Workshop Fotografie Leuthard

8/4/2019 Workshop Fotografie Leuthard

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85mmStreet Photography

What is important ?

All photos by Thomas Leuthard


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85mmStreet Photography

o Thomas Leuthardo 39 years oldo Zug, Switzerlando Street Photographer o Started in May 2009o Left eyedo Nikon D7000o Panasonic Lumix GF1o Prime lenses only

About me


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Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.

Street Photography

Seneca


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Why Street PhotographyStreet Photography is

o always thereo available everywhereo free of chargeo challengingo versatileo always differento thrillingo real and straighto changing your lifeo

You can make a good street photo within one second


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1. Plan / Idea2. Seeing it 3. Light

4. Composition5. Settings6. Capturing

7. Processing8. Publishing9. Networking

10. Marketing

10 Things


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The Perfect Photo

Seeing

Capturing

Shutter

A p e r t u r e

I S O

Emotions

C o m p o s i t i o

n L i g h t

M

a r k e

t i n g

Networking

Passion

Idea

Settings


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Plan / Idea

20mm f/2 1/1300 - ISO 100Standing Still


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o

Without a plan, nothing will happeno Keep it simple, but clear o Have simple topics / themes / exercises

o Color, Shoes, Body Part, Bags, etc.o Be creative, different, crazyo Look at other people's photoso Look through magazineso Stand out to the streets and look at the peopleo Formulate a short concept with the basic rules

o Shoes only, one focal length, from the floor, B/W, square, o Color Red, one focal length, details only, extreme composition, o Garbage, macro lens, from the floor, on the street, dont touch,

o The more rules you formulate, the better you can focus on it

Plan / Idea


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Seeing it

20mm f/1.7 1/640 - ISO 1003 x 4 Wheels


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o Take your concept and go to the streetso Forget everything around you, you are on a mission

o Scan the streets for your targeto It will be much easier with just one thing on your mindo When you dont focus, you will not see anythingo There are days, when you dont see thingso Train your eye every day (also virtually)

Seeing it


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He holds her bag like a thief She grabs his bottom like a

This is just a detail, but tells a story.

As long as you can interpretsomething into a photo, there isfood for your thoughts.

- The feet are not relevant- The bag of him is not relevant- The faces are not relevant- Its just the hand situation


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There are things you would notbelieve until you have seen them

Technically this is just a snapshot,

but the situation is so scurrile that itwas worth the shot.


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A little bit of everything

This photo combines differentelements. There is a lot to

see

What do you see ?


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Light

20mm f/1.7 1/640 - ISO 100Hitchcock


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o Its all about the lighto Sunny = Difficulto Rainy Niceo Cloudy / Foggy = Perfecto Night = Special

o You always need enough lighto Light is always there, play with ito Know where the light comes fromo Morning and evening sun is much softer o If you want to see faces, have the light in your back (portrait)o

If you want to see forms, have the light in your front (Silhouette)o Always check the light situation before you continueo Increase your ISO value to compensate low light (or use a tripod)

Light

Father & Son


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Father & Son


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50mm f/22 1/250 - ISO 200 - -1.0EVCowboy ?

2 Shadows - 20mm f/2.5 1/2000 - ISO 100


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20mm f/1.7 1/160 - ISO 100Praying


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20mm f/1.7 1/25 - ISO 100Running into the light


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20mm f/1.7 1/30 - ISO 160Vapiano


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Composition

20mm f/1.7 1/320 - ISO 100Sports meets Architecture


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o Is more than 50% of a good photoo Makes a big differenceo Calms the photoo Prevent boring camera positionso Try it from the floor o Try out other crazy thingso Rule of Third/Golden Ratioo Depth of Fieldo Focus must not be in the middle

You can make a good photo from a boring subject, butyou can also make a bad photo from an interesting subject.

Concentrate rather on your style than on technology. - Siegfried Hansen

Composition


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The focus must not always be where we expect it


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- Its all about perspective- Centering is not a problem here- A narrow depth of field- Interesting Colors


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Shots from the floor make an interesting perspective


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S e v e r a

l l a y e r s a r e a

l s o v e r y

i m p o r t a n

t

F o r e g r o u n

d ,

O b j e c t ,

B a c k g r o u n

d


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Settings


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2 x shutter speed of your focal length (e.g. 85mm ~ 1/160, 50mm = 1/100) An aperture which is sharp (e.g. Nikon 50mm 1:1.8D @ f/4) An ISO value which is not grainy (not higher than ISO 400)

I shoot in A Mode (Av) to control the Aperture & the Depth of Field.On my Lumix GF1 I shoot only in Mode P, as I don't care about it.

Siegfried Hansen shoots 80% in Mode P, 95% with ISO 640 and JPG only

SettingsAperture

Exposure

Priority

1. Shutter 2. Aperture3. ISO


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Why is everybody teaching technical lessons first?

This is all technical theory. If you don't bother, you put the camera in ModeP and shoot like that. You don't see in the photo, if you were on P, A, S or M. A lot of people think they are better photographers when they control allthe settings themselves. A good photo is much more than the right camerasettings and these can do the camera most of the times itself. So keepfocusing on the really important things like composition.

Start shooting in Mode P and forget about the settings. Maybe a bit of Exposure Value (EV) correction. Thats it. You will see that, it will be a relief,

when you know, that you can trust the camera.

To keep track on the noise, you should manually set the ISO values. But atthe beginning you keep this on auto as well. You will learn after a certaintime, what is the best option for that.

Settings


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Capturing T h e D e c i s i v e M o m e n t


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o You only have a fraction of a secondo You have to be preparedo You may have to go closeo Get into the right positiono The camera has to be set & readyo You have to see what is going ono You have to know what happens nexto Sometimes its pure luck

"The shorter your focal length is,

the bigger your balls have to be..." 85mm

Capturing

A t d il


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A not so daily scene

Greed


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Greed


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With a little help from my friends


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A daily scene


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Processing


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I can fix this in Photoshop Andrew Nasrallah, Beirut

o Processing gets overratedo Its time consumingo A good photo arises from the camerao Cropping, Straighten, Contrast, Saturation, Resize, Sharpening o Please crop only 5%, dont zoom outo Use Vignette to center the point of interesto Dont use watermarks, create your style people will recognize

Spend your time taking photos rather than in front of your computer

Siegfried Hansen processes with Photoshop Elements 2

Processing


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Before


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After


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Before


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After


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Publishing

P bli hi


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o When a photo resides on your computer, nobody can see ito Show the World your photoso Find a good, cheap and effective way to publish your worko There are a lot of ways and opportunities:

o A personal web siteo A photo communityo Other social networks

Publishing

Li k


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Online Photo Communitieso Facebook www.facebook.com freeo Picasa picasaweb.google.com freeo Flickr! www.flickr.com 25$/year o Fotocommunity www.fotocommunity.de 90$/year o 500px www.500px.com 50$/year

Useful links for Flickr!

o www.flickriver.com (explore by intestringness)o www.dopiaza.org/flickr/setmgr (Flickr Set Manager)

Contests

o Icepin Street Photography www.icepin.de o Coopzeitung www.coopzeitung.ch o Eric Kim Photography www.facebook.com

Links

Fli k !


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Flickr!

Who uses

Fli k ! Ti


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How to get more attention on Flickr!o Make some good photoso Upload them one per day only (not 10 a day)o Get a Flickr! Pro (to get most out of it and show that you are serious)o Join as many street photography groups you find (the bigger the better)o Add the good street photographers to your Contactso Add every street photo to the maximum of groups (60)o Re-load every photo to other groups after some timeo Create a Top 50 set which updates automaticallyo Add the maximum amount of Tags to your photo (75)o Geo-Tag your photoso Comments other peoples photos and add them to your favoriteso Discuss in groups and share your photos thereo Attend contests/games on Flickr!o Look at the Stats feature of Flickr! (see referrers)o

Mark your photos with a Creative Commons License

Flickr! Tips

Fli k ! C i


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Who is more popular on Flickr!...?Eric_Kim Eric Kim

o Joined: June 2006o Contacts: 466o

Groups: ???o Photos: 393o Top Shot: 1268 Views / 97 Comments / 132 Favorites / 4 Galleries

85mm.ch - Thomas Leuthard

o Joined: August 2009o Contacts: 709o Groups: 197o Photos: 285o Top Shot: 1441 Views / 66 Comments / 126 Favorites / 3 Galleries

Flickr! Comparison


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Networking

N ki


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o Get connected with people onlineo Photo Communitieso Online Mediao Blogso Forums

o Look at other peoples photoso Participate in discussions online

o Keep focusing on topic (e.g. street only)o Organize (or participate in) photo walkso Meet other photographerso Go for a drink (e.g. ZurichFlickrDrinks)o Travel to the big citieso Talk to photographers on the street

Networking


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Marketing

M k ti


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o First of all you have to make some good photoso Attend every contest you cano Participate in online communitieso Print photo books to show to your friends ( Blurb.com )o Print postcards and send them to friendso

Put 10 postcards together as a presento Print photos an create some nice cardso Try to sell the cards & books to storeso Participate in exhibitions

You should not want to earn money at the beginning

Marketing


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There is moreT h e s e w e r e t h e 10 T h i n g s , b u t . . .


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Portraits

P t it


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o Must be candid (dont ask)o Must be closeo Composition is important (rule of third, not frontal)o Choose character faceso While standing stillo

Crowdie places, bus stops, zebra crossings,

o Never look in their eyes (neither before nor after the shot)

If you ask upfront, they will look different.If you ask afterwards, you may have to delete it.

Portraits

85mm

P t it


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A candid portrait is very simple in theory. The only problem is thecandid itself. You cannot ask, you just have to shoot a stranger intothe face. When you have done some normal asked portraits before, itwill not be a problem from a technical perspective.

Approaching a complete stranger with a DSLR is probably noteverybody's thing. You can learn this by going to very crowdedplaces, to shoot a single person in masses of people. At a festival, aconcert, in very busy public places.

Portraits


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85mm f/4 1/640 - ISO 400 - -2/3EVCold Sweat


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85mm f/2.2 1/200 - ISO 400 - -2/3EVDefensive


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50mm f/1.7 1/320 - ISO 400 - -2/3EVCandid


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Emotions

85mm f/4 1/1000 - ISO 400 - -0.3EVYearning

Emotions


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o Emotions make a photo interestingo They give life to ito They tell a story, which might touch the viewer o Makes the viewer thinking / dreamingo Gives the photo deptho

Is difficult to captureo Cannot be setup

Emotions

Fear of the camera


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It looks worse than it is


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It looks exactly as it is


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It looks worse than it is


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Color versus B/W

Color B/W


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o It depends o There are color you have to showo There are color matching situations

Color B/W

A daily scene in yellow


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Red


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Humor

Humor


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o A street photo can be funnyo Strange situations or compositions

Humor

Always these beginners


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Choose the right equipment on the streets


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Background

Background


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o Is a very important componento Can ruin a photoo Can help to make a photo wortho Should match the foregroundo Should tell a storyo Should be a juxtaposition

Background


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Ethics

Ethics


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o Ethic is a personal thingo There is no general ruleo Either for you its ok or it is noto The border is not drawn straighto Often it depends how you show ito Sometimes you have to show somethingo Street Photography is like Journalism

Ethics


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Tipps & Tricks

Tips & Tricks


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o Use lean equipment (you and your camera only)o Get a prime lenso Get a hand strapo Pretend to shoot something elseo Shoot from the Hip or Bellyo Listen to music while shootingo Wear good shoes & old clotheso Make virtual shots ofteno Make a lot of photoso Dont bother what others say (positive/negative)o Travel to different places/citieso Forget about technologyo Use the camera you haveo Meet peopleo Keep the momentum

Tips & Tricks

The Momentum


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I have create a Flickr! Group to keep in touch:

Zurich Street Photographershttp://www.flickr.com/groups/1712232@N22

o Meet to shooto Meet to have a drinko Share photoso Discuss photoso Ask questionso Meet new peopleo Find good spots (if geo tagged)

The Momentum


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Passion

Passion


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o Its like everywhere else o The more you like it, the better you get o The more you shot, the better you get o Combine photography with another passion/hobbyo Find some buddies to share your passiono

My shooting history

o Nikon D90 ~120000 Shots in 2 yearso Nikon D7000 ~ 20000 in 6 monthso

Lumix GF1 ~ 17000 in 1 year

Passion


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The End85mmStreet Photography


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Street Photography is a way of life,not a way of earning money...

85mm

Workshop Fotografie Leuthard

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