Busking With Style
Saw this a couple of weeks ago on the waterfront… I usually don’t take pictures of buskers but this one was too cool to miss. Not only was he playing some smokin piano, he was playing on the back of a super cool pickup and if that wasn’t enough he also had an old school mechanical drum machine that was playing along. Unfortunately just as I got there it started to rain and he packed up 😦
Rolleiflex 2.8 E, Ilford HP5+ 400 ISO Film, CanoScan 9000F Scanner.
Rugby Sevens, A Street Shooting Guide
WARNING This is an attempt at humor that has essentially failed but I thought I would put it up anyway… From now on I will just stick to photography!
So the Rugby Sevens starts tomorrow and even as I write this there is a parade with all the teams passing through town in all their colour and splendor.
I am currently at home developing film while my youngest has her lunch sleep 🙂 so I thought I would write up a quick informational to help would be street photographers to navigate the slippery slope that is Wellington on Rugby Sevens weekend.
Disclaimer: If you want something serious maybe stop reading now… All views are mine alone and while this post may contain some information of use in no way were any animals harmed in the making.
Rugby Sevens… Its the one weekend where you are more likely to be beaten up for not taking someones photo that the other way round. The one weekend of the year where it is OK for rugby guys to walk around wearing shot skirts and dresses outside and for girls to wear clothing several sizes too small for them.
Im a cheap ass and never actually buy a ticket to the actual games (although most of the teams train on the field across from where I live so I kind of get a free preview).
What do you need? Not necessarily in order…
Camera (very important unless you have one built in somehow)
Wingman (good idea especially if you are going out at night cause they can photograph you being assaulted and you can both laugh about it the next day…Joking)
Film or a memory card (cause sometimes a camera just isn’t enough)
Clothes (cause being naked in public just gets you arrested)
Lots of energy drinks (because it helps your shot count even if they are a bit more blurry at a 1/500th)
The first year I shot I decided to go up onto the concourse outside the stadium and get shots of people coming in… This was a good confidence boost because people really wanted to have their photo taken… If you are shy just attach yourself to one of the press photographers and when they get someone to stop take one over their shoulder… I learned this the hard way due to the fact that this is exactly what one of the press photographers did to me…
You get shots like this:
Colourful but pretty boring on the street photography front…
I tend to hang around town and get the people on their way to of from the grounds… It makes for interesting interactions… You have to watch out though cause they move pretty fast, blink and you might miss something (I recommend matchsticks to prop open your eyes so you don’t miss anything)
This to can degrade into posing for the camera which is to be avoided at all costs…
The best shots seem to happen after the games have finished and people go out to party… but again you should avoid these shots where you can since using a flash really makes it hard to be low profile in you shooting.
Again not really street photography but just a lot of fun 🙂
Anyway I hope this wasnt to informative. I will leave you with an actual street photo I did like… Be safe out there…
Cameras assorted, both film and Digital film…
Swimmers
The short bouts of nice weather have bought out the wharf jumpers.
Rolleiflex 2.8 E, Ilford HP5+ 400 ISO Film, CanoScan 9000F Scanner.
Waiting For Toilets
This was originally part of the set from the Dresden Dolls but when I saw it I decided it fit more with the street stuff I have been shooting and decided to post it today by itself.
I really like this shot…and I don’t really say that about my images 🙂
Rolleiflex 2.8 E, Ilford HP5+ 400 ISO Film, CanoScan 9000F Scanner.
Walker
Another shot from Lower Hutt, this time behind the big Westfield Mall…
Rolleiflex 2.8 E, Ilford HP5+ 400 ISO Film, CanoScan 9000F Scanner.
Waiting
Coming out of Kathmandu after stocking up for a camping trip…
Rolleiflex 2.8 E, Ilford HP5+ 400 ISO Film, CanoScan 9000F Scanner.
Tunnels
A couple of vaguely problematic shots from some new places in Wellington… I have been wandering a bit further a field looking for good places to sit and wait for stuff to come to me… The first one has potential but I think the second one is a bit busy, I might have to try it from a different angle… Both shots from The Terrace.
Rolleiflex 2.8E, Ilford HP5+ 400 ISO Film, CanoScan 9000F Scanner.
Why Manakins Should Wear Underwear
Wellingtons wind at work again…
Rolleiflex 2.8 E, Ilford HP5+ 400 ISO Film, CanoScan 9000F Scanner.
RIP Blanket Man Ben Hana
Last Sunday Blanket Man (Ben Hana) died in the Wellington Hospital. Blanket Man spent the last 10 years living on the street in Wellington wearing nothing but a loincloth and an old blanket. If you have ever been to Wellington and walked along Courtenay Place you would have seen him. The memorial that has sprung up where he used to sit is nothing short of amazing, unfortunatley it is getting taken down/cleaned up on Tuesday as the city gets ready to host the Rugby 7’s in a couple of weeks.
As a street photographer I walked past him more times than I could count and always got a nod of acknowledgment… I tended to not take his photo and respect what he was doing (Wellington is too small a place to piss off anyone living on the street by shoving a camera in their face) so the only images I have of him are from a long way away or when he was asleep 🙂
Walking along Courtenay place will seem empty without him…
Rest In Peace
Here is one of the shots I did have of him…
Rolleiflex 2.8 E, Ilford HP5+ 400 ISO Film, CanoScan 9000F Scanner.
Electric Busker
I usually don’t take images of buskers unless I give them money but this one was too good to miss 🙂 Will have to track them down and give them a copy…
Rolleiflex 2.8 E, Ilford HP5+ 400 ISO Film, CanoScan 9000F Scanner.
Sleeper On Cuba
With the weather being occasionally nice the sleepers come out of the woodwork… Its amazing what they can sleep through since there was a busker not more than 50 metres away getting the crowd to clap along and generally being noisy.
Rolleiflex 2.8 E, Ilford HP5+ 400 ISO Film, CanoScan 9000F Scanner.
Occupy Wellington Again
I walked past the Occupy Wellington camp last weekend while on my normal photo wanderings. They are back on the verge of being evicted again with the council trying to clean up the city for the up coming rugby 7’s at the start of February.
The protest has changed a bit from when it started as most of the original activists having left only to be replaced with predominantly homeless people. There has even been accusations of verbal abuse to female passerbys late at night.
It seems that this protest has lost its way a little… But at least it still makes for interesting images 🙂
Just after I took these a massive gust of wind nearly blew them away…Literally.
Rolleiflex 2.8 E, Ilford HP5+ 400 ISO Film, CanoScan 9000F Scanner.
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