National Geographic photographer markseymour’s method of obtaining beautiful street photos
I recently thought we’d have some fun while out doing street photography. As a consequence, we started giving winning poker hands as names for street compositions. Continue reading to find out how to acquire the best hands, from a very exceptional hand to the simplest card! Of course, the picture has to be quite distinctive to count as a Royal Flush!
REPUBLIC FLUSH
One morning as I was strolling through Kolkata’s renowned flower market, I happened across the almost biblical lights. The image appeared for a brief moment before disappearing. Before the composition fell apart and they resumed their usual routines, I quickly took a few photographs.
The Flower Market is one of those places where you know you’ll be rewarded eventually. After five years and more than 20 travels, it certainly paid off for me.
The second image was taken at the Kalighat Kali Temple in Kolkata. I’ve gone to this location a number of times and am acquainted with it, but I had never noticed the composition before. I operate the switch. In all three locations, people could be seen participating in a variety of activities and telling stories. The Indian lady in the red sari moved across the empty space on the left side of the composition to fill it.
CLEAR FLUSH
Dawei, Myanmar, is where pictures were taken. For our amazing picture excursion, we flew into Yangon. From there, we boarded a prop plane to Myeik and made our way back to Yangon via Ye, Dawei, and Mawlamyine every few days. The Myanmar portfolio is available here.
I visited several monasteries in Dawei and came across this amazing sight with four youngsters lounging about and a dog lounging on the stairs. I waited for around 15 minutes while the scenario with the dogs going through the picture changed until the whole composition came together.
QUALITY QUARTER
The first image was taken in Dallas at one of the best photography seminars I’ve ever attended, where two of my professors had won Pulitzer Prizes. Perhaps one of my very first layered photographs was that one. Here are a few more pictures from the workshop.
The second picture was taken in a fish market in Yangon, while the third picture was taken in Jodhpur.
WHOLE HOUSE
At the vegetable market in Kolkata, a picture of a group of three people and a picture of a group of two people was taken. The most important stage is picking the ideal background, and then you have to wait for the ideal confluence of elements, like heads in vacant spaces and a spontaneous three-way decision, to happen. Working the scenario, composing, and waiting for it to develop is one of the key techniques for outstanding street photography.
FLUSH
Five people get together to form The Flush. In Dawei, where we rehearsed using natural frames and arranging heads in the sky, the photo was taken. To ensure that the ball was captured in the proper location for this photograph, I took a number of pictures with my Sony A9 and a 35mm lens.
a group of five people with similar interests. Both images were taken in Kolkata in close proximity to Sudder Street. In the second image, the front group was stationary against a beautiful background, and there was a need to wait for someone to step in to fill the void. The first image was a gift that featured three guys conversing while lounging on a poster wall.
THE THREE OF A KIND
Myanmar bar, picture 1.
Three workers in the center of Hanoi are seen in image 2.
Image 3: Kolkata’s flower bazaar. It could be fun to test your talents and look for different things using one of these street photography strategies of shooting through while keeping everyone’s heads in their proper locations. I continuously tried to blast through utilizing the powerful spring after seeing that some of the bikes had these large saddles, and my persistence paid off.
Image 4 shows the guy reading a newspaper, which I noticed was bouncing light back onto his face. I said “thank you,” and he allowed me to continue taking pictures while I waited for the other two temple guests to arrange themselves in a better arrangement.
Image 5: A father and son fixing a bike in Yangon. As I got closer, the kid jumped over his dad and hid almost totally behind the wheel to make a great picture. Then, all I had to do was make sure that the spokes of the wheel weren’t obstructing the child’s vision.
Image 6: Luck may happen at any moment. The cat sprang up and stretched out as I crossed the street to take the photo after observing the scene from the other side, giving the three males the ideal finishing touch.
Image 7: While not strictly street photography, this shot was taken in Nagaland in an effort to find and capture some of the last headhunters left in the world. We were quite lucky to see them using opium.
TWELVE PAIRS
I utilized the front subjects as a frame while I waited for the proper shape to manifest itself at the Kolkata Flower Market in order to capture the secondary issues in the backdrop of the first photo.
The black-and-white image was taken in Camden Market early in the day. When I saw this wonderful prop hanging from a glasses store, I patiently waited for the appropriate grouping to enter the frame.
A PAIR is a group of two people or a pair of hands. In Myanmar, people have seen these cartoon hands and identical twins wearing dresses.
RICH CARD
Just one picture, maybe a street portrait with the subject’s location.
The first picture was taken in Kolkata, while the second one was taken in Soho, London, when I moved in and swiftly snapped the picture before he hurriedly fled. Pre-focusing is another street photography technique that allows you to move swiftly and covertly.
For a project that also features the third image, I took pictures of Speakers Corner. Here are some more images from the gallery.
A STREET SHOT AND A MARK SEYMOUR
