London
types
by Frans Kemper
Around 10 years ago we visited London. It was a leisure trip. I’ve been to London many times but always for business, so this time we finally had the opportunity to do this great city justice and see the places worthwhile visiting. At least to our taste. We are flea market junkies. It’s the first thing we look for when we visit any place. London didn’t disappoint us. There are many flea markets of all kinds and sorts. Portobello and Camden are off course the biggest and most famous ones, but when you dig deeper you'll find many smaller ones around and sometimes even more interesting.
It happens that during this trip I freed myself from lugging my ridiculously heavy photo bag with every lens imaginable, tripod, accessories, etc etc. And of course a backup camera. Ya never know…
So, it was just one body and one lens. 50mm (FF). Although a little uncomfortable at first, soon I got the hang of it and started to enjoy this freedom. Now I HAD to think about images instead of equipment.
I never looked back.
At present, I use a camera with a fixed 28mm(FF) lens and enough resolution to crop to 75mm and still a good A3 print, if I want to.
Another thing I learned is to set the electronic viewfinder in Black & White.
I am not distracted by colors and pay more attention to the composition.
Of course, it has to fit your style of shooting. But I am not a sports shooter, neither birds nor other subjects requiring zooms.
For me, it’s for the most part street, architecture, and traveling photography. (If we can travel that is)…
Why am I telling you this? Well, paying more attention to the images/surroundings than fiddling with stuff, I noticed that the London people are enormously diverse with many different types around... And to my surprise, everyone I asked agreed to have their picture taken. (Before or after the mischievous deed…)
So, coming back to the flea markets, I met so many different types of people, that I had never seen before. A happy experience that stayed with me. London didn't disappoint me...
And yes, Father Christmas a.k.a Santa Claus a.k.a. Saint Nicholas a.k.a Saint Nick a.k.a Kris Kringle, or simply Santa does exist. I always knew it…
I let the images speak for themselves...
