The Vibe

On streets, camera in one hand, I feel free, free to observe and explore photography. Streets are my studio.

There is this three dimensional space changing every second around, above and below me. Everything I can capture in my camera’s two dimensional frame appears in glimpse and disappears forever. Everything is ephemeral. I am free where to position my lens and when to press the shutter to capture an image, frozen in time and space. I capture one frame at a time, but by doing so I loose trillions of other possibilities instantly. The captured image becomes history, other images untaken are lost forever. By not knowing what exactly will happen moment to moment is key to my endless freedom of artistic expression.

Sydney downtown is never boring. The light rail was introduced in 2020. After the pandemic ended office workers started to return to offices. Streets are abuzz with people at any hour. There are more open places for pedestrians, more cafes, and excellent food joints.  

From my home in North Shore I usually take a train or metro to downtown. The time I leave home depends on the season and weather. Those factors, I cheerfully call weather gods, will have direct effect on light. I don’t plan for photo walks. I pretty much stroll randomly on streets and alleys.

On the train I check the city weather using my cell phone’s Weather application. As the train approaches the city before it enters the underground tunnel over the Sydney Harbour Bridge, I check skies from the window. I set the AUTO ISO Minimum Shutter Speed parameter based on available light. On a bright day I can go down as much as 1/250s to be able to capture subjects sharp. On overcast days 1/200 should suffice.  

Once I get out of the station I pull my handheld Ricoh GR camera from its holster. I check the current settings button.  There are 3 custom settings I programmed for quick access; they are u1, u2, and u3. My favourite is u1 which is based on the positive film setting, u2 is Kodachrome film setting, u3 is night photography setting. 

Before I pick a location, I check the vibe first. I study how people are moving and what they are doing. I check the direction of light, shades, reflections, layers, leading lines, and the background behind subjects. 

I relax and start slowly. I make couple of test shots first. On a good day, with favourable conditions I will gain momentum. On a bad day I will return home empty handed. But that is the nature of street photography, unpredictability is given.