Street Photography » Talking street - 28mm, getting close
photos by owen, published 2022-Jun-25, comment
As you may realise I use a fixed 28mm Ricoh GR3 as my main street camera. 28mm was not something I was familiar with before I got this camera - jumped into this blnd. I always had a zoom point and shoot camera. 28mm is a whole new game. Every shot is wider than it seems when you are looking at it with your own eyes. So if you want to really get those detailed pictures you have to get in close. I mean really close. Cropping helps but you lose resolution.
I never really understood it until I really started practicing. How close really depends on the situation and the direction everyone is moving. The only way to really illustrate this is by seeing a series of pictures. You can even see that I miss the auto focus in one of the shots. Still need to learn how to zone focus.
This a typical scene in Jamaica. Other people will be able to explain it better than I can. I am only here to explain 28mm focal length. In this set of pictures I never bring the camera up to my face because I do not want to attract the attention of the people in the scene as I past them by. So I am firing from the hip as I approach them - trying to keep them both in the frame.
How close do you need to be to get the shot you want?
Lots of distractions. See that tree stump there on the ground? Try not to trip over that while you are walking.
Shopping cart catchs the auto focus. Its still a usable photo but not what I intended.
Last shot
