. That's great. That is excellent! Funny. Hard to make funny pictures. It's kinda weird. Even the way her feet are crossed are great. No, that's a really good picture, really strong photograph. That's wonderful! Whoever, you are paper boat project. That is definitely a curious incident. I'd like to know if that is, was that setup and directed or, was that really just a moment that actually naturally happened? Very nice picture! (laughs) I do wish that the hands were not cut off on the bottom right, but this is a lovely example of foreground-background, where you have that out-of-focus kid in the background. And it's great that he's got the blue shoes and the blue top, this great line that leads right to him. Then this boy has such a beautiful expression. So something quite nice about this. Only just, I wish the hands were in the frame. This is a lovely picture. It's another example of what I call a more formal approach. You see what I mean, right? It's very formal, very square, but beautiful. Beautiful texture, beautiful color. This is more of a snap-shotty kind of picture. For what it is it's okay. They did a nice job framing the head so that there's nothing converging with it really. Nice sea foreground sweeping in to the subject. The light is also very good on this, the way it etches her. So it feels to me like there's a little too much foreground, too much empty framing on the bottom. I'm wondering if it would've been more dynamic either to go very extreme and cut it off like here, or to have it like there and then show the tops of the buildings. Ah, that's a really nice photograph, really nice. Really nice use of foreground, middle ground, background. Nice color scheme. Really good seeing in this picture.

Class Materials

Bonus Materials with Purchase

Storytelling with Mobile Photography App List
Intimate Event - Aesthetic Considerations Video
Intimate Event - Human Interaction Video
Intimate Event - Capturing Portraits Video
Cultural Event - Human Interaction Video
Cultural Event - Capturing Portraits Video
Cultural Event - Aesthetic Considerations Video
Street Photography - Aesthetic Considerations Video
Street Photography - Human Interaction Video
Street Photography - Capturing Portraits Video

Ratings and Reviews

a Creativelive Student
 

I was not interested in this class and just decided to tune in. This is one of the Best classes I have watched on Creative Live! I love his total "attitude" about how to treat people, what to do and not to do to engage in more courteous ways and polite ways. I found him inspiring and engaging, creative and providing lots of information in what I watched. (I did not watch the entire course.) I am certainly going to check out other classes he might produce in the future. I very much enjoyed what I did watch and found him a wonderful instructor! Lots of valuable tips as well. Thanks for allowing me to preview it today!

belinda leung
 

ed kasha did an amazing job taking us through his creative process. practical tips helped me immediately spot things to help improve my photos immediately. I downloaded and started using the apps he recommended right away. thanks creative live and ed kasha!

Lynn Hernandez
 

Very inspiring seeing Ed Kashi's excitement for the creative process. Seeing the final photo and then watching a video of what happened to make the photo was really helpful. Have a list a new apps to try for photo-editing and double-exposures. Loved the class.

Student Work

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