robertwatcher

Over the past 4 years my wife and I have been documenting out adventures in Costa Rica and just recently Nicaragua - where we get involved with photographing and telling stories of the people we come across, traveling on their local buses, eating their foods, and at times putting ourselves in uncomfortable and unfamiliar situations. Our Online Journal has been active . . . .

. . . during these times, I have successfully been able to generate 1000's upon 1000's of stock images of our travels. Of course, this was nothing new or unique as there are 10's of thousands of websites dedicated to personal photography from trips people have made to such exotic locations and even to Costa Rica or Nicaragua themselves. Most images however - particularly the case with Costa Rica - are of beautiful vistas, vibrant foliage and wildlife, and captures of all of the popular attractions and tourism sites featured in the endless commercial books and websites selling vacationing in this beautiful area of the world.

Don't get me wrong - - - I shoot my share of those images also. But the truth is that birds, animals, landscape and scenic vistas and tourist locations hold far less interest to me. I like looking at them, but my love when it comes to photography, is "CAPTURING THE PERSONALITIES AND EXPRESSIONS AND LIVES OF PEOPLE".

I particularly love it because while the same bird and scene can be captured in almost an identical way by any capable photographer and most locations have been photographed to death where it is virtually impossible to provide a new or original photographic perspective - - - that is not the case with people. Every image taken, is only a momentary slice of the persons life and expressions at that time. Another photographer taking a photo of the same person from a different angle or perspective or moment in time, will have a completely different image and story behind that image.

Hopefully some of the tips that I have used to successfully thousands of captivating people images during my time in Central America - where I had minimal equipment available and had no knowledge of the language of the people I came upon so that I was incapable of communicating with them verbally - - - will find value to some.

I will provide some of my methodology and technique that I have Mastered with my Street Photography. Hopefully it inspires you to make the best use of your photographic skills in capturing the essence of people - whether on the streets of in more controlled situations.
EQUIPMENT

I am a photographer who prefers "light, compact and simple" as far as my gear is concerned. One Camera - One Lens, if at all possible. If the variety of scenarios that I come across and that I want to capture were not so broad a spectrum - - - and if I were only shooting one style at a time, I would be able to specialize even further by having the most compact camera with the single focal length, fastest and sharpest lens possible. As an example if I were only shooting from the hip on the street, I may use a small body that almost hides in my hands - with a small fixed focal length wide angle large aperture lens attached. Or if all of my photography were outdoors peeping in on my subjects without their knowledge, I would want a long reach lens.

However that is not the case for much of the way that I have to shoot - - - the specific projects I am doing as well as the interest in so many things that I have. And so I have to compromise. I am documenting all that is around me and when I am traveling to different parts of the countries - I seldom get the chance to return to the same location to find differing content. Frequently when shooting, I am generally on an agenda where I don't have the time to stop and analyze and look for the best way to shoot something - along with the fact that all of our travel is by bus and walking and many times in what are considered dangerous areas where discretion is needed. In fact dangling 2 or 3 cameras with different specifications and lenses around my neck, is many times out of the question. In order to successfully capture everything that I see that interests me in the most versatile way . . .

. . . my preference and what I have used in the past, was a single small bodied digital slr with a single zoom lens attached that allowed for wide angle shooting as well as reaching in from longer distances. My ideal multipurpose lens for that type of shooting, was the Nikon 18-200 VR that I used for much of my shooting in Costa Rica. That provided me with an effective 28mm to 300mm and with the Vibration Reduction I could successfully shoot at shutter speeds down to 1/20'th second and less.

Nikon D40 with 18-200 VR lens at 20mm (35mm equiv) settingNikon D40 with 18-200 VR lens at 200mm (300mm equiv) settingI have also used smaller Olympus dslr bodies like my (now outdated) E-510 matched with the excellent 12-60 SWD with great f2.8-f4 wide open shooting and fast auto focus. While I do not have the longer reach to benefit varying circumstances, this lens does provide the advantage of a wider 24mm equivalent setting and is a great portrait length lens. For days when I knew that I would be using longer focal lengths, I replaced my 12-60 with my Olympus 70-300 for a 140mm to a 600mm equiv range for incredible reach with the Image Stabilized body feature. The other area where I benefited with my Olympus 4/3 cameras, was the extended Depth of Field that that format provides. For my wide angle street photography shot at f5.6 to f8, it was hard to miss focus.

Olympus E-510 with 12-60mm Zuiko at 12mm (24mm equiv) setting - f6.3 @ 1/640'th 400ISOMore recently I welcomed the small, light weight and compact Olympus E-PL1 - which sports the same high image quality as my large bodies and has the capability of 720P movie footage if I come across something that needs to be recorded. Most importantly for me, is that people just don't tend to look at this camera as a serious camera and so I could blend in like a tourist and get the shots I wanted.

Me and My E-PL1Olympus E-PL1 - f9 @ 1/200'th : 200 ISO - camera held at my sideE-PL1 : 14-42mm kit lens @ 14mm : 1/320'th @ f8 : 250 ISOE-PL1 : 14-42mm @ 19mm : f4 @ 1/320'th : 400 ISOMy standard camera settings are VIVID for maximum visual impact - sharpening cut back so that I can choose my own sharpening settings in Photoshop or Lightroom. Exposure is always either Program Mode letting the camera decide on the combination of shutter speed and aperture to use - or Aperture priority when I need control over the aperture - particularly with my long 70-300 lens. Focus is Auto Focus, generally with the AF in the middle unless I have time to set it to one of the side ones when there is no content in the middle of my frame.