pagespicsStreet Photography and Confidence
Confidence is a preference for the habitual voyeur of what is known as (parklife).
Blur, Parklife
Back of an AutoRickshaw/ Bangalore
Confidence is high when I am taking photos. There are technical aspects still being messed up, but practice helps. Street Portraits are something I am increasingly confident taking, although it is not a genre I wish to overly dominate my photography. Study time has been allocated to minimising clutter within the frame and this has really helped when out taking photographs (although you would not think it from the picture below!). Efforts definatelly pay off in terms of confidence! Layering my photos is a current focus for my photography – my confidence is not high with this, but I know practice will lead to better work.
A recent example of a layered photo, a technique I am working on. There are some technical flaws. However, I do like the overall ‘look’ of the photo, which was processed to simulate Kodachrome Film.
The next stage is processing. Here I am coming to accept I will always develop some photos in colour and some in black and white. Different images lend themselves to different techniques. Secondly, many great photographers claim they hardly use Lightroom or Photoshop, it sounds cool to state the shot looks great, ‘straight out the camera’. However, I shoot RAW and play with my photos A LOT, believing that processing is an important stage in creating art (and yes, Street Photography is art). My confidence behind a computer is less than when I have my camera in-hand. Again, I can see how engaging with regular practice post-processing will lead to better photographs.
I love colour, but sometimes B+W just looks fantastic. It can also be a much more of a commercial look.
The final stage is publishing. Here my confidence drops. Photos get posted and sometimes they fly, and sometimes they sink like a stone. This does affect my confidence, although I know it should not. Many photographers claim not to care how many ‘likes’ their photos get, but I wonder how many of these claims are false?
I believe that confidence and insecurities are important traits in driving us to create better work. My current goal is to print out more photos, and who knows, maybe sell a few. Seeing your photos in print is a great way to boost confidence. I also have a new home with large blank whitewashed walls to hang pictures on. Now, black and white would look great on my walls. However, I do like colour…. I am confident that either choice will look great!
Have fun and Keep Clicking, Chris
pagespics 
Great photos Chris – I really like the black and white final photo.
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Thanks Ronan, I am really coming round to Black and White photos. Unfortunately I think it gets over-used in street photography.
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good blog post, i definitely like this page, keep it.
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