Here are some of my “snaps” with my pocket point and shoot (Canon S90):
http://flic.kr/p/9E2MEw
http://flic.kr/p/9DBFpW
http://flic.kr/p/9D94zf
http://flic.kr/p/9C8Ugb

And this with a crappy Canon P&S (SD20):
http://flic.kr/p/hTYen

And this with a Sony Mavica:
http://flic.kr/p/hvwF9

Cheers,
Thomas

Cheers,
Thomas

Well, if you’re in a state of ‘flow’ when you pick up the camera that’s a GOOD thing Timo – not creepy at all.

Immersing yourself and being ‘in the zone’ is not always an easy place to go to, but I know what you mean because I completely agree that the camera has the ability to remove all stress and transport you to ‘another world’. It doesn’t always happen to me, but I think there are conscious steps you can take to help you get there…

As always your input is appreciated!

Cheers,
Thomas

All I can say for now is that when I have a camera in my hands I am completely in the state of “The Flow” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_%28psychology%29), i.e. I am completely immersed, as if in a different world, even more alive!
Even when I had the most horrible day – as soon as I have a camera in my hands all troubles seem to vanish.
Sounds a bit creepy, I guess…

Cheers,
Thomas

By the way you’ve got an amazing flickr stream! Beautiful work…

In fact I didn’t want to get to much into trying to ‘define’ street photography as such, because it does mean different things to different people but defintely places like the metro and malls are ideal places for exploring street photography. Others might say street is limited to the street…

Thanks for your comment.

Thanks for all the useful tips!
I have a fairly wide definition of Street Photography.
In fact, the Wikipedia entry fits quite well:
“Street photography is a type of documentary photography that features subjects in candid situations within public places such as streets, parks, beaches, malls, political conventions and other settings.”

I think the new mirrorless cameras with interchangeable lenses (e.g. Olympus Pen) are an ideal choice for this, as they are small, light and inconspicuous.

I find going out in a group or maybe just with one other helps boost the confidence if you are a little nervous when you first start street photography. I’ve been taken street shots for almost 2 years and never tire of it and often out out solo. You have to use common sense big time, always be alert and respect people’s privacy foremost. Having a smaller but powerful digital such as a Canon Powershot G11 is perfect for street photography I find.

Regards
Jimmy

That’s a great tip about going out in small groups of 2′s or 3′s to build up confidence – thanks for sharing that here.

Street photography (and photographing strangers in general) is something I hope to explore a lot more in the coming years.

I was very nervous when I started to do street photography. I was in a photo club at the time, and we went out in 2′s and 3′s to build up confidence, which really helped. As you say, respect the people you are photographing. Once you explain what you are doing (with a smile!), most people are fine.

Thanks for your kind comments.

You raise a really good point here.

I do think there is a certain level of ‘snobbery’ when photographers say ‘avoid SmugMug like the plague if you want to be taken seriously’.

I have seen some really good looking SmugMug websites, but admittedly I’ve also seen some pretty average ones. I guess it comes down to the type of plan you choose and – more importantly – how much you do with the customization options availablable within your plan.

Another point is – what type a photographer are you? I see absolutely no reason why a wedding or portrait photographer should not be taken seriously – and be able to build a solid business – with the use of a SmugMug website that is tweaked to their look and style.

Sure, perhaps if you’re a commercial or advertising photographer you may – though not necessarily – want to have a custom built website that is a notch or two over a SmugMug website in terms of presentation, or perhaps you can look towards a more high-end solution like for example liveBooks.

I personally had what I considered a really sleek and well presented flash-website (with HTML mirror pages) for a few years, but what good is high-end website if it takes 15-20 seconds to load the front page and 80-90% of visitors abandon their visit due to slow loading? This is an important factor on the web. People don’t have a lot of patience when it comes to the internet.

In regards to your question about whether to stay away from all the options altogether, I think each option needs to be judged on their own merits.

In my view SmugMug and Zenfolio are fairly similar solutions. Photocrati is a WordPress blog solution with a nice gallery feature. PhotoShelter leans up against SmugMug and Zenfolio, but offers slightly more stylish themes in my view and also quite a nice e-commerce solution as well as an achive solution as part of your website. Importantly PhotoShelter can also be relatively easily used in conjunction with a fully-fledged custom built website. Pro National Geographic photographers like Amy Vitale and Joel Sartore use the PhotoShelter platform as does pro nature photographer Art Wolfe. I think that says something about PhotoShelter’s solution.

Lastly, if you’re just turning pro you need to start somewhere and that somewhere doesn’t have to be a $1,000, $5,000 or $10,000 website. In fact I’d advise against that if you’re just starting out (unless of course you have a lot of spare cash lying around to start your business with). The solutions mentioned in this article are not necessarily geared towards the pro market (probably more towards the enthusiast market), but some of them certainly have plenty of functionality to provide a very good platform for a pro photographer.

Choice of website is a personal one. We all have different taste and we probably all have different ideas about what we want to get out of our website. This will also reflect in how we present our work on our websites.

Thanks again for your comments. Your blog looks interesting and I look forward to exploring it a bit more!

Cheers,
Thomas