Street Photography - EDSA (a prelude)

I asked P if I can do a photowalk later along EDSA, he agreed with a worrying "yes". Street photography is dangerous, challenging, fun, and raw. Dangerous, because one is exposing himself to the dangers of all the street "dwellers" with a very expensive and attention grabbing equipment with him. Challenging , because it allows the photographer or requires him to view the subjects in the most radical angles he could think of. In the past, my shots are always taken on a horizontal or vertical viewpoint, tomorrow, I'll try to see things in different perspectives and will try to shoot in different angles. Street photography is fun, because you will never know what you will see along the way. Street photography is raw, because one must capture the action or the story at it happens, there are no second shoots, no practice shots, no light adjustments, and no take twos.

I will start in Tiendesitas as I drop off P to work, then off to Ortigas and will walk my way up to Estrella. I am longing to have a night shot of speeding lights, this will require me to use a tripod and a remote trigger, which I already have. The only thing is, having a tripod on my camera bag will be very heavy, given that my bag itself is already heavy with all the paddings inside of it.

Safety is a major concern in street photography. So my tip to all you guys out there who wants to have a try at street photography...

1.) Don't look like a photographer. I usually wear shorts, an old t-shirt, and worn out converse sneakers when doing photowalks.
2.) Be extra aware of your surroundings, if you feel that there are handful of snatchers or criminal minds wandering around the spot where you are. Don't risk taking your camera out.
3.) Wear very comfortable shoes.
5.) Grip your camera tightly. What I do is I wrap around the strap of the camera to my hand and wrists, then grip the camera. This will make it look like the camera is virtually tied to your hand. This will give you a very tight grip, but less control on the other settings you need to adjust. However, you will still be able to click the shutter release button this way.
6.) Presence of mind. Be aware of your subject and your own personal safety.

I remember the first time doing street photography, it was in Cubao, full 7 hours spent just walking around Cubao. Had a few nice shots, all in black in white. The header of this blog is one of the shots I took in Cubao during that time. Second was in Binondo-Intramuros. Tomorrow will be challenging because I will be shooting in slow shutter speed when the night awakens. As of this writing, I am already thinking of what time it is best to do a slow-shutter-speed-shooting in EDSA. The overpass in Estrella is a great spot, however, heavy traffic will be a hindrance because the lights from vehicles will not be traveling fast enough for it to produce streaks for the camera to capture. Hmmm...

Anyway, I am excited for my photowalk later, that is after waiting in long lines in Pag-Ibig Fund-Makati to pay my loan payment for my condo (sigh). I'll see what I can shoot tomorrow, street photography after all is all about telling a story in whatever there is to see in random.

I'll post my shoots right away when I get home tonight, then off to sleep.