Downtown Turnaround
I love all of the colors in this shot! She was doing a time lapse photo on her phone when I asked if I could take her picture. She said she was sad that she h...
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I love all of the colors in this shot! She was doing a time lapse photo on her phone when I asked if I could take her picture. She said she was sad that she had to go back to Russian and that my photo made her happy inside. It made me happy too.
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Aug, 2020Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken in Times Square, New York City. I was out doing some street photography and came across this young woman from Russia.Time
It was early evening on a hot and humid day in New York City when I arrived at Times Square. I had been doing some street photography since the early morning and was about to retire for the day when a zombie caught my eye.Lighting
Times Square is an incredible place to photograph people because the light is always plentiful by day and by night due to the jumbo LED screens that surround it. In this case, I decided to use a speedlite as a fill light to ensure that the moving image would be crisp and properly exposed.Equipment
This picture was shot using a Nikon Z6 mirrorless full-frame camera, a 35mm f/1.8 prime lens, and a Godox TT685N speedlite.Inspiration
Most days when I'm shooting on the streets of New York, I inevitably wind up in Times Square. I just can't help myself. The characters there are as colorful as the lights. However, since Covid-19 hit, the attendance in the square has diminished significantly thus making the spaces more open and the ability to find people doing unique things much easier. When I spied this young woman strike a pose of the living dead, I just had to find out when she was up to. She was standing still, head cocked to the side, zombie-like, in front of a table where she had her smart phone propped up. I was intrigued. After a short while she broke her pose and grabbed her phone. That is when I approached her to ask what she was doing. She told me it was a time-elapsed video and that she had to leave soon to catch her plane back to St. Petersburg, Russia, a city I had traveled to many years ago. I asked if I could take her picture before she left and she embraced me ecstatically! "Yes, please!" she exclaimed. Moments later she began prancing back and forth in front of me. After several shots, I asked if she had done any modeling back home. She told me she had tried several times but was always rejected at auditions. I told her to keep trying, that she was a true natural. She grinned sheepishly and hugged me again with words of thanks. "I've never had a real professional take my picture before," she said. "Thank you so much Jeff!" I collected her contact info and sent copies of the photos to her. This one is my favorite of the bunch, and it is her favorite as well.Editing
I made some minor adjustments in Lightroom as some of the jumbo screens had washed out a little. I reduced the highlights to bring their color back.In my camera bag
When I'm shooting on the streets, I travel lite. I always have with me my trusty Nikon Z6 mirrorless camera and a Nikon 35mm f/1.8 prime lens. I also take along a Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 zoom in case I am in a tight space or need more focal length, but I mainly stick with the 35mm lens. I like to be near my subjects, to fill the frame up close. This is, in my opinion, the best way to capture their soul, that first glimpse into the camera before they realize that their picture is being taken. A speedlite is important to have, especially during the evening hours, so I bring along my Godox TT685N as well as a small Joby portable tripod.Feedback
Sometimes when shooting on the street it is best to take a picture without asking for permission - to capture, as I mentioned above, the subject's 'soul'. Other times it is necessary and appropriate to ask for permission. In the case of this picture, I did both. When I first spied this woman posing zombie-like, I snapped a photo of her in order to capture the authenticity of that moment. Later, after she finished her time-elapsed selfie video, I approached her and asked for her permission to pose for me. I am glad that I took that extra step, for it was her prancing back and forth that allowed for this shot to be formed and captured.
