Issue 156 of the SNYC Newsletter
Greetings everyone! Summer weather has officially hit New York City. Inspiration is in the air and the longer daylight hours are wonderful. That means we have more hours to shoot. Well. that’s true for those of you in the Northern Hemisphere.
I am currently in the midst of major spring cleaning! Organizing photo library and the SNYC newsletters from the very beginning of this project. (And the rest of my life too!) And trying out new things.
Thank you to all the readers and everyone who has taken my workshops and to everyone who has written a review. As always, Happy Shooting!
The real act of discovery consists not in finding new lands but in seeing with new eyes. Marcel Proust
Reader’s Comment
The Shoot New York City newsletter exists for you, the readers. And, your comments and suggestions are always welcome. One of the major issues of social media sites is that there’s no dialogue.
There is much that we can all share about our experiences in photography and it’s so easy to comment on the newsletter. Just hit reply in your email or on the button below
Color Processing
You probably already know that a very large majority of my street photography is in black and white. It will likely be that way for good. BUT, I do also do color in abstract photography and lately I’ve been playing with using recipes for street photography in both color and monochrome jpgs.
You’ve probably also heard me mention in the past that processing is a very different activity than shooting and we should not be thinking about editing while shooting. Perhaps I’ve come to a meeting of the 2, in a way.
All of my photos in this issue are the jpgs shot with a color film recipe and with some post processing. In a way, shooting jpgs with a recipe is a little like shooting film. Unless you develop your own color negatives and prints, you basically settle for what you get. (Btw I’m still shooting raw at the same time.)
In general, I rarely spend much time processing my street photos. I have a few go-to presets that I’ve altered and then I tweak the white balance, highlights and contrast. Many people have asked what apps I use. So here we go.
I’ve been using Exposure X7 for about 5 years now. I left Lightroom and I’ve not regretted it for even a minute. Exposure is far superior, only about $130 and they have an upgrade about every 18 months for about $79 which you don’t need to buy, but the upgrades are worth every dollar. AND they have real customer support. No kidding.
Exposure is packed with 100s of presets that you can use for processing your photos. I frequently use the Kodachrome preset and many others.
I also use Affinity Photo which is a replacement for Photoshop and way better and easier to use. It cost a whole $39. And they have a full suite of products like Publisher and Illustrator and frequently they even have sales.
People often tell me that they find monochrome processing difficult. I’m the opposite. It’s more difficult for me to process color. But using recipes has been a good start. If you shoot with a Fuji X camera, I’ve been using an app called FujiX Weekly. He has a website and blog. You get can the app for free or you can pay $19 for full access to all his recipes which I recently did.
There are other Fuji recipe apps and I’m going to try another one out. I should mention that the guy who created the Fuji recipe app, also has a Ricoh app which I’m getting ready to check out.
I know that many of you shoot with Sony cameras. A quick internet search shows that there are a few sites with film recipes. Let me know if you try them out. I’d love to be able to share with everyone your experiences.
Our photography grows through the exchange of ideas as well as shooting often, experimenting and making mistakes. Please share your comments.
Early Color Street Photography
But Kodachrome was the best film. I have to thank Kodak for making that product. Without that product, we would not have the pictures. Pictures that were taken on other films have suffered more than Kodachrome. Kodachrome was thought to last 50 years, and it has. Fred Herzog
Perhaps it is nostalgia on my part, but when I look at early color street photography, I see the color tones that I really like. In part, it really has to do with certain film qualities.
Yes, you can recreate them in digital photography, but I swear I can always see when a photo is film. Well, most of the time anyway. There is a certain quality to it that gives it away. This is true of most analog vs digital debates.
In the early days of color, there was only about a handful of photographers that dared to work in it. It was seen as acceptable for commercial work only. A number of “serious” photographers considered it vulgar.
Since I'm inarticulate, I express myself with images. Helen Levitt
While Helen Levitt wasn’t the first by any means, the above photo illustrates how color really became an important part of photography. That said, her use of color was not what most would use color for.
The photographer, historian, curator and critic, John Szarkowski wrote of Levitt’s color photography:
Her object was to use color neither in a decorative nor in a purely formal way, but as a descriptive and expressive aspect of the subject, as inherent to it as gesture, shape, space and texture.
Levitt was already well known for her monochrome photography. To move into the color realm was a bold move. But as an artist it is important to experiment with new ways of creating your work. Experimentation is important.
Color is joy. One does not think joy. One is carried by it. Ernst Haas
Ernst Haas, is another master of early color street photography. In my mind, he and Saul Leiter are the absolute favorites. The color tones and the composition just jump out.
My point here is to illustrate some of the possibilities in street photography. The last 2 issues of the newsletter were about finding inspiration. These are just a few photographers who inspire me. I get lost in their work. It’s like poetry.
This is an incomplete list of the top early color street photographers:
Harry Callahan (1912-1999)
Helen Levitt (1913-2009)
Ernst Haas (1921-1986)
Ruth Orkin (1921-1985)
Saul Leiter (1923-2013)
Fred Herzog (1930-2019)
I would love to hear what or who inspires you. In upcoming issues I will get back to doing photographer profiles. I will get a little deeper in to the above list.
I love coffee and I love it when I get treated to one :-) But no sweat if you’re unable to contribute. The newsletter is free for all. Thanks to everyone who has bought me a coffee!!! Maybe one day we’ll be able to have a coffee in person again. Mucho love.
Biweekly Photo Assignment - Color
Since this issue is about color let’s go with color. It can be minimal color, complementary colors, bright colors or muted colors. Your choice.
As usual, you can interpret this assignment and don’t be afraid to post creative photos. I think that it should really be an enjoyable exercise.
This is a voluntary assignment if you want to take part. You can submit your photos to the Facebook group for Shoot New York City and also on Instagram tag @shootnewyorkcity. If you're not a member of the Facebook group yet, all you have to do is request to join.
It would be great if as a group people would comment on photos submitted as well. Let's have fun! Happy shooting and sharing! And you can connect with other people that you share an interest with.
Further Viewing
A short video on the photography of Ernst Haas.
Upcoming Workshops:
Workshops are a maximum of 4 people (with the exception of the Coney Island workshop). Social distancing and masks are followed in crowded areas and for the comfort of people attending the workshops. And with fewer people in each workshop everyone can gain even more individual attention.
Workshops are only being scheduled on a weekend day now. If you would like to have a weekday workshop or a workshop in other areas of NYC, let me know with some lead time and I’ll see if others want to also attend it. Otherwise I continue to provide private workshops on weekdays and in other neighborhoods.
For those who haven't done a workshop or photo tour with me in the past I have a number of reviews on my website and also on TripAdvisor! Workshops are both for people who live here and also travelers, as are photo tours.
Photo tours are one-on-one and arranged on an individual basis for both neighborhood and photographic style and can be designed as a workshop as well. They are customized to your interests and level. Thank you for your patience and Stay Safe! The new Substack App is a very cool way to access this and many other newsletters.
What a great newsletter! Thanks for the tip on FujiXWeekly and film simulation recipes! I didn’t know about them. Perfect timing as my new camera will arrive soon. I also enjoyed exploring the work of the suggested street photographers. Thanks all the great tips and application suggestions.