i would add "under editing" to this list - street photography is a little like story telling and the best story tellers add embellishments - small & subtle perhaps, but for me most sooc images could do with a little oomph to get that interest across -
@gozoinklings ... Thank you for posting this link. It makes so much sense and there is very little in it that I could disagree with. I'll have to make a note of that site and visit it again for a deeper look.
I also agree with your comment by about 'under-editing' - something I learnt many years ago from a mentor who warned me never again to show him an 'unfinished' print, and I still shudder whenever I read the acronym 'SOOC' used as if it were something to be proud of.
The link at the bottom for seven tips to improve your street shooting is interesting too.
@dibzgreasley@dianen Try it with your camera phone or a point and shoot/compact/mirrorless that doesn't require putting a big black camera to your eye. Even shooting in Live View rather than through the Viewfinder can help a lot with a traditional DSLR.
@wordpixman Amen about never showing an unfinished print.
Couldn't agree more. I'm out of practice with street photography and I need to get out of my comfort zone again and be up and close. Otherwise the photos are just plain boring.
I find point 3 of particular importance. If you don't get more personal with it and treat the people with care, don't shot homeless people.
I always thought the point of SOOC was to develop or improve one's "camera eye" in such a way that the shot is pretty damn good to start with. Start with a great product to produce a great finished product. Maybe it has become something else lately. IDK.
My stuff is mostly SOOC because I'm still figuring out the camera.
@gozoinklings Thanks for the link. It was very interesting and like others before me, I think it is good to engage with people including homeless people and show a genuine interest. I have found that people are usually quite willing to tell you a bit about themselves and it does make for a much more interesting shot.
@meotzi yes, I agree. I don't think there's anything intrinsically "virtuous" or aesthetically superior about a SOOC image but I do think it can be a discipline that can help with learning. And while I get the point about not showing an unfinished print, personally I don't think that applies to 365. I see this as a community developing its photography together and therefore, from time to time, sharing our working images. If I only posted "finished prints" on this site I doubt I could bring myself to post 2 or 3 at most a year!
@meotzi Well yes Caryn, it can be a discipline to do as much as you can in the camera, but you can always improve it with careful after-work. The camera, by itself, even the most expensive full frame or medium format camera, can only go so far. And composition skills seem to have little to do with the technical aspects of the camera operations, beyond the basics of exposure and focus, I think.
@rosiekind But the shot becomes something very different from "street" if you engage the subject I think?
@meotzi ... You make a good point. it is indeed a discipline that can aid learning, but it has not become 'something else lately' in the sense you suggest. Anybody who grew up in the age of manual plate cameras and chemical processing will understand what I mean by an 'unfinished' print. It is something that might have been taken by with immense skill, within the capabilities of the camera, resulting in an image 'good' for its tim, but needing a great deal of manual work with paint and brush, scissors and glue, cotton wool swabs soaked in Farmer's reducer or some other 'magic formula' before releasing the FINISHED print into the public domain. It is of course commendable that anyone using today's advanced digital cameras should still strive to produce the very best image possible in camera, but the real difference today is that finishing the job is now so very easy that the acronym 'SOOC' could be seen unkindly as an excuse for not finishing or not yet having learnt, how to do it.
I may be wrong, of course, but since being taught that more than six decades ago I have never published a picture without doing everything possible to improve the image after it leaves the camera. I do not claim to be a very good photographer, and have never aspired to exhibit my work or win prizes, but I have always done my best in whatever time is available, and never failed to meet publication deadlines.
I do, of course understand that this might not apply on a friendly group auch as this, where the objective is not to score points but to share experiences and ideas, from which I have learnt a lot over my years of membership and am stlll learning and hope that I might continue to do so.
Yes, @frankhymus ' I echo your words too. Words of experience.
And yes, @rosiekind The discussion has veered slightly off the original point, but as someone who has worked on 'The Street' for many years I have to say that a very high proportion of all good news photographs were and are taken in conditions which did not allow the luxury of time to set up a shot and fiddle with the camera before pressing the button to expose that single plate at exactly the right moment. Even that has changed now, of course, and anyone with even the simplest digital camera can be successful on more occasions than not.
@meotzi I think, especially if you shoot raw, then you probably need to edit in some way even if it's a small boost of contrast or to crop a distracting bit of something from the frame Or straighten the image slightly. Small changes can have a mighty impact on the result. @jasperc you are right, I've learnt so much from this site and another called pure street photography
@wordpixman You said what I have been trying to say for a long time. Nicely put. In these digital ages, I find that SOOC seems to be used as an excuse for being lazy. There, I am sure I have offended more than one person here.
@rosiekind sometimes I show people the photo on my camera after taking it especially if they look perplexed ... I tell them how great their shadow is or how interesting they look ... and it's polite to ask interesting characters first then it's more street portrait
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I also agree with your comment by about 'under-editing' - something I learnt many years ago from a mentor who warned me never again to show him an 'unfinished' print, and I still shudder whenever I read the acronym 'SOOC' used as if it were something to be proud of.
@dibzgreasley @dianen Try it with your camera phone or a point and shoot/compact/mirrorless that doesn't require putting a big black camera to your eye. Even shooting in Live View rather than through the Viewfinder can help a lot with a traditional DSLR.
@wordpixman Amen about never showing an unfinished print.
I find point 3 of particular importance. If you don't get more personal with it and treat the people with care, don't shot homeless people.
My stuff is mostly SOOC because I'm still figuring out the camera.
@frankhymus @wordpixman
Thanks for posting this @gozoinklings . Interesting article and discussion.
@rosiekind But the shot becomes something very different from "street" if you engage the subject I think?
I may be wrong, of course, but since being taught that more than six decades ago I have never published a picture without doing everything possible to improve the image after it leaves the camera. I do not claim to be a very good photographer, and have never aspired to exhibit my work or win prizes, but I have always done my best in whatever time is available, and never failed to meet publication deadlines.
I do, of course understand that this might not apply on a friendly group auch as this, where the objective is not to score points but to share experiences and ideas, from which I have learnt a lot over my years of membership and am stlll learning and hope that I might continue to do so.
Yes, @frankhymus ' I echo your words too. Words of experience.
And yes, @rosiekind The discussion has veered slightly off the original point, but as someone who has worked on 'The Street' for many years I have to say that a very high proportion of all good news photographs were and are taken in conditions which did not allow the luxury of time to set up a shot and fiddle with the camera before pressing the button to expose that single plate at exactly the right moment. Even that has changed now, of course, and anyone with even the simplest digital camera can be successful on more occasions than not.