Nicks Pics

Street Photography is one of those genres that can mean different things to different people. When I started off I thought I could capture good Street by just going out and taking pictures of the Street. It wasn’t long before I realised that a picture of a street, although of some value in a historical sense, doesn’t actually change much from one day to another.

Admittedly, the light can be different on different days but to be a unique shot it needs to incorporate people within the composition. But is it good enough to just take an image of someone’s back disappearing down the street?

The best image is also capturing a gesture, particularly an interaction between two people. This makes the image truly unique. It does though mean you have to be very quick in capturing the gesture. Another gesture can be just one person at a market examining the goods on display.

On a recent trip into London I went to Borough Market on the Southbank. The best time to visit is in the morning before it gets too busy with the lunchtime crowds.

I would, in the past, have loaded up with a fast film such as Ilford HP5 400 but this time I wanted to try Ilford Type 517 cinema film supplied by Analogue Cameras. This film has an iso rating of 100 so I realised I’d have to rely on a fast lens.

I loaded up my Olympus OM2n and attached my 50mm f1.4 lens and shot most of the images around the market at between f2 to f1.4. This large aperture did mean that I would have to be precise in my focusing and not rely on zone focussing.

I had hoped for some bright sunshine so that I could get some bright shafts of sunlight through the market. I arrived at the market at 11.00am and the day had turned out nice even though it had been a dull morning as I got onto the train into London.

The hour between 11:00am and midday gave me plenty of opportunity for some good interaction between stall holders and public and I even got chance of a portrait with a very nice chap who was interested in the fact that I was using analogue.

I developed the film using Bellini Euro HC at a dilution of 1+15 (A) for 7 mins and 30 secs @20 deg C. Although the negatives looked very contrasty they scanned very well on my Plustek scanner.