I know Lutz and others tried to promote this aspect of the forum, and I am also very keen to know how others approach photography. I to date have never gone out with the express desire to photograph.....This may come as a shock to some of you who I know do this so well. I personally keep my camera with me and when I have enough time snap away at well err mostly people I know cos they are, err near me. Well I really want to change this, I am drinking from the same glass all the time, and my photos illustrate this. I would be interested in how some of you approach street photography in this context. Do you just wander and see what happens, do you follow a theme, do you follow a person/group? What? On a more humerous side, I know a chap who took me for a Photography course when I first started who explained that he would pick an individual and 'stalk' him/her all day and produce a phot essay of a day of their life....with some interesting consequences. I guess this would not be too advisable these days...

-- Richard (richard@designblue.co.uk), September 18, 2001

Answers

I find that the only way that I can get good photos is to work to a series. In the past I too tried the 'take my camera everywhere and hope for the best' and I usually came back with....nothing. A group of us even started hangin out on Sundays - meeting early for breakfast, getting all psyched and heading out to shoot - and.....nothing. Now I set a goal, or series for myself. For the last year I have been working on a series I call Cafe Culture. I hed out to various cafes in the city and province I live and observe the goings on and the people in them. Often I'll sit for an hour or more, observing and getting a feel for what's going on before I'll shoot. For me personally, without some sort of goal before I go out to shoot I don't ge

-- Bob Todrick (bobtpdrocl@yahoo.com), September 18, 2001.

Hopefully you realize that this question is in no way specific to any brand of gear.

This question, and many variants of it, have been asked many times. The best way to find some answers is to read Bill Jay and David Hurn's On Being a Photographer. Jan and Hurn make it clear that photography isn't about using a camera, it's about passion for the subjects and how they will look. If you don't want to buy the book, do a search at photo.net on David Hurn and you will find quite a bit of discussion on the topic.

Speaking personally, I carry about five long-term (life-long) projects in my head at all times, and look for subjects that fit them, or create the subjects if I can't find them, and two or three short-term projects. I still photograph quite a few things that don't fit these projects, usually just to see what they look like on film.

I organize my work into broad categories that encompass these projects, visible at my web site. I don't separate photos by camera used - the topics are completely independent of the camera, and most of the projects have photographs made with several different cameras, mixing pinhole shots with 35mm shots with 6x7.

You should look inside yourself and see what you want to photograph and what you want the photographs to look like.

-- Jeff Spirer (jeff@spirer.com), September 18, 2001.

Actually, this is a good question to a common problem. And the working to a theme answer is the only way I too can get going. If I just go out with out direction, I wind up with nothing but a lot of test shots, but little in the way of good and interesting. Start with some research on a subject. Doesn't have to be brain surgery. I am currently working on pictures of a dying trade, the timber industry in SoWest Oz. I find old deserted mills, machinery and the like and take photos in B&W, then develop and print them myself. This will help get more into the hobby. PN

-- Paul Nelson (clrfarm@comswest.net.au), September 18, 2001.

I agree with Bob. While I do try to have a camera with me all the time. It rarely gets used because of that. The only exception would be if I'm shooting photos of some random adventure that my friends and I are having (which isn't really all that random of a thing, since I've got a specific purpose, to document what happened that day). I find that my best photos come from whatever projects I am working on.

-- Josh Root (rootj@att.net), September 18, 2001.

Here is a thread on photo.net that deals with this subject and the Hurn book specifically: click

-- Josh Root (rootj@att.net), September 18, 2001.

Well I guess I am one of those who has no plan when I leave the house. I go to different places and take pictures of different things. That is the way I have been doing (mostly street photgraphy) for several years. Some people say my pictures are pretty good. See for yourself at: http://www.streetphoto.net/frames.html

-- Steve LeHuray (icommag@toad.net), September 18, 2001.

I too have to have a project to work on. Since I only get an idea about once a year, that means I don't do very much photography!

-- rob (rob@robertappleby.com), September 19, 2001.

My approach may seem a little different, but if you are interested in street (art) photography and are having trouble discovering a theme, then I would urge you to take a drawing class or two, at a community college or an adult night school, or even if they're offered at a local art museum. This will begin to discipline your eyes to see composition. I bet that within a few short weeks your whole way of "seeing" will change. My feeling is that one can not read about art! You need to practice art to become good at it!

-- Leicaddict (leicaddict@hotmail.com), September 19, 2001.

I know it's a Leica Moral Imperative to always have a camera with you, but I found that I rarely got pictures that were good enough to offset thew hassle when I did that, so I stopped.

I get my best results when I go somewhere with the specific intention of taking pictures. If I have a theme or project in mind, so much the better, but for me the point of the exercise must be the photography. Having a camera along "just in case" results in nothing, because I need to be more focussed than that.

Having a project or a theme or a passion or at least the desire to explore a subject is essential, otherwise it becomes little more than an exercise in craft (i.e. sharp, well-exposed, nicely composed boring snaps). It's kind of like talking - you always say more interesting things when you're talking about something you're interested in.

I rarely do my best work when I'm with other people, because doing good work requires me to immerse myself in the situation. Other people would usually rather be doing something else, and my awareness of this conflict keeps me from entering the "flow". The typical result is a few hurried snapshots.

-- Paul Chefurka (paul_chefurka@pmc-sierra.com), September 19, 2001.

Richard:

Since your subject header was "Techniques and approaches to Leica photgraphy" - emphasis Leica - I'll answer this way...

The Leica is my travel and snap-shot camera. As such, it is used mostly in a "street-shooting" manner. And "street-shooting" is not something I am particularly facile with at this point in time -- it's a skill I'm still learning. However, when I've done it successfully, I have been a participant in the moment, interacting or connecting with the subject in some way. Even something as simple as a smile while I bring the camera to my eye to shoot sometimes makes enough of a connection. When I'm a voyeur, lurking on the sidelines or sneaking the shot, the photos don't seem to work at all; they look flat and lifeless.

As I write the above, I realize that outside of Leica shooting I still need to connect with my subject on some level. If it is in the studio, I need to connect with the wishes of the client to capture the essence of what they want, or the shoot will be unsuccessful. In the field with my LF equipment, I need to connect with what surrounds me, immerse myself in it, become part of it. When I perform that critical step, connection, my images are successful -- when I don't, aside from a few happy accidents of timing, they're generally nothing more than a waste of film.

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), September 19, 2001.

Thanks very much for the good advice here, I am a designer and have my own realtionship with aesthetics and this is personal to me and I am reasonably happy with this aspect. It is more the relationship that you can afford with subjects that you do not know, striking the balance between voyeurism and intrusion. Bob I too am very interested in Cafe culture, so maybe there is my first theme Thanks. Out of interest say you have been relaxing and absorbing for about an hour, do you just take your camera out and shoot, do you stay where you are or do you walk about?

-- Richard (richard@designblue.co.uk), September 19, 2001.

When I took a photograpy course the instructor would give an assignment to photograph a particular kind of subject, or at a special time of day, etc. This gave the student a purpose and direction for the work. Later I read an article by a photographer who gave himself "self-assignments" when he was between clients. This sounds just like what Bob Todrick means when he talks about shooting a series. I find that I also will either work around some theme or organizing idea for what I'm doing, or else the camera seems to stay in the closet. Wandering about town with a camera, I don't produce much, either. My next self-assignment is to photograph the Fall colors. I've done that before, but this time I want to try some shots using wider apertures to make a small area pop out against an out of focus background. I don't know how that will work out with this subject until I try. I think if I gave myself more self- assignments, I would take more pictures.

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), September 19, 2001.

I never leave home without my M3 or M6.Period.I bought the boxes to take snaps and thats what they do so well.I have some 'series' but also just shoot at things that catch my eye.Candid street scenes at moment,plus the sad events,took pix of evacuation of city I'm in. OK they sent all the workers home in the financial district.Attended church ceremonies and took 2 pix.Went to Embassy and cried as people sang "G-d Bless America" I took pix.I want to try and remember these days of great hurt and also great humanity.So if one has a camera esp a Leica that intrudes so little,use it.I was part of the happenings and not a voyeur.

-- jason gold (leeu72@hotmail.com), September 21, 2001.