ERIC KIM

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Archives for December 2010

The Differences Between Candid and Street Photography

Note: This is a guest post from Nathaniel I. Córdova, a rhetoric and media studies professor from Willamette University. I hope you enjoy this great article that he generously offered to share with you guys!

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This is a handout originally developed for my students at Willamette University. As such it was designed to be generic and introductory, more an opportunity to clarify and simplify than to provide depth about a subject. Some caveats: I’m a firm believer that rigidly held category schemes can get in the way of creativity and the photographic imagination. The following is written in order to encourage you to think more about these issues. Updated: December 2010.

A quick glance through various photography forums often reveals a category of “candid” images of people walking, pretty women, people in festivals, etc. The overall impetus for such “candid” photography seems to be the casual snap of something the photographer found intriguing at the moment, or the adventure of shooting in public. There is nothing necessarily wrong with that (although some images tend toward the voyeuristic), and many of those images can be quite compelling. Unfortunately, some posters in those forums tend to conflate such “candid” photography with Street photography, eliding any difference between the two practices.

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10 Tips How to Master Street Photography with the iPhone

Hi everyone, my name is Michael, I am a street photographer, I shoot with an iPhone.

The iPhone offers me three things that a big camera doesn’t – it is discreet, it is always with me and it is easy to use.

I have been using the iPhone since I moved to Melbourne, Australia in February this year.  The iPhone lets me concentrate on scene and structure instead of dials and lenses.  I feel more connected to the process because there is no glass in the way.

Eric has asked me to share some hints to help make the most of the iPhone when shooting the street.  So here we go.

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5 Soulful Reasons Why to Shoot Street Photography

Note: This post was originally written by Ahg, who is a young and talented street photographer from the Philippines. He originally wrote this post on his Tumblr, and he was generous enough to let me host it on my blog. I made a few edits here and there, but mostly it is untouched. I hope you guys enjoy it and please leave a comment below and let us know what you think :)

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*Author’s note: The following are my reflections and realizations as to why I enjoy street photography. These are from the 2 years of experience I had with film photography and my undying passion for the street because there is perhaps no other genre of photography that captivated me and made me grow as a photographer. I am writing this as a reminder of why I do street and to urge others to give street photography a try.

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Featured Street Photographer: Zeno from Glasgow

Note: Every Wednesday, I feature street photographers with great skill and soul. For this week, I decided to feature street photographer Gavin Zeno Watson from Glasgow. I first stumbled upon Zeno’s work randomly on Flickr, when he commented on some of my images. I was taken aback by his provocative b/w imagery, and the strong eye he has for geometric shapes and lines. Check out his interview and leave a comment to show him some love below!

1. How did you get started in street photography?

"Scoop on the Snow" - Gavin Zeno Watson
"Scoop on the Snow" - Gavin Zeno Watson

I always see people, situations and scenes as a photo in my minds eye, so it was only logical that should capture what I saw. The photo’s captured in Street Photography tend to be more unique and almost impossible for someone else to re-create, making street photos that little bit special.

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How to Rediscover Your Love of Street Photography

"Cubes" - Shot with my Contax IIIa Film Rangefinder
"Cubes" - Shot with my Contax IIIa Film Rangefinder

If you guys have been noticing, I have been experimenting with many different types of cameras including disposable cameras, my Contax IIIa Film Rangefinder, as well as my camera-phone. After doing this for the last month or so, I have re-kindled my love for shooting in the streets.

I just finished a book by Paul Arden titled “It’s Not How Good You Are, it’s How Good You Want to Be” and got blown away by one of his chapters on finding inspiration. Paul Arden worked as an advertiser for several decades, and he wrote that one way that he got re-inspired in making advertising campaigns was by using “new tools.” He clamored that how everybody in the advertising world only used felt-tipped pens to make advertising campaign layouts, which often lead to the same boring ideas. To go against the grain, he often used different tools such as brushes, pencils, charcoal, chalk, and even crayons to get new ideas.

I see this easily being relateable to street photography as well. Although I love my Canon 5D to death, it started to bore me. Everything was just too easy with it. The autofocus was quite responsive, and the images always came out great. I wanted a little more challenge– I wanted more excitement. I wanted to re-stimulate myself and my street photography experience.

Now I’ll tell you straight up that using a different camera won’t necessarily give you better images. However what it will do for you is re-inspire you by realizing certain camera’s strengths and limitations.

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Featured Street Photographer: Jurgen Burgin from Berlin

Note: Every Wednesday, I feature street photographers with great skill and soul. For this week, I decided to feature amazing street photographer Jurgen Burgin. I first stumbled upon Jurgen’s work when he left a comment on my blog, which made me check out his Facebook page. I was mesmerized by his great eye, and wanted to share his phenomenal work with the rest of you and the community. Check out his interview and leave a comment to show him some love below!

1. How did you get started in street photography?

Berlin Lovers - Jürgen Bürgin
"Berlin Lovers" - Jürgen Bürgin

It’s not too long ago, less than two years that I bought my first SLR. I started taking photos of birds, landscapes and so on, but living in a big city like Berlin, I soon started to shoot architecture – and finally people. To get some inspiration I went to my public library and read literally hundreds of photo books, of all kinds of photographers. That’s when I discovered the classic street photographers like Henri Cartier-Bresson, Brassai and so on. So those hundreds of photo books tought me everything I know about taking a good photo. And there was a lot of try and error, sure an advantage of digital photography: You can shoot hundreds of photos and try to find out how the aesthetics of photography works.

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Photo Essay: Students of Phoenix High’s Photography Class

Written 2010, December 14th:

Currently I am teaching a photography class to under-privileged students in Los Angeles at a high school named Phoenix High. These are the students that I ran my campaign for camera donations for (which you guys helped donate to). Teaching photography to these students is the high point of my week, as I love to interact with them and also see their passion for photography. Not only that, but it seems that photography is a wonderful outlet for them to express themselves creatively and also use as an escape for the difficult situations that many of them live in. You can watch a video I made on YouTube.

Although I wasn’t able to take portraits of all the students, I wanted to write a short photo-essay about them. I hope you can enjoy their stories as well. Also if you were wondering, I shot these photos all with my old Contax IIIa rangefinder with my 50mm 1.4 Zeiss Sonar lens with some cheap Kodax 400 Max film. I love the look and feel.

Eddy

Now don’t judge Eddie by his appearance by his rapper-inspired sideburns and punk-inspired gauge earrings. He is shy and quiet in demeanor, and doesn’t say much. However when given the opportunity to speak, he shows great insight into photography and life. He is always enthusiastic to be in my class, and although shy– is always wiling to contribute to class discussions.

You can see some of his work on Flickr.

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The Street Photographer’s Ultimate Christmas List

So Christmas is around the corner and you have been a good boy/girl this year. So you want to buy a new camera and/or some new lenses? Sure we know that it is the street photographer, not the camera that makes his/her photos amazing. But hey– it is always fun to experiment with new cameras and lenses as well.

I have gotten many questions from aspiring street photographers–asking what lens or body to get next. Read this list and pass it onto your loved ones (hopefully they love you enough to buy you some stuff in this list).

Also please note that these are my personal recommendations. If you don’t agree with this list, please leave a comment below and let me know whats up!

Cameras:

DSLR’s

  1. Canon 5D (used)
  2. Canon Rebel XSi
  3. Nikon D3100 (update by Ironside Photo)

If you are interested in purchasing your first DSLR, I would highly recommend a used Canon 5D. You can get them used for only $1200, and they are full-frame, meaning that the lenses you get will show their true focal length. It is also phenomenal at low-light high-iso situations.

A bit short on cash? Check out the Rebel XSi or the Rebel XS (a bit cheaper). Both are small, and give great performance as well. Oh yeah, also heard great things about the Nikon D3000 as well.

Micro 4/3rds

  1. Panasonic GF-1
  2. Olympus EP-1

If I was in the market for a new camera, it would definitely be for a micro 4/3rds. They are small, inconspicuous, and give fantastic image quality. Definitely the best “bang-for-the-buck” imho. I tried out Thomas Leuthard’s Panasonic GF-1 and instantly fell in love with it. Super-responsive auto-focus, and great image quality. I also heard that the EP-1 gives great image quality as well, but the autofocus is painfully slow.

Point and Shoots

  1. Canon S95 (or S90)
  2. Ricoh GRIII (update thanks to Dan Patzer)

Out of all the point and shoots for the street photographer out there, the Canon S95 (or S90) blow all the competitors out of the water. It is one of the smallest point and shoots out there, but offer great control with the front and rear dials–and has a super fast f/2 lens. Don’t consider anything else.

Update: If you have a little extra $$$ to spend, check out the Ricoh GRIII. It has a beautiful fixed focal 28mm 1.9 lens and with its “snap-focus” function, it has practically zero shutter lag (while the Canon S95 has a slight shutter lag). Also its built like a tank with its alloy body, and feels great in the hand as well. A worthy (but more expensive) competitor.

Rangefinders

  1. Leica M8

If you are interested in getting a digital rangefinder on a budget, check out the Leica M8. Sure it is not full-frame, but it will give you the true “rangefinder experience” without having to shell out $6900 on a Leica M9.

Lenses:

Primes (Canon)

(For full-frame)

The Canon 35mm f/2 is my lens of choice on my full-framed 5D. Small, inconspicuous, and sharp– it is the perfect walk-around lens for a street photographer. I personally like the 35mm focal length, as it is wide enough to capture a background, but at the same not too wide. Also note that the 35mm focal length is my preference, although many street photographers out there such as Markus Hartel prefer the 28mm focal length.

  1. Canon 35mm f/2
  2. Canon 24mm f/2.8
  3. Canon 50mm f/1.8 (or 1.4)

(For crop)

For 1.6 crop bodies, the problem about primes is that they are often too close. Therefore you are good getting a 20mm 1.8, which will translate into roughly a 32mm (close to a 35mm).

  1. Canon 20mm f/2.8
  2. Canon 24mm f/2.8
  3. Canon 35mm f/2

Primes (Nikon)

  1. Nikon 24mm f/2.8
  2. Nikon 35mm f/2

Additional Equipment:

Bags

  1. Timbuk 2 Commute 2.0

Accessories

  1. Handstrap (any cheap one on eBay)

75 Degrees of Intimacy – Markus Hartel

One doesn’t go up to strange men, women, children, elephants or giraffes and say, “Look this way please. Laugh –cry– show some emotion or go to sleep under a funeral canopy.”

From Naked City, Weegee

“f8 and be there”, the great Arthur Fellig, better known as Weegee, used to say, which quickly became a popular quote in photojournalism, and still stands to this day.  I personally live by this maxim. Being “there” is the most important aspect for street photography, being aware of one’s surroundings is paramount, quickness is key and total control of your gear an absolute must. Learn how your lens renders your scene, try to instinctively frame what you’re after – shooting the same (fixed) focal length at a time helps a big deal to master this task. I regularly rely on zone focusing and absolutely despise autofocus cameras, as I tend to find automatisms counter-productive on speed and on my creativity. The camera is my tool, and I control it, not the other way around.

Gary Winogrand experimented with different focal lengths, until he grew fond of the 28mm, which allowed him to get close enough to his subjects, yet this focal length allowed him to portray a person’s full body at close range.

The conventional conception of the wide-angle lens saw it as a tool that included more of the potential subject from a given vantage point; most photographers would not use it unless their backs were literally against the wall. Winogrand learned to use it as a way of including what he wanted from a closer vantage point, from which he could photograph an entire pedestrian from a distance at which we normally focus only on faces. “Figments From The Real World”

Markus Hartel New York Street Photography

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Participate in our Christmas Print Exchange!

Hey guys,

I had a great idea for all of us for Christmas. We all love having prints in our homes of other photographers, but it can be pretty expensive at times. So I thought that having a “print exchange” in which photographers can send one another prints would be awesome!

So this is how it will go:

  1. Leave a comment below with your full name, your email, what country you are from, and a link to your photos (Website, Flickr, Blog, etc). (Due December 19th)
  2. I will then randomly assign two photographers to one another, and you will both coordinate sending 1 photo each to one another with at least a 12×18” size.
  3. Send photos to one another using a service of your preference (I prefer Costco or Snapfish–they are cheap and look amazing).
  4. Mount the photo you receive in your home or office, and take a photo of it.
  5. Send me the photos to erickimphotography@gmail.com and I will post them on my site.

Got questions? Leave a comment below.

Understand how this works? What are you waiting for–get started!

Disposable Camera Street Photography by Eric Kim

$5 Disposable Camera from Walgreens. My new street photography camera.

When it comes to street photography, I am a huge advocate that it doesn’t matter what camera you have for street photography. You don’t need a $6900 Leica M9 to do street photography–whatever camera you have on you will work. In-fact, there is no “best” camera for street photography, as every camera out there has its own pros/cons.

To help bring some light to the issue that what camera you use for street photography doesn’t matter, I decided to do a new project involving disposable cameras. First inspired by the Mosaic photography contest, where contestants in Beirut, Lebanon had to take photos with disposable cameras– I was quite amazed by the results. And at $5, disposable cameras are certainly cheap. Sure buying a ton of them and developing the film isn’t, but I thought it might be a fun exercise regardless.

All the images taken below were with a disposable $5 Walgreens camera. I am quite pleased how they came out (no post-processing applied):

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Finding Inspiration from Edward Hopper’s Paintings for Street Photography

Recently my mother sent me a video released by the National Gallery of Art with paintings from Edward Hopper. His paintings truly show images of life from urban New York, raw and colorful. After watching the video, I saw many wonderful compositions which can inspire any street photographer. Spend the 8 minutes to watch the video–the images are truly exceptional.

Are there any other urban painters which inspire your street photography as well? If so, leave a comment below and leave us some links to check out!

An Introduction to Street Photography with Eric Kim

Hey guys,

My wonderful girlfriend/manager Cindy Nguyen is at it again–producing another interview video about myself and an introduction to street photography. I hope you all enjoy it and share it with your friends!

See the video on Vimeo.

Why All Street Photographers Are Amateurs

corazón callejero
Photo Credit: Carmen A

Street photographers are all amateurs. Not to say that we lack skill, insight, or vision– but that we do street photography for the love of it (not the money). Although people typically equate calling someone an amateur in a negative way, the word amateur roots from French meaning “love of.”

I know very few (if any) street photographers that make a living doing only entirely street photography. Honestly in this day and age– I would say it is near impossible. However, us street photographers try to take out every minute of our days and free time to go out and do what we truly love doing–shooting in the streets.

Having a passion for street photography for the pure reason of loving photography is beautiful. There is nothing better than wandering the streets, stumbling upon serendipity, as well as meeting fascinating people along the way. Not only that, but there is no greater joy than getting “The Shot”–rushing home–downloading your photos to your computer–processing them–and finally uploading them on the internet for others to appreciate as well.

When I realized that I shoot street photography purely for the love of it and not for the money, I tried my best to take away the temptation of making money from my passion. I knew this would only cause me to be miserable and lose the true sight of why I love photography. In-fact, I hear many photographers who go into commercial and wedding photography…they feel that photography is more of a bore and a chore than their passion. I never want this to happen to myself.

Sure I could always use a bit of extra money–but I knew that I wanted to spread the love of photography rather than making myself richer. Therefore I founded The Sukhee Chung Photography Foundation which strives to spread the love of street photography to under-privileged youth. I have already raised enough cameras for the high school class I am teaching (with a very generous grant from Jonathan Murray) and am looking forward to helping out other photography programs in Los Angeles as well.

So remember–shoot street for the love, not for the money (as my good street photographer friend Thomas Leuthard loves to mention). Be an amateur and truly bask in it. Before there is nothing more noble than doing something purely for the love of it.

Inspirational Video: Spreading The Love of Photography to Under-Privileged Youth

In October of 2010, I asked the community to donate old digital point and shoot cameras to the Phoenix High Photography Class that I am currently teaching to under-privileged high school youth. To say the least, the response was overwhelming. The first few days I already got donations from Cydney Alexis and Jason Paul Roberts. However on the third day, a talented Swiss street photographer by the name of Jonathan Murray generously donated 11 brand-new Canon Powershots to the class.

You cannot believe how ecstatic I was. Wanting to record the students’ expression, I decided that I wanted to film a short documentary (which was directed with great help from my beautiful girlfriend/manager Cindy Nguyen). Not only that, but she really “set the mood” in the video to give you the fuzzies in your heart. Anyways– please take a few minutes to watch the film and we both would love to hear your feedback!

The Sukhee Chung Photography Foundation is also currently fundraising for 20 used digital point and shoot cameras for another photography program in Los Angeles lead by my friend Terry Kim. Please check out the Facebook Event for more information. Also please spread the word by posting this on Facebook, Twitter, and any other social networking site you use! Thank you so much for the love and support!

Featured Street Photographer: Thomas Leuthard

Note: Every Wednesday, I feature street photographers with great skill and soul. For this week, I decided to feature amazing street photographer Thomas Leuthard. I first met Thomas online when he decided to generously donate a large sum of money to help support my street photography trip to Beirut, Lebanon. After meeting in Lebanon, he was my guest speaker for my Street Photography 101 workshop and we became great friends as well. His technique and vision is exceptional, and I am constantly inspired by his work.

Also feel free to check out all of the other featured street photographers of the week here!

1. How did you get started in street photography?

"Blue & White" - Zürich, Switzerland 2010
"Blue & White" - Zürich, Switzerland 2010

This is difficult to say as there is no real start “date”. I was shooting a lot of things when I started in early 2008. I was 3.5 weeks in Beijing during the Olympics and there I somehow got infected to shoot people in their everyday life on the streets. But I didn’t realize that at that time. On a trip to Hamburg Germany in October 2008 I take probably my first street photo on purpose, which I still like very much. A little bit later I got my Nikon D90, took another course in photography and I remember very well, when we went to Strasbourg, France, with this class. There was a beggar outside of the cathedral asking for money. I gave her 1 Euro and take some pictures of here. This was the moment when I started to shoot people’s portraits from short distance. But it really started when I bought my 85mm lens in May 2009. Then I decided to shoot only with this lens in the streets and call me 85mm.

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