1- Are you a professional photographer? No I’m not a professional but I also don’t consider myself to be an amateur. Is there such a category as pro-amateur? By profession I’m a tax consultant.
2- Why street photography? I once was into nature photography and found it to be quite boring. There’s just so many times that you can take a photo of a flock of Canada geese and expect it to be exciting. On the other hand humans on the street never disappoint. Each day brings a different story begging to be captured.
3- How would you describe your photography style? My intention is to capture the lighter, more humourous side of life. Often times though I’ll come back from shooting and find that I’ve captured subjects with a more solitary leaning. Perhaps it’s the duality of myself I’m capturing. I also enjoy documenting protests happening around my city or the city I’m visiting at the time. There’s never a shortage of those.
4- What makes a good picture from your point of view? What do you look for in an image? A good picture is one that engages the viewer and sometimes provides more questions than answers.
5- How do you educate yourself to take better photos? Since I’m not a professional but a pro-amateur ( I now declare this to be a category), I’m continually reading books and viewing videos about different aspects of photography and street photography in particular. If a certain course can help me improve my photographic skills than I’ll take it. The learning process will never stop.
6- Where in the world would you most like to photograph? I’d like to continue my travels through Europe. I also hope to get to Havana and New York city some day.
7- Who would you most like to photograph and what kind of pictures do you avoid to shoot? I most like to photograph subjects with real character. Whether it be in their clothing, facial features or body language. Mostly working with a 35mm lens I like to become part of the scene but invisible at the same time. I avoid asking permission to take someone’s photo or engaging with my subjects. It’s just not in my nature.
8- Have you been confronted by someone whose photo you took on the street? What would be your advice on how to avoid confrontation when doing Street Photography? In the early days of shooting street I had a few confrontations with people. I have no battle scars so they all got resolved amicably. Now I’m able to take the shot without a person being aware that they’ve been photographed. My advice for anyone new to street is to wear a good pair of running shoes. You never know when you’ll have to take off fast. Seriously though, you need to feel comfortable shooting street photography. The only way to get comfortable is by getting out there and shooting often. Eventually you’ll fall in to a zone where confrontation won’t even be a consideration.
9- Your favourite street image of your own to date and why? It’s a photo I took in Porto, Portugal in 2018. There was a girl sitting outside on a door step with her hand over her face. I like the fact that her hands were mirroring the hands in a painting above her head. I also like that the colours of her clothing and bag matched the colours in the painting. When looking at this photo I always wonder why she was there and what she was waiting for.
10- Your favourite piece of equipment? I love the Fuji system of cameras. From the get go I’ve always found something intuitive about them. My favourite camera is the Fuji X100F with the fixed 35mm equivalent lens.
11- What are your favorite settings (Aperture. Shutter Speed, ISO, White Balance, Focus, Manual/Auto, Image Format – RAW/JPEG) for Street Photography and why? After experimenting for so many years with what would be the best settings I’ve now settled mostly on the following. Shutter priority with a speed of 1/250 or faster depending on the time of day. The ISO will usually be between 200 to 400 but again gets changed depending on the light. I’m experimenting with zone focusing but usually am satisfied with auto focus. I always shoot in RAW only.
12- Is photography art? Yes photography is art but that doesn’t mean that everyone with a smart phone can be considered an artist.
13- Black And White or Colour? Both. I feel fortunate to be able to have both mediums to work with. I let the photo decide, with my input, whether it shows better in black and white or colour. Usually, but not always, I end up making the right choice. I do tend to favour colour more.
14-What are your thoughts on editing? Lightroom is my partner. I’m not one of those photographers who can shoot straight out of camera consistently with minimal or no editing. The cropping and straightening tools are my friends. There’s sometimes those bits on the edges of the photo that are quite distracting and take away from the story. So I’ll crop those things out.
15- Why do you share to Progressive Street and who would you like to see showcased from Progressive Street? I have a limited number of groups that I post to on a semi-consistent basis. Progressive Street is one of those groups. I like the engagement of the admins, moderators and other photographers on Progressive. The message of Progressive really reflects the group. “ Have fun, be creative and learn from your fellow members, post your best shots.” It’s a group that’s serious about street photography but also has the ability to have a sense of humour with very little or no drama.