Passerby
Aug, 2014Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken on the street that I live on in August. Where I live, in Milan, August is the month of Ferragosto and often means that there is an exodus from the city away to the coast or abroad. This leaves main roads and streets barren. Almost like an apocalyptic scene these shots are precious to me, almost like the survivors, or the losers, in some human catastrophe. Each person shares that haunted personal look as they gaze into the camera.Time
This photo was taken at about midday. The sun is nearing the hottest temperatures and there is little shade along this street, as the sun passes directly above it from sunrise to sunset. The people who are still out at this time are often shopping during the brief times that the shops around them are open, normally large supermarkets like Esselunga. This man was part of a duo, the other out of shot, and they looked in a hurry although the heat had slowed them to a mild walk.Lighting
I thought that there was something very revealing and naked about walking about in the city at this time of year. In one sense you find a new solitude, but on the other hand you are more of a singular figure...more easily picked out. I wanted the light to be at it's harshest. To have the shadows behind yet the man's face entirely illuminated to highlight him as sort of a central figure. Maybe also an ironic twist that the only shade, obscurity, was blocked by a fence. He was almost trapped by the light and surroundings into my camera.Equipment
Canon 1100D DSLR with a 75mm lens - no tripodInspiration
Really I wanted to capture the liveliness within stillness. That may sound unnecessarily obscure, but there is so much life and individuality highlighted in the city when it is as empty as it was at this time of year. You have people's attention more than otherwise which can stimulate interesting responses. But more than anything to capture a moment of fragility for this great behemoth of human civilisation. The city that is still. Silent. That is what fascinates me, and probably a lot of people if one can judge by the interest in apocalyptic literature and television. It taps into that nagging sense of how dispensable we are as a species, it frightens and excites us.Editing
I do use post-processing, although not for this particular picture. The in-built black and white function of the camera was in play here. I usually use post-processing for nature landscapes and close up portraits, photos in which the subtleties of the image can be lost by automatic processes within the camera.In my camera bag
I am afraid that I am an amateur, and that the only things are carry in my bag are the camera, lens and lens cleaning kit for the one camera and lens. But I hope as I prove myself more and more I can reach out to getting equipment that will allow me to take more interesting and audacious images.Feedback
When photographing in a sunny city such as Milan I suppose the obvious would apply; ramp down your ISO to as low as you feel necessary, I used 100 for this shot; set your aperture to a mid-low F stop, for example 6 or 7; and finally set your shutter speed to somewhere around 1/800. Now this was what I needed to catch a 'moving target' on the street. But you will want to adjust the aperture and shutter speed dependent on whether you are shooting a stationary or mobile photo. But the important thing in places with a lot of sun is to keep that ISO low and the aperture on the low end of your settings. You may also want to adjust white balance and exposure in your cameras settings. I often make use of the Canon 1100D's three shot feature, where it shoots three photos in three different exposures.
