Photographing Street Photography

I really don't shoot lots of street photography! If you ask me why, I'd be hard pressed to come up with an honest answer! I do enjoy it. I like viewing it. I've enjoyed seeing someone like Aaron Offord take his photography in this direction http://streetogroffy.blogspot.com/.  
I guess I could say I've been busy but that doesn't really make sense. After all one of my most read blog posts is A.B.S or Always Be Shooting  where I speak to having my camera with me at all times. 
I could say that with our move to Florida and the temperature being in the 90s on a regular basis, I really don't find myself walking the streets that much!!! I do photograph candids of people but usually in a natural setting where the people are really secondary as in this blog post http://jpweddingphotograpy.blogspot.com/2011/06/diamonds-in-sky-on-vero-beach.html. 
Well, than I guess I have the answer, I really don't know! So many images to make and so little time, I guess is my best excuse. Well, in the last couple of weeks I decided to try my hand at it. The following images are my take on street photography.  A few are of people who stepped into a hotel to get out of the 93 degree heat but I think the philosophy is still the same. 
All of them are black and white but not all are totally black and white. In my post production, I used different ways to make the image black and white. One of the great things about digital is that there are many ways to accomplish the same task. It gives the photographer a certain level of creativity. In these images, I used Lightroom, Photoshop, and a Nik Fliter to convert the images to black and white. 
With each of those tools, I found different techniques to make the image black and white. For example in Lightroom in the develop panel, I first changed the treatment from color to black and white. This gave me a pretty good start but then I adjusted the black sliders, exposure and clarity sliders. In others, I used some lightroom presets but then adjusted various sliders to get to the blacks, whites and grey I was looking for!
I realize that that last paragraph for many of you is gibberish!! So I will not go over each step I took in each image unless I receive enough comments asking me to show the techniques I used step by step. Then I will write another blog on that!
My first image was taken as we were sitting in a outdoor cafe enjoying a light meal and cold drink!!! This couple looked in deep thought. I captured a moment where you might think they were not happy but from what I saw that was not the truth. I just caught a moment. Sometimes a look can mean many things, as anyone who has been in a long term relationship can attest. That is why each guy out there has uttered, "So what you thinking about sweetie?" or something to that effect: all the time hoping he didn't do something wrong!!! The words "Oh nothing, honey," can make a grown man cringe!!!

At another table I saw this father and daughter sharing a moment and a cold drink together. The young girl's drink seemed to be a fruit punch and was really red. I thought it would be cool to show how red it looked. I also noticed how green the lime looked among the ice in the dad's glass. Without going into the technique, I will say this was fairly easy to do in Lightroom.

As we were leaving, Phyllis had to use the washroom and I was standing near an elevator.

There were other guys waiting for their wives or friends. I caught this guy counting his money. It might have been an expensive lunch!!!

        This shows friends meeting before their lunch date.

A kiss and hug!!
We then headed outside. In our area of Florida, there always seems to be something going on and it sometimes includes street performers. We have actually seen this guy once before.

                               Some people on the street.

                 Lots of beautiful women in Florida!!

                                And lots of lovers!



There are people of all ages. You can see the cycle of life taking place everyday!

                     Some people working on the streets.

      Some people just strolling. I really do love living here!!!

              All the beautiful ladies and beautiful people!!

                    Still rubbing old Martha after all these years.

Look at the guy in this picture. I can just hear his conversation talking into the phone, "Ahh, what?  Excuse me please. Repeat that, I was umm distracted."

       Some very colorful characters and proof that time travel is   
       possible???


And finally, "Officer, I was just buying this pig a drink. Honestly, that's all we were doing!!!!"

 Well, there is my take on street photography in black and white   
 with a twist!!