This photo was taken in Rethymno, Crete, Greece with a Canon 6D and a Canon 70-200mm f/4 L lens.

With street photography it’s important to push yourself out of your comfort zone and try something new sometimes. A good way to do this with photography is to try experimenting with shooting with different gear and working within the ‘limitations’ and restrictions this gear can bring. I use quotation marks around ‘limitations’ because you can see from the gear details above that it wasn’t like I was using a Holga or a pinhole camera or something, but I wasn’t using a gear combination traditionally suited to street photography either.

When I shot this photo back in March I was feeling a bit annoyed that the telephoto lens I’d managed to pick up for a great deal back at the start of the year had been sitting relatively unused in my cupboard for a while. I’d actually bought a telephoto with a view to being able to land some sports and wedding photography gigs but none had materialised, and I felt guilty that the lens was being neglected. So, in the absence of any sports events or weddings to gatecrash, I thought I’d challenge myself by using a 70-200 lens for street photography.

There’s nothing quite like the new gear buzz. And the buzz applies not only to new gear, but used gear that’s new to me. I find it to be an emotional rollercoaster. Peaks and valleys. There’s almost always an initial feeling of buyer’s remorse. Even though I thoroughly attempt to justify a purchase with hours and hours of research, I’ll still feel it. Specs. Reviews. Forums. Image samples. Budgeting. Then repeat. Over and over again. But then there’s the rush. The thrill of exploring what a new camera or lens is capable of. And there’s also frustration with newer digital cameras. The menus. Getting the settings dialed in. Just getting the feel. I felt all these things when I purchased a Ricoh GR recently. But in all honestly, it’s all irrelevant now, because this little gem has brought a huge amount of joy to my shooting in a very short amount of time. I’m so in love with this little beast and I think we’re going to have a very special relationship.

Boy & Girl

This is a photograph that has been shot with a Yashica Electro 35 GTN with IIlford HP5 400 pushed to 800 film, in Rethymno, Crete, Greece.

A year ago I was into film a lot and I loved shooting black and white trying out pushing and pulling and generally enjoying the film experience. One of the film cameras I own is the Yashica Electro 35 GTN, an absolute gorgeous fixed lens rangefinder camera that sports an amazing 45mm f1.8 lens. With that lens and the correct film I can shoot all the way into the night without any issues. The film sensitivity is different to the digital sensor sensitivity and when employing pushing techniques one can get some pretty impressive results.

Photo shot with 16-35 f/2.8 L lens on Canon 6D in Rethymno, Crete, Greece.

When it’s my turn to choose one of my photos for Street Hunters Weekly Pic I always choose a photo I’m particularly proud of, and with an interesting back story. But this week I want to do something a little different, and share a photo with you because of what it means to me personally, and the emotions it conveys.

You will probably have been bombarded of late by news of Greece’s economic and political woes, with photos of rallies, protests, and queues at ATMs. I’ve shot my own share of photos at ‘No’ Syriza rallies and ‘Yes’ rallies too, but it doesn’t seem right to share one here and now. This week I want to share a photo that epitomises the positive spirit of Greece, and the incredible qualities this country has to offer, and remind us all that the hard times now are just a period in the country’s rich and long history, and will eventually come to an end.

I’m an advocate of letting pictures marinate. Letting them sit for a while before reviewing them and passing judgement on whether it’s a good shot or not. I wrote a blog post about it, as a matter of fact. Most of the times, I follow my own advice, but sometimes I don’t. With this shot, I did.

This particular shot stuck in my mind, though. It popped up in my mind’s eye from time to time. Why? Mermaids, that’s why! How often do you get to incorporate mermaids with Street Hunting?

Shattered…

This is a photograph that has been shot with a Yashica Electro 35 CC with Fujifilm Superia X-Tra 400 film, in Rethymno, Crete, Greece.

Sometimes a Street Photograph doesn’t have to be of something fast moving, candid and unpredictable. Sometimes a Street Photograph can just be something that grabs the Street Hunter’s attention. Last summer I was all about shooting slow and shooting only what I really thought was interesting. Part of that shooting style came from the fact that I only shot film last summer and also because I felt I had gone clicking crazy for a long period of time, wasting valuable time that I could otherwise use to observe the environment around me better. I shot like this all the way up until the end of October 2014 when I started missing the digital experience. By December 2014 I had switched back to digital and my shooting style had changed once again, for better or for worse. As Street Photographers we go through these phases that come and go without warning. Sometimes when our styles are changing or have completely shifted to something new, we look back at our previous work and wonder how we made a particular photo back then. Anyway, one year and 15,000 digital snaps later I am finding myself missing that slow shooting style once again. I don’t know if I will be switching back to film, but I just might. I have a fridge full of colour film and plenty of film cameras to choose from.

This photo was shot with a 16-35mm f/2.8L lens on a Canon 6D in Heraklion, the capital city of the Greek island of Crete.

I made this photo on a Saturday morning streethunt in Heraklion. This Saturday was the first time I had ever been to Heraklion, despite the fact that it is by far the largest city in Crete, and is actually the fourth biggest city in all of Greece. I always find that whenever I visit a city with my camera for the first time I can go a bit crazy – I go in with a fresh set of eyes because everything I see is new and exciting, and I also have a determination to risk shots that I wouldn’t otherwise make as I don’t know when I’ll have the opportunity to return to that place again. Coming from Rethymno with its very narrow winding Venetian streets to Heraklion, with its wider open streets and much more traditionally modern urban feel made for an exciting change of scenery and a liberating street photography experience. As you can see from the Heraklion street hunt video that was shot on the same day, unfortunately this particularly morning started out fairly rainy and cloudy which really limited photo opportunities initially. Fortunately the weather improved around midday, and the winter sun started to produce some fantastically dramatic long high contrast shadows. I managed to find some nice side streets that spread out from the city’s main pedestrianised square area, and I found these much better for street photos as the slightly narrower streets made it easier to get closer to people and be ‘in the moment’ without suddenly stepping up and invading people’s public space.

This was another shot from the Sowebo festival in Southwest Baltimore. That day I was looking for people that were distinctly “Bawlmer”. What is Bawlmer? Go ahead and sound it out once. Now say Baltimore. Repeat. Bawlmer is a softened pronunciation of Baltimore! It is an example of the Baltimore accent. Even though I live less than an hour away from Charm City, the accent you hear from the locals here isn’t anywhere close to the Baltimore accent. There even a Wikipedia entry about it.

Welcome! Step inside

This is a photograph that has been shot with a Yashica Electro 35 GTN with Ilford HP5 400 film, in Rethymno, Crete, Greece.

Rethymno in Crete is a place of traditions. There are just some things that never change. I think that in a way that is good, because it gives the place its own unique character. One of the traditions of the Cretans is making the famous Cretan Knives and they attach a great importance of them both as weapons and as tools. Knives were used for the hunt, for war, for killing and other things. There is plenty of information available about the Cretan Knives if you are interested in reading about them.

A Light in the Darkness

Shot in Rethymno , Crete with a Canon 6D and a 50mm f/1.8

You may have seen the crazy streethunt video we made in Rethymno using off-camera flash during the town’s annual carnival celebration a few months ago. This year was the first time I had experienced the ‘infamous’ Rethymno carnival, and I just couldn’t believe how perfect it was for street photography! The streets were spilling over with jovial people, dressed in weird and wonderful outfits, dancing and generally having a good time. No-one cared about having their photos taken with a flash – in fact they seemed to really love it! The trouble was, once carnival ended we had to return to reality, and one of the coldest and wettest winters Rethymno has experienced for several years.