Street Photography

 Walk Don’t Walk

When I’m not shooting commercial work I love to shoot almost anything, but up near the top of the list would be candid or street photography. I think there must be a little of the observationist inside every successful photographer.

I got the idea for this series when I was on holiday, or vacation if you must, in             Canada. As we walked along Robson Street in Vancouver I noticed that everyone observed the traffic controls at each junction. Patiently waiting for the walk sign to illuminate before crossing. This meant there was a moment, once the traffic flow had ceased and before the walk sign lit up, where I was faced with a good cross section of Vancouver’s finest.

I was shooting with a newly acquired EM1 with 12-40 f2.8 zoom and by keeping the camera at waist level using the fold out screen to compose and focus I was able to capture the little groups of shoppers, tourists and office workers as they made their way around town. A couple of people caught on, you can just see it in their eyes but before you know it the lights would change and we’d all move on!

These were all shot on the EM1 which I’d only got the week before our hols. I am, or was, a long time Canon user but I got an EM5 to use alongside the Canon a couple of years ago and just about the time of this holiday I got the EM1 too and sold off my Canon gear. The EM1 is complex (though easy when you know how) and I spent most of the time trying to set it up. I kept losing the focus point. I had the large focusing squares. I kept changing iso and white balance when I wanted to +/- exposure!  Me and the EM1 are extremely well acquainted now and I love it. I no regrets at swapping kit and use the Olympus for all my work. Cracking kit.