I’m enjoying the oil paint filter in Photoshop CC – especially when used on images like this with the brickwork and texture. I enjoy how it can add a touch of additional texture to an image.
There are some wonderful alleys in San Francisco – some filled with cafes like The Irish Bank. They’re worth exploring further. I keep telling Doug Kaye that we need to write the book: “The Stages of San Francisco”. The second in that series should be “The Alleys of San Francisco”. Great places for street photography is a great city.
This image was shot with my Fujifilm X-E2 and post-processed in Lightroom 5 with VSCO Film before tweaking with the oil paint filter in Photoshop CC.
As we started out, the Powell and Hyde Street cable cars began moving quite frequently up and down Powell St. We had some interesting mid-morning January light and tried to find a spot that might work out sort of as a stage.
This is one of my shots – taken with my Fujifilm X-E2 and post-processed in Lightroom 5 and Photoshop CC.
Continuing from my earlier post about Street Photography in San Francisco, here’s an image of the cafe shot was we walked along Post Street on the north side of the square.
There’s a long railing leading up to the cafe area – which had originally caught my eye. But the people were also really interesting – paired up and talking.
I especially like the guy looking at me – and the other guy raising his hand in the air to make a point. Beautiful January light on a morning in San Francisco. Captured with my Fujifilm X-E2.
My friend Doug Kaye and I have been having fun lately doing street photography in San Francisco. We’ve both “downsized” from big Nikon/Canon DSLRs to mirrorless cameras – I’m shooting with the Fujifilm X-E2 and X100s while Doug’s got a new Sony A7 and a collection of manual lenses that he’s been enjoying.
Here are a few images from a recent two hour walk we took from San Francisco’s Union Square down through the financial district to the Ferry Building. When we shoot in San Francisco, we meet up at the Ferry Building – Doug taking the ferry from Marin and me taking BART from Daly City – and then head out from there. On this particular day, we caught an Uber ride from the Ferry Building to San Francisco’s Union Square.
Up top is an image of “The Goddesses” which are on the top of 580 California Street – sculpted by Muriel Castanis. Her New York Times obituary described her work: “A self-taught artist, Ms. Castanis was known in particular for her method of laying an epoxy-soaked cloth over a mannequin built of plastic foam. She would then remove the foam, leaving empty, faceless figures that were reminiscent of Greek sculpture.”
Shooting the top of a building might not be considered street photography – but those sculptures are so fascinating. Here’s a more classic street photography shot that I titled “Waiting for a Ride”. Street corners can be great spots for watching people – as they walk at you. In this image, I love how everyone is looking – she’s looking for her ride, the guys across the street are looking at her and that woman on the left – I’m not sure – she’s either looking at her – or at me!
Here’s a similar street corner shot – this couple walking across the street and the bystander watching their progress.
As we walk through the City, Doug and I are always on the lookout for “stages” – interesting backgrounds that offer beautiful settings for humans to enter. We found several great examples during this walk. Here’s one example – from the plaza at the Bank of America building.
And another – shot as we left The Slanted Door restaurant at the Ferry Building:
While walking the streets, it’s always fun to watch for bikers – and San Francisco has an abundance. Here are a couple of shots – from along California Street as we headed back to the Ferry Building. I love the sense of motion that bikes bring!
But perhaps this is my favorite from the day – shot right across from Union Square on Post Street. I titled it “Looking Good”. Indeed.
These small mirrorless cameras are perfect this “on the go” kind of street photography. Here’s a link to the rest of my images from this particular two hour walk in downtown San Francisco. What a day!
Here’s a final shot – Doug at the Slanted Door. Shot with my Fujifilm X100S.
Do you do street photography in San Francisco? Tell me about it in the comments below – or send me an email.
Earlier this summer, I picked up a Fujifilm X100S – a street photographer’s delight. The rangefinder design, its gorgeous styling and superb image performance make it a camera you just want to take with you everywhere.
When Doug Kaye and I go out for a photo walk in San Francisco, we’re always on the lookout for “stages” – great backgrounds that are just waiting to be filled with interesting people.
This is a shot in the park adjacent to the Transamerica Building (“the Pyramid”) in San Francisco. We had rich summer morning light flooding in along with some wonderful shadows – which help add depth to an otherwise two dimensional image. We also had four actors already on stage – nicely spread out! And then this woman walked across the foreground – wow, I couldn’t have scripted it any better – as she made her point to her friend on the other end of that pink cellphone call!
For this version of the image, I used a touch of Topaz Simplify in Photoshop CC to reduce some of the high frequency elements (trees) in the image. VSCO Film Velvia 50 was used to boost the colors a bit. A final pass of high pass sharpening was used to bring back the facial expressions of all of the actors!
There’s a wonderful street – more like an alley for pedestrians (no cars) – in San Francisco that just lights up this time of year with reflected light shining off of the Transamerica Pyramid. It’s Leidesdorff Street – and you’ll love it!
Doug Kaye and I discovered it this week – and we almost got lost in shooting because the light was so special. The reflected light in San Francisco’s Financial District this time of year – with the low sun angle – made for many interesting venues – but I think this was perhaps the best.
This image is one example – the rider heading north on Leidesdorff Street into that reflected light from the Pyramid. Doug first noticed this spot – one of those places we call a “stage“. We love finding these places – with very special light or a most interesting background – and just move across the street and wait for something interesting to happen – such as this man riding by on his bicycle.
I shot this with my new Fujifilm X-E2 using the “kit” 18-55mm lens. I’m still learning the best settings on the X-E2 for street photography with this lens – so the rider is a bit blurrier than I’d prefer – but it’s still a great image with that wonderful light.
South Beach in Miami is something else. Wish I could walk there every sunrise and sunset!
On our way to Havana, Doug Kaye and I arrived a day early so that we could shoot South Beach in the late evening just after our flight arrived and then the next morning. It’s such a great place for photography – street photography at its finest.
Shortly after we arrived that morning, we walked past this couple on our way to the beach. Seemed to me there was some interesting conversation going on – so we walked past and I turned and captured this shot.
Shot with a Nikon D600. Post-processed in Lightroom 5 with VSCO Film.
Doug Kaye and I met up for one of our irregular Friday photo walks today – this time in Berkeley. We did a bit of shooting down at the Berkeley Marina before heading to 4th Street and a great lunch at Zut!
Heading to lunch, we walked a couple of blocks and, along the way, came across this bronze sculpture – which, as it turns out, is named Pablo and is the creation of Mavis McClure.
I thought the light on Pablo was pretty special – and sat down to try to capture what interested me. Angular light across the face is almost always special and interesting – and Pablo’s oversized hands and the light on one of them just added more visual interest for me.
I opted to crop it to a square image, adding a black border, and processing it in Lightroom 5 as a monochrome image. As I look at this image, I’m sure Pablo’s thinking good thoughts!
It was great for me to get out shooting again with Doug today – brightened my mood and brought on good thoughts! Doug captured a shot of me composing this image.
while on the move.
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