Trust your instinct

Have you ever taken a shot, you love it very much, but while reviewing you find out it is not “theoretically perfect”? You still cling to it emotionally, but it does not fit in with the guidelines in the textbook. You wonder if the shadow might be too dark; some people’s limbs are cut off halfway in the shot; the frame is crook; or the subject is not at one of the strong points of the 1/3 composition. Since you are going to put your picture out there for the whole world to see, you are afraid of the coming critics of the experts, or maybe you are just learning the craft, and you sincerely believe that you are doing it wrong. What should you do now? In short, how can you balance feelings and theories, since we all know that checking all the boxes in the textbook might result in many correct but soulless photos.

On the street, you must trust your instinct, otherwise the moment or the emotion will be gone before you know it. In the image below, all I noticed at the time was the shape of light and the men talking in group. Right after I took the picture, the men noticed my presence with the camera and took off. Vietnamese people in general, or in my case, Hanoians are pretty nice, but they are also very shy in front of the camera. They either get out of your way or pose randomly. I am not the kind of photographer who talks to the locals until I become invisible to them, so I try to be subtle and quick from the beginning. Anyway, my instinct paid off pretty well, since I figured out the shape the light made was somewhat a heart-shape, the three men are perfectly positioned inside that shape, and one of them are looking at my direction. Imagine if I had thought too much and walked around them trying to get the perfect center composition, I would have looked crazy suspicious. I call this one “Love for the street”.

I was on my way to meet my friend in a cafe when I took this picture. It was around 6.30 in the morning, the sun was low enough to cast long shadows of objects and create silhouettes of them everywhere. As the bus came by, I decided to shoot in burst mode, hoping that there would be a lonely person in one of the rows. Well, there he was. I stood there for a couple more minutes to try again multiple times, but none of the other shots make it to the selection.

This “instinct” I have mentioned is not just pure luck or magic. It is built up over time, it grows within you when you have more experience shooting, read more books, study more pictures, paintings, movies, when you go out more and observe more. It is just you unconsciously “summon” all you have learnt overtime, mix them with your emotion and a spark of creativity at the time.

Do not get me wrong, that does not mean I am against working the scene, but quite the opposite. After shooting the first shot with the subjects I have a feeling for, I will stick around, shoot from different angles and settings, capture consecutive actions of the subjects, try to fix the problems of the original shot if any, and pray for a decisive moment to unfold.

I was walking against the sun as usual, minding my own business when this woman started to open her street vendor. When she removed the nylon cover on her stall then folded it, her shadow was cast on the cover, which is interesting enough for me to click the shutter. Seeing what she was about to do I came running with my Ricoh GR3 firing all the way, fearing I would miss the moment. I did not even have the time to look at the result image, since I was shooting against the sun, and everybody knows in such situation the LCD would be pretty much useless. Once I got the shot (I thought), with her figure somewhat recognizable on the cover, I started to move around a little, thinking maybe if I could include her in the frame alongside with her shadow, it would be a stronger image. I kept on shooting while walking around her until she finished folding the thing, which was like 10 seconds, and I got exactly what I want. Both the woman and her shadow are in the frame, and the shadow figure is just something else.

Unlike many other photographers, I select and edit my photos right after the shoots. Whenever I get back home, I backup all the files into my computer and cloud account, then go through them immediately. At the time, I would be flooded with the hype from the walk. I know the story of every image, so I am attached to some more than the others. I do not want to waste any of the emotions I get from walking the street, and normally when I should, I know what I need to do to complete the photo in post-production. I want the stories to be preserved as much as possible, so I select and edit the photos the way I feel right. This is by no means the end of it though. After every few months, I come back with a fresh eye. Now the hype has faded, I see everything in a more “logical” way, I analyze everything from the color, the composition, the tiny details at the corners, etc. This filtering process happens a few times before I finally decide to delete any files, to make sure I do not miss a potential good shot or get sick of the original files that I have chosen because of the blindness the heart.

When I saw the trees of the Thanh Xuan Park from above, I just knew I had to take the shot. There was something so peaceful about the scene, and since it was at noon when I came there, not many people were around, which added to the mood. I took a few pictures, and at the time I was so disappointed since in none of them the subjects are completely visible. It was until I looked through them all on a big screen, it became clear to me that the human figure doesn’t have to be completely clean. The texture of the trees are just perfect for me, and the guy riding a bike behind the trees even emphasize the feeling of loneliness and serenity of the frame. I have to thank myself for clicking the shutter anyway, for trusting the feeling in my heart.

Study your own city.

Once I was hanging out on the Banana Island underneath the Long Bien Bridge minding my own business, I was approached by two foreigners, a German and an American. After the greetings, we learnt that we were all photographers and exchanged Instagram. They proceeded to ask me if I could suggest some good places for street photography in Hanoi so they could explore in the next two days before leaving, and I was literally stunned for a moment. I hesitated which ones I should show them.

I believe that tourists and locals look at the city differently. When we come to a new place, chances are we want our viewers to know where we shoot the picture. The tourists need iconic spots as an extra piece of information. They also look for traditional clothing, professions or goods, anything that screams “local”. What is a better way to tell people at home that I have come to Paris than showing them the Eiffel tower? Local photographers, on the other hand, avoid those places. It is not that there is anything wrong with those areas, but we are so used to them that we do not find them tempting anymore. Plus, since they are tourist attractions, the Internet is flooded with their photos anyway, so unless we find a creative way to work the scene, a new story to tell, our pictures will be cliché at best.

Being able to avoid cliché is one thing, to dig deep into a story is another advantage of the local photographers. Several days ago, I came across a video about a photobook called “TTP” by Hayashima Tomiyasu. He shot a ping pong table for 4 years from the same viewing angle. There is nothing special about the said table or the photographer’s technique, but the long period of time and the diverse activities of people around it forms a great story where the table became a witness of the neighborhood’s ever-changing lives. The connection created by the book is delicate, reminds me of the tree in my primary school where I used to wait for my mother to pick me up. I believe everyone has a “friend” like that in our childhood, who silently stayed there and bonded with us without us knowing.

4 years is surely a long time, and it is very difficult for visitors to carry out a project like Hayashima Tomiyasu’s. They do not live there, so it’s hard to pick a constant spot to come back to. They stay for a short period of time, so of course they cannot take pictures of the table on all occasions. Hayashima Tomiyasu almost had an obsession with that project that he even skipped appointments, Christmas or New Year to make sure no moment slipped away.

Being local photographers, we can read the atmosphere. There are two scenarios when I am in a strange place. The first one is that I have irrational fear over everything. How are people going to react? Am I going to get mugged? Do they allow me to enter there to take pictures? Will they get mad? The second scenario is I get over-confident or over-hyped that I spam shutter clicks everywhere or get myself into troubles, especially in another country where the language is a huge obstacle, and the culture differences are immersive. I do not have to worry about all those in my hometown, and if I am a stranger to a particular area in the city, I can always come back several times and get to know the place.

I know it might seem boring shooting a place over and over again, and I am not at all against traveling for inspiration and exploration. The point is that you should not feel bad if you cannot go to fancy sightseeing or famous cities. Take time to study your own city, shoot it at different times, in different weather; try new subjects, meet strangers, make friends, help them, listen to their story; update your gears; switch back and forth between black and white and color; etc. Any subtle changes in your point of view would result in the pictures you take and would enrich the story in different aspects.

The importance of momentum

Recently due to my job’s requirements, I have to bring my laptop with me all the time. Yes, I have another job besides from photography, and it is actually my main income. Nevertheless, now instead of writing my blog articles on my phone as I usually did, I have a physical keyboard to type on and a bigger screen to look at. Needless to say, I have been posting more frequently, and the guilt of purchasing a full year of SquareSpace is reduced a little bit.

The thing with writing on the laptop is that I can type way faster, without almost any distraction at all. I don’t listen to music; I don’t have Facebook or Instagram notifications popping up every now and then. I begin to enjoy the little things like the feeling of the keyboard on my fingertip, the sound of typing, and the peaceful feeling of watching words crowding up the screen. It is as if I was talking to you, the readers in person in a nice quiet cafe. It is Zen. This peacefulness and concentration lead to more ideas. Sometimes I come up with new contents on the road, in the shower, or even in the middle of a meeting. I am not saying that I am pouring masterpieces, but writing is no longer a chore. I have found my momentum to keep going forward.

The same thing happened to my photography. When I was mainly doing portraits, I shot twice a week. The circle was simple, looking for inspiration, forming ideas, planning, contacting models, makeup artists, making props, shooting, retouching, spamming on social media, then repeating the process. Everything became some sort of habit, and I was able to build my very own working procedure. The momentum kept me going for years, improved my craft until I could do commercial work and teach others. I had some reputation in Hanoi and did the job as an Alpha Guru several times. It made everything run smoothly and naturally, which then built up my confidence and inspiration.

Things fell apart when my team split. Long story short, everyone had their own plans for the future. It became harder to organize a shoot, since new members did not integrate well with the old ones. The momentum was lost and until now, I have not been able to form a consistent team. Things that should have been easy are now difficult, and because I no longer shoot portraits regularly, let’s just say I somehow lost my touch and enthusiasm.

When I switched to street photography, the freedom of it jump-started my shutter clicking engine. I don’t have to rely on anyone, just me and my minimal gear hanging around on the street. It is so contrasty with the things that I have come to know in photography when I was still shooting models, since now it’s best that I go out all by myself. I went from needing a bunch of other professionals to avoiding everyone; from planning everything ahead to opening my mind to anything that could happen; from avoiding mistakes to embracing failures. Once again, I found another momentum that got me to this point of my photography career.

To build momentum, you need to get off the chair and start working. That’s the second hardest part. The hardest part is forcing yourself to go on in the first few weeks. This helps you build up good habits, discipline and an initial procedure to follow. In time you will optimize the process, gears and schedule, stop worrying about irrelevant things and focus on creating and creating only. Of course, there are bad days when you cannot go out due to the weather or some urgency, but they should not be excuses for laziness. I try my best to shoot twice a week. The time is actually flexible, but every session should be more than 2 hours long. If something sudden come up, then I will make time for another session in the same week.

Momentum is also kept alive by rewards, like good feedback from viewers, seeing a project get completed, or even some self-compliments for trying so hard. You have to be careful with feedback though, especially ones from social media, which could give you false confidence or destroy your mood. Another source of good encouragement is a group of good friends who share the joy of street photography. It is a luxury to have to be honest, but having someone to chat to, even online only, really helps. I do not go out shooting with other people very often, unless it’s a workshop where I talk more than shoot, but I do talk a lot with people on the internet. I learn from them and enjoy the company. Do not force yourself to like someone as a friend just because they know the craft though. Last but not least, print your work, the ones you are proud of. Having your own space with beautiful things you create yourself for yourself is an enormous pleasure. You might also end up with an exhibition someday, who knows.

Inspiration also fuels momentum. You don’t have to force yourself to watch too much YouTube videos and photos all the time, because that is exactly how you kill the enthusiasm and make photography a class subject. Follow some photographers or group of photographers that suit your style or liking, so you learn passively while scrolling social media. Buy a photobook every now and then, because trust me, holding a physical printing is something else. Carry a small camera or have your phone ready for snapshots every time you feel like it. Recently I have been into podcasts to listen to in the background while doing other stuff, which is captivating since I love talking to people over a coffee like so. Really, anything that makes you want to reach out for the camera and walk the street is good, even Gear Acquisition Syndrome is ok if it makes you shoot more, and you can afford it.

For the non-productive days

Street photography surely requires hard work. It pays off in the long run, but it doesn’t mean that you would be able to create great pictures every time you walk the road. This blog post is written right after I spent 4 hours yesterday shooting without any remarkable result.

The reasons for failure are plentiful. I decided to leave my comfort zone to explore new areas in town. Instead of sticking with the Dong Xuan market with its beautiful architectures and labor lives, or the Hoan Kiem lake with tons of people dressing up running around, I tried walking the lesser-known streets in the Old Quarter and ended up wandering the Long Bien bridge before going down the Banana Island in the middle of the Red River. The idea was to scout for new places with great composition to come back to, and if I had been lucky enough, I would have come home with some good pictures here and there. So, as you can see, the expectation was low.

The weather was not on my side either. I need to up my game with blunt weather, especially with the old and unsaturated colors of the buildings and alleys I walked across. If you have been to Hanoi, the busy and chaotic architecture and lifestyle in the Old Quarter might be fascinating to experience. But on days where the light is flat, it is hard for “fisher” like me to find my composition to camp. Next time I should try to turn “hunter” and take a closer look at the residences’ activities, and maybe carry my Ricoh GR3 for a stealthy wider lens instead of the Sony A7C with the 50mm. I did try to have some silhouettes against the sky, but they are kind of cliché and not that great.

The third reason I think, is I focused too much on the walking and too little on the photographing. It is very easy for us to get lost in our thoughts on a long walk, and the eager to get to the destination on time unconsciously makes us walk faster. Walking faster and wondering mind are our enemies. We want to stay calm, focused and curious. We want to detour, get lost and work the scene. 4 hours might seem like a lot, and in my wander, there were more than once I reminded myself to move slower, but still I made the wrong decision. The fear of missing out was huge on this one. I was afraid the good pictures were waiting for me ahead, not around me, so I spent little time working the scene on every spot I found.

However, it is not all pessimistic. I did make some visual notes, which are photos of the places I think have potential for good pictures. I took a lot of bad photos for experiments that day, which means next time the photos are going to be better. The fear of missing out is almost gone for that particular route. I even made some new friends who are also street photographers. With the help of several sunny days, I will be able to clear this area of the map and fill it up with pictures.

So, my advice for anyone having a bad day shooting? Do not push yourself too hard. You can always come back to the place some other day. If you find a spot with great potential, pin it on the map, shoot some pictures around it to remind your future self of the surroundings, take notes on what you think would make it shine. Maybe you need more people to walk past, some sunlight, some rain, or some reflection. The second tip is do not plan a route that is too long, or do not set a destination at all, so you don’t fall into the trap of cardio like me. Walk slowly, stay sharp, the picture is right beside you.

The Silhouette

I think every photographer has a favorite trick up their sleeves, the one that they always come back to when warming up for a session or hitting a dead end. I find myself shooting a lot of silhouettes, so I guess it’s my thing now.

A silhouette is a solid, dark image of a subject against a brighter background. Silhouette pictures usually show the subject in profile. The first silhouettes originated in 1850s France as a cheaper alternative to having a portrait painted. These silhouettes were paintings, sketches, and paper cutouts.

-          Silhouette photography - Adobe –

As the definition suggests, silhouettes have very high contrast, which would result in more eye catching and dramatic photos. Moreover, by shooting only solid blackish shapes of the subjects, the identities of the people in the frames would remain unknown. This not only helps to create a more mysterious feeling for the viewers, but also protects the privacy of said people. I usually try to keep the subjects anonymous, since the appearance of human beings, or the hints of it, is good enough for me. More about this in my previous blog post, Anonymity in my street photography.

In my experience, there are a few things that we should consider for the silhouette to work.

First, the background needs to be clean, and very bright. It does not necessarily have to be completely white, but the brighter it is, the higher the contrast becomes, which is the main point of creating silhouettes. The cases where I shoot silhouettes the most are when I have huge blank highlight areas like the sky or the lakes; or when I shoot at night. Exposing for highlight in such situations often lead to the lack of light in the shadow, meaning deeper dark silhouettes.

If I had tried to meter according to the subject, the water surface would have been surely blown out. By exposing for highlight (in this case, the lake), the subject is now a clear black shape, and the reflection of the cloud stay intact. The frame is successfully filled. Notice how the person did not overlap with the cloud. Yay me!

Secondly, when shooting human subjects, I prefer the shots where the bodies are “well defined” so we can see the human shapes and gestures as clearly as possible. Without any details, it is hard to tell if a silhouette is of a human or not. If the outlines are not defined enough, the viewers will not be able to recognize the subjects. Besides, if your silhouette is a big chunk of black without any limbs, chances are the subjects are not doing anything interesting anyway.

The walking motion is clearly shown in this picture. The outline of his face and body are well defined and does not intersect with the shadows of the structures. This helps the viewers’ eyes to quickly recognize our human subject. 

Thirdly, the silhouettes work better when being shot from very far away, or really close. In my case, I usually shoot them from a distance since I love working with the environment to create pleasing compositions or set the mood for the photographs. Many photographers on the other hand, they go up close, to emphasize more on the subjects’ gestures or facial expressions.

Shooting silhouettes is a pretty easy trick if you are used to looking for it and to metering for highlight. The technique behind is simple and the visual effects are often eye catching if done correctly. All that’s left to do is to create a story to keep the viewers staying on your photograph. In the last picture, I used silhouette, reflections and layers to create an illusion of a magic night firefly forest. Pretty relaxing is it not?

The cheap shot

You don’t need the best camera. You need to keep on shooting.

As photographers, I believe we all try to test our limitations every once in a while. From time to time, I purchase a crappy camera to show off what I can do with minimal tools. It could be a very old DSLR, an Instax, or a smartphone. The less control I get, the more excited I feel waving those cameras in the street. If I could get a killer shot out of it, then it’d be awesome.

This time, I decided to get a no name point and shoot camera for $8. Yes, 8 bucks. I got a used one on Facebook since the camera was receiving a storm of criticisms for its poor performance and off the roof price new (you can buy it on Shopee for $50). To be honest, I didn’t expect much from the money spent. If things went south, then I could use it as a decoration or give it to my daughter to play around with.

Everything about the camera speaks loudly and clear that it is no more than a toy. The screen is a disaster, with narrow viewing angle and no details or color correction at all. The body is plasticky, with a battery cover that never stays in place. The sensor is tinier than most smartphones nowadays, resulting in low quality images, lots of noise, poor details/ colors, and a ton of motion blurs, not to mention the “48mpx” claim is a fraud. The camera tries to save the shadow instead of the highlight, so the pictures taken at EV 0 were all blown out and washed out. Every time I press the shutter button, it takes 1 second to actually take the shot, and another 5 seconds to save it. If you use the “fishing” method and wait for the subject to be in the right place, chances are you will miss the decisive moments.

Despite all the shortcomings, I came to love the camera. Not in the way I love the Ricoh GR3, or my trusty Sony A7C, of course. Looking at the pictures taken by it, I look past the sharpness, the colors, the micro contrast, etc., everything I’d normally expect from a work camera. Instead, I focus on the compositions, events and emotions, things that are decided by the photographer, not the gear. The camera is like my training boxing glove. It is worth almost nothing, I’d never bring it into the ring, but it sticks with me every day, and I can always use it to practice everywhere without any worry. I put it in my fanny bag without any protection, without any intent to shoot anything. If I happen to have 15 minutes free time out of nowhere, I have a camera to shoot away. It fills in the gap that the Ricoh GR3 and the Sony A7C can’t.

The slowness of the camera is not that hard to get used to. The thing is, it’s constantly that slow, it doesn’t get laggy randomly or receive a notification that gets in the way like a smartphone, so it’s easier to anticipate the shot. There is no burst shooting, so I must hold my breath and place all my luck on pressing the shutter button exactly one second early. If I miss, the moment will be gone for sure, leaving me cursing myself and the poor camera. I learn to plan the shots, wait more patiently, and click more carefully. In its own stupid and weird way, the camera helps me grow as a photographer.

Don’t get me wrong, there is no way in hell I would recommend this camera to anyone. If you get it, it’s on you, not me. What I’m trying to say is that gears shouldn’t be the reason why we don’t shoot regularly. Even an $8 camera got me going.

Wait a second

Many thanks to Daenatte Aria for proofreading this.

1/250 is widely accepted as the one shutter speed to go for in street photography. It is fast enough to capture most of people’s movements as well as to minimize camera shakes. However, just like any other aspects of photography, there is no one setting to rule them all. Sometimes, rather than avoiding motion blur, I lengthen the exposure time on purpose for better visual effect.

In this picture, the little girl was resting in her mother’s arm, being all sick and tired. I took several shots at different speed and settled with 1/10s. It was enough to keep the girl’s facial expression and blur the crowd reasonably to depict their nonstop movement. The mother and the girl were almost perfectly still. This evokes the feeling of loneliness and tiredness, yet there is a glimpse of warmth and tranquility from a hug filled with love.

In this mini-series shooting Hang Ma Street, one of the most packed streets in Hanoi during Mid-Autumn festival, I used long exposure time and hand movement to describe the chaotic and noisy atmosphere of the scene. Everyone was moving, jostling, talking and having fun. My senses were overloaded with people, lights, decorations and loud music, and bubbles everywhere. I wanted to capture that chaotic beauty with all of its hassles and craziness, so here they are.

Settings: Sony A7C, Sony FE 28 @ F5, 1/2 sec, ISO-100.

Settings: Sony A7C, Sony FE 28 @ F5, 1/2 sec, ISO-100.

Settings: Sony A7C, Sony FE 28 @ F4.5, 1/6 sec, ISO-320.

Settings: Sony A7C, Sony FE 28 @ F4, 1/2 sec, ISO-125.

I love to travel light, so I rarely bring my tripod with me. Obviously, that means I can’t hold the camera perfectly still for a good second for any kind of long exposing cityscapes. In most cases, I use low shutter speed to emphasize the main subject(s) or the moving nature of the scene. I either try to stay perfectly still or to pan the camera following the subjects. The camera strap helps a lot, but you would also want to tuck your elbow in and hold your breath to stabilize the shots. Most importantly, you have to be patient and click the shutter button plenty of times until the God of photography smiles (or gets sick of watching you) then gives you the best image of the bunch. Then you take some more just in case.

Settings: Sony A7C, Sony FE 50 @ F22, 1/6 sec, ISO-50.

Settings: Sony ZV-1 @ F3.5, 1/2 sec, ISO 125.

Settings: Sony ZV-1 @ F3.5, 1/2 sec, ISO 125.

Mirror mirror on the wall

One of my favorite things to look for on the street is reflection. Reflections can be found anywhere. You can see them on a puddle of rain on the ground, a glass window of a coffee shop or some random store’s ads board. They are literally everywhere in the city but often ignored by many street photographers. The masters before us made great use of reflections, one can easily see them in the works of Henri Cartier-Bresson, Trent Parke, Ernst Haas…

By Henri Cartier-Bresson. Source: Magnum Photos

By Trent Parke. Source: Magnum Photos

By Ernst Haas. Source: ernst-haas.com

Every reflective surface is different. Looking for reflections on different materials can deliver surprising results.

This is the reflection of a fishing boat on the sea water in Cua Dai, Hoi An, Vietnam. The distortion created by the waves worked perfectly with the details and colors of the boat, result in a painting like abstract image. This is one of my proudest works to date.

I shot this on a plastic decoration gate of a karaoke. The surprising anamorphic look alike flares were what caught my eyes. It gave the scene a somewhat cinematic look. Speaking of which, I should’ve shot this in landscape, or even 16:9. I should pay this karaoke another visit soon.

In this example, the waves of the water distorted the image, alongside with the sunlight and shadow casted on the surface gave the scene an interesting, painting like look.

This image was taken on the window of Trang Tien Plaza in Hanoi. Looks like a painting, doesn’t it? The brush stroke across the frame also added to this feeling.

With the help of reflections, we can stack layers of subjects which would otherwise be too far away from each other or be on different sides of the camera.

The mannequin was inside the store, and the car was obviously on the road. The reflection helped me flattening the space, creating another story of this figure trying to stop a car. Pretty funny.

The girl appeared several times in one picture. I managed to fill the frame, since both car windows had a human figure in them. Captain America approved!

Reflections can, of course, create symmetry in the frame. I don’t normally shoot symmetry, but you know the drill.

The random dirt spot on the puddle overlapping the biker’s reflection gave me a sense of movement. You know, like the Flash CGI. The reflection is more interesting than the scene itself, so I flipped the image upside down.

Depending on the material, shape and size of the reflective surface, the reflection should be a distorted image of reality. This distortion could result in abstraction or surreal look added to the picture.

The guy resembled the graffiti on the right. Him being a shadow walking out of the light gave me some dreamy/nightmare feeling.

I shot this at Dong Xuan Market, Hanoi. So now we can see through the canvas roof or what? The roof or the bikes under, which were being reflected? To be honest until this day I can’t tell where the reflections came from. Surreal, isn’t it?

The man lying on the bike was reflected in multiple panels with different materials and color. If only there had been a third panel, the picture would have been perfect. But that’s life, right?

By using reflections, you can add some color cast on the otherwise boring scene.

If I had turned around for the shot, the end result would be disappointing for sure. The colors and shapes of the decorations behind the glass worked with the reflection to create something that looks like a scene from the Doctor Strange movies.

One more thing

Recently I’ve been trying to add more layers to my photographs.

For the longest time ever, I tried to isolate my subjects. It is very easy to spot the main character of my photographs since there is usually one person in the frame. This approach helps me adapt the fishing technique, as well as gives the shots a pleasing, eye catching look and feel. Because I only have one person to worry about, not to mention that one person mostly randomly steps in the perfect spot that I have chosen beforehand, lights and compositions become the main subject of my shots. Sometimes I get lucky, the said person dresses funny or does something spectacular. That would be a good day.

After building a collection of random people walking by, I started to ask for more. When we do the fishing thing, we wait forever for the perfect person to appear in a pre-determined spot. Now image 3 people, at the same time, and we must click the shutter button at that exact split of a second, where all the stars align. Now imagine 10 people.

The first thing that comes to mind is, I’m ashamed of not being ashamed of cheating. How about we shoot 3 pictures of 3 people when the camera is perfectly still, and in post processing we merge them all together. This is basically what I was doing before, but instead of 1 picture I take several, and instead of reserving 1 perfect spot for my character, I reserve some more. The “story” becomes richer immediately.

This is a combination of 2 photos. The third bike on the bottom was added from another shot of the same burst-shooting series. Without him the picture does not feel complete.

To be honest I’m not 100% comfortable with cheating like that, even though I might argue that it is not that different from taking multi-exposed shots in camera. Yes, I’m afraid people would find out eventually (and they will). Long story short, after realizing the values added to the shots by creating more layers, now I try to take 1 shot that includes them all. Straight out of camera. No more stacking pictures in Photoshop (or in camera). The raw files that I can be proud of.

The very crowded street of Hoan Kiem, Hanoi, Vietnam. And there I was too. The overlapping men, the expression of the ad board, how we (me and the model’s face) appeared with half the face off the frame, reflections, stickers everywhere… I think this is my most successful attempt at layering my images so far.

By lining up the boats, including the bridge and the faded mountains, I tried to give some kind of depth to the image. The second boat floated almost perfectly in the sun light was a bonus. We can also see the front boat moving by the trace it left behind on the water surface. This picture was taken at Cua Dai, Hoi An, Vietnam. The sunrise there was absolutely breathtaking.

The 3 ladies chilling on the beach caught my eyes, but me shooting at 70mm made it look flat and boring. I saw the old man riding a funny bike, dressing in bright red from a distance, so I waited a little longer and burst shot away. The end result is quite satisfying. A new layer is added, the frame is filled, and we even caught the man gazing at the ladies, which further emphasize who the main subjects are. The fact that the ladies might be “young” to the man is funny to me too.

Gears gone wide!

Yes, I know the pun was bad!

For anyone who has known me for a long time, I was more of a “tele” kind of photographer. Being a portrait and introvert shooter, I was so used to the 85mm and longer focal length. My favorite lens of all time were the Batis 85 1.8 and the Tamron 70-180 f2.8. There are many reasons for that, less distortion, tighter composition (which means fewer elements to care about in my frame), minimalist look (since the pictures are mostly flat), and last but not least, longer distance between me and the subjects. I don’t have to worry about confronting the people I shoot, which is one of the most uncomfortable things in street photography, I guess.

Sony A7C - Canon 75-300 F4-5.6

Sony A7C - Canon 75-300 F4-5.6

When I finally took street photography seriously, I made peace with the 50mm. Yes, the nifty fifty. The focal length of the great Henri Cartier Bresson. It’s wider than what I normally shot with, but it’s still very easy. I have learnt to compose my shots more carefully, no more shooting random people with “creamy bokeh” on the street. F8 is my new mate since I want as much depth of field as possible without losing too much light or image quality. The distortion is still very well controlled, the images are sharp, the lens is tiny (thank you Sony FE 50 2.5) and the distance between me and the subjects are still far enough that I don’t “bruise the scene”. Now that I can include more scenery in my photos, I adapt with the “fishing” technique, which becomes my style as a street photographer.

Sony A7C - Sony FE 50 F2.5

Fujifilm XE4 - XF 35F2

The desire to master 28mm started to grow in me since I first met the Leica Q. Actually, I didn’t meet her, I saw her on Youtube, read about her on newspapers and forums, and saw her in my dream. I was not confident enough to go out with just that one focal length though. Until one day, I had to.

In summer 2023, I joined a film crew of 6. We went to the Middle provinces of the country to create a short clip about the sceneries and people living there. The project cost roughly $7000, lasted in 10 days, and here is the end result:

Everything was shot with the 24mm camera on the Xperia 1 mark V. The tele camera of the phone was almost useless, so in days we had to make our way with the main camera. For the first time in my career, 24mm became the focal length of choice. I learnt to move a lot, got used to estimating the distance holding a wide-angle lens, and framed my shots differently. All of a sudden, I found my shots include a lot more, from the surrounding of the subjects, the interactions between them, to unexpected characters or events which I could later review and select.

Xperia 1 mark V

Xperia 1 mark V

The trip helped me get over my fear of 24mm not being enough. When I got home, I purchased a Ricoh GRIII which was equipped with a 28mm-ish focal length, and boy oh boy how free I got since. I began to shoot differently. Shooting from the hip (or in my case, from the chest) becomes easier than ever. Before, with a 50mm lens, everything happening around me was too close. In most of my tries shooting blind, I ended up with too tightly cropped images, weird camera angle and out of focus subjects. Now with the 28mm, I can approach the subjects and they barely notice me (yes, the Ricoh is small). I can always shoot wide and crop in later. So now, besides the fishing technique, I have another trick in my sleeves.

Ricoh GRIII

Ricoh GRIII

Ricoh GRIII

Going wide also means I can go more compact and optimize all my gear. When I’m not planning to shoot serious street photography, I usually bring my Sony ZV1 with me. The camera doesn’t remember the last focal length used before powering off/ entering standby mode, but now I can turn it on and shoot away with the default 24mm. My phones, of course, have 26-ish mm focal lengths. My dream camera, Leica Q series, I’m coming for you soon.

This doesn’t mean I’m going to give up the 50mm anytime soon, since I’m most comfortable with it. But it’s a good idea to change the point of view every once in a while, to shake things up a little and experiment new things. If you are too familiar with a focal length and find yourself stuck in a rut, try going wider or longer for a while. That might help.

Sony A7C - Sony FE 50F2.5

The flash fiction

In middle school, my teacher once told me a very short story. Six words to be exact:

“For sale: baby shoes, never worn”.

The story is popularly attributed to Ernest Hemingway, although the link to him is unlikely (Wikipedia), suggests the tragedy of a child’s early death revealed in sale of clothes. Until now, it is still engraved in my memory, since in only 6 words the author could deliver a story, a shockwave of emotions and lots of questions in my head. Now as a father of a sweet little girl, I cannot think of the story without a skipped heartbeat.

In my journey of photography, more than once I have tried to tell stories, from random pictures with endless captions about cliches stuffs like love, hard-working people; to photo series of events like wedding or festivals; or mini projects describing my own family’s life. Yet I feel the connections between photos are weak, and the stories are dragged longer than they should be. As a result, now I’m trying to take baby steps. Every shot I take, I try to have a story in it. My photos are my flash fictions.

For any of you who are not familiar with the term flash fiction, according to Wikipedia, Flash fiction, also called minimalist fiction, is a fictional work of extreme brevity that still offers character and plot development. Identified varieties, many of them defined by word count, include the six-word story; the 280-character story (also known as "twitterature"); the "dribble" (also known as the "minisaga," 50 words); the "drabble" (also known as "microfiction," 100 words); "sudden fiction" (750 words); "flash fiction" (1,000 words); and "microstory". The six-word story above is definitely a flash fiction.

Anyway, long story short, I try to use one image to tell the whole story. Once I perfect this craft, I will go back to the next project of photo series. Just remember I am no Ernest Hemingway though.

This picture consists of 3 separate pictures, together they describe the daily work of people in Dong Xuan Market. It’s like a mini photo series.

I love the mood this photo brings. The combination of yellow and blue, the darkness of the night, the two men with their heads down. This looks like a sigh after a long day. You don’t always have to show their faces for emotions. Gestures and body languages speak a lot too.

What are they discussing? Is she really talking to the mask? The facial expressions and the similarities are what caught my eyes. The key here is letting the main subject interact with his/ her surroundings.

The girl and her mother were standing still in a moving crowd. Was she sick, or upset, or just tired?

The scars, the lock, yet the smile. This door is a story on its own. If I was a 14-year-old girl I would definitely cry.

I call this a story of passion. You can rotate it anyway you want; it’ll have a different meaning.

In my own opinion, a photo that speaks is a photo that makes people stop and look at it, ask questions and discuss about it. At the end of the day, the main point of telling stories is to provide information, plant an idea and invoke feelings.

Anonymity in my street photography.

I have always been trying to retain the anonymity of the subjects in my street photography. Well, maybe not always, since there are times when events just reveal in front of me suddenly, and I take photos out of instinct. The point is that the identity of the people who happened to appear in photos is not relevant to me at all. One of the most controversial topics in street photography today, with the existence of the Internet, is privacy. In most cases, people don’t know and don’t ask to appear in a random stranger’s camera. We photographers, on the other hand, do not want to ask for consent every time we press the shutter button. It not only is a pain in the ass, but also is almost impossible in many situations. The precious moments come and go in a split second, and the main characters leave the scene even before the review images show up. I don’t know about you but I’m not going to track them down and appear in their front door to ask for model consent.

Most of the time, the appearance of human beings, or the hints of it, is good enough for me. Without the specific identity of the subject, the photograph can be about anyone, or about life in the neighborhood in general. Often, we as photographers shoot strangers, whom we know nothing about their background, their story, their emotions or thinking. By removing their identity, it also removes the need of the viewers to find out who they really are. The attention would be driven to the moment itself, and the backstory of the characters would be invented by the viewers however they feel right. Everyone is happy.

There are many ways to retain the anonymity of the subjects. First, obviously, is not to capture the full face, or no face at all. With the last pandemic, many people are wearing masks in public, which makes this easier. We can shoot people from different angles, which doesn’t show their faces, or maybe we can include only parts of the body to show the activities going on.

The second way is to shoot a wide scene with people appearing in a tiny bit of the picture. With that few pixels it would need CSI level of zoom to identify the person. In this case, creative composition and interesting scenery would catch the first glance of the viewers, and the characters would eventually reveal themselves at the end.

Silhouettes of people walking by interesting background might be considered cliché, but it does work. I also try to shoot through glasses or reflective surfaces, which distort the figures beyond recognition. This not only helps us hide the faces, but also adds aesthetic and abstraction to the photos.

By removing the faces, one might argue that the picture would be soulless. I believe that is not the case. The story and emotions can be delivered via many intermediates. Colors for example. I use yellow a lot in my street photography. It is the color of the sunlight, the golden hour, the light post at night.

The body language of the subjects can say a lot about their emotions and stories too. People do a ton of stuff other than just walking by.  I do a lot of “fishing” myself, which means I choose a composition and wait for people to enter the scene. Everyone dresses differently and moves differently. Some walk by like the pedestrian sight, which I try my best to avoid. Some dress funnily. Some talk on their phone. Some carry weird stuff. Some head down. Some head up. Some work. Some take rest. We don’t need to see their face to come up with a story of our own.

Using juxtaposition is another clever way to hide the identity of the subjects and create new messages at the same time.