A very quick blogpost this week and it concerns Layers in Street Photography. One of the main reasons it’ll be a short one is because I’m lost for words and example photos for that matter because it’s an extremely difficult discipline to master and explain; let’s just say I’m a long way off either. I’ve been banging on about Layers for ages now, if you’re unsure what layering is then here’s how I see it with regards Street Photography; You’ll need something, ideally a person, in the background, the middle ground and foreground. They’ll all need to be separated somehow, no overlapping with other people and finally there should be some kind of interest or at least aesthetic appeal within the frame. Sounds simple enough, believe me it’s not, well not for me I should say. We all know that the streets are chaotic, I struggle to see layers amongst all that hustle and bustle.
You see, nearly, but not quite on that shot above. The thing is this, firstly the fun of it is the challenge and secondly even if you don’t quite accomplish what you’re looking for with layers, your photography improves because you become much more aware of what’s happening around you and of course the all important composition. These photos in this post were all taken a couple of days ago and as I walked around Bath, I still clicked away at other scenes that caught my eye;
Hopefully you can see in that last image in the grid that I found myself once again trying some layering with our friend the Barrister; “There is no real layering here M’Lud, I rest my case”, “Take him down, Five Years hard labour for crimes against photography”….It’ll happen one day, I’m sure, guilty as charged! A Couple more “almosts”;
I continued to hang around near the Bus Station. That’s where those car shots earlier came from. I like it down there as something is usually going on and there’s generally plenty of people either from the Busses or nearby Train Station.
Across the road I spotted someone waiting for a bus with a guy stood near her. I strolled over, framed up to include a silhouette in the background and I think this is close. That Silhouette or someone needs to be a lot closer;
It’s not perfect by any means and believe me I’m well aware of that. Critically what’s missing is something interesting. It almost seems an impossible task this layering business, however I’m not going to give up. I think it’s a challenge every photographer should try, what it does avoid is clicking those boring shots; People just walking along, tunnels, photos that rely purely on light and shadow. I click them all the time, plenty I could show from this day in Bath and don’t dislike them, I simply feel there should be a little more to a Street Photograph.
As always my sincere thanks go to anyone taking the time to read this blog.
All images can be opened by clicking on the thumbnails and are taken using a Leica M with Summicron 35mm Lens fitted.
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