Some Street Photography at Easton Farmer's Market

(seems there's no place to put general "People" or "Street" photos, so I guess I'll put this here)

Easton Farmer's Market celebrated its 262nd birthday today. That's right, it's the longest continuously running outdoor market in the country - at least that's what they'll tell you. I love going there every Saturday morning, both to shoot photos and to buy some local products (great local grown mushrooms, artisan breads & cheeses, organic produce and meat raised and butchered the way it's supposed to be). Thankfully the FDA hasn't managed to shut all of that down, so I'll take advantage while I can.

There were more people than usual today, so I found myself with a lot more photos that I liked. I'd originally planned on going black and white, but after doing my first, a rather structured portrait of an old marine, I liked what I had, but I started playing with blend modes and thought the look of the structured B&W used with a Luminosity blend mode against the original color gave it a cool feel. I'd saved the Silver Efex Pro recipe, so all of these were done the same way, with minor variations in the application of color filtering in the B&W conversion and dodging and burning post-blend.

And please, ignore the EXIF data. I could have sworn I'd taken it out of Manual Mode, which I had set for shooting birds last night, but apparently not, so everything is Auto-ISO with 1/1000s with me simply altering the aperture occasionally. Not enough sleep last night, so despite the Turkish Coffee I had when I got there I didn't notice until I got into the car. I like the way they look, and think that the added noise adds to the feel. You?

I should state unequivocally that with the first photo, while a picture paints 1000 words, sometimes they are fiction. I love the shot, but the story it tells has no basis in reality.

Great shots. Christie's not looking all that well these days.LOL

Oh....How I miss all that delicious fresh bread since I moved from Jersey. (I know Easton's in PA but still) .

I somehow missed this one...

Great shots Jake, really like the processing but not sure I followed how you achieved the look.

Great set! I love it. Looks like a wonderful time.

Krs_2007 said:

Great shots Jake, really like the processing but not sure I followed how you achieved the look.

Click to expand...

Quick "How To" via PS screen shots from one of the edits above.

Step 1: Basic Lightroom adjustments and open to Photoshop...




Step 2: B&W conversion in Silver Efex Pro 2 based on a high structure preset, but lots of tweaks and color filter applied...




Step 3: Change layer blend mode from Normal to Luminosity...



At this point I create a new Layer from the visible layers (Cmd-Option-Shift-E) so that I can apply light edits to the resulting blend.

Step 4: Dodge & Burn areas to remove shadows in the face and create a faux vignette around him to make him stand out a little more.




Step 5: Back in LR I boosted the Clarity slider a bit to amplify the effect, moreso on some images than others.

Thanks Jake, that's a great affect. AND this little tutorial opened my eyes a bit. I've been doing LR to Nik but that always created a different TIFF in each module that I used. I'm going to start going from LR to PS and then doing Viveza, Sharpening, Silver Efex, etc. This way I'm just making layers opposed to all the different copies of the same pic.

PapaST said:

Thanks Jake, that's a great affect. AND this little tutorial opened my eyes a bit. I've been doing LR to Nik but that always created a different TIFF in each module that I used. I'm going to start going from LR to PS and then doing Viveza, Sharpening, Silver Efex, etc. This way I'm just making layers opposed to all the different copies of the same pic.

Click to expand...

That's the exact reason why I did Photoshop in the first place.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Great series, Jake. Street photography is the best photography IMHO.

My favorites are the old man and little girl with their arms around each other, and the Marine w/ handlebar mustache. I think you really nailed the genre with those two shots.

The processing is cool, also. I like the grit. B&W is still my favorite for street, but I think the grit adds additional depth to these photos. Nicely done, sir.

Great series Jake, Nice post processing too.

Very nice series Jake, the Marine is my favorite.

Thanks Jake, just make me realize how much I really don't know.

Thanks, all. The Marine shot marks a turning point for me. I have done very little street photography, mainly because I've always had a thing about approaching strangers with a camera. I saw him today sitting at a table and knew he'd be a great photo, but I didn't want to shoot him serupticiously, particularly after walking around him a few times and realizing that there wasn't going to be a good shot unless he looked right at me. He didn't seem the ultra-friendly sort, but I said, "Screw it!", and just walked up and said, "'morning! Would it be alright if I took your picture?" He didn't say a word, just chuckled loudly, turned his head to me and smiled. Absolutely not what I was expecting him to do, and I was happy as I could be - particularly because of that chipped-tooth smile. I won't be as intimidated to ask someone next time.

I still think I prefer the idea of B&W for street, but there's something about the color of a farm market or outdoor event that makes me prefer the color for that. I've tucked the recipe away for future use as I really like the feel. I'm off to an arts & craft show today, so we'll see what I get out of that, though I have to work it a little.

If you're anything like I am you will do something once, love what you did, and then go 6 months before you want to do it again and forget what the heck you did to make it happen. So, for my own good, and partially because I thought someone here might want to see it, I made a video of the process I used to make these pictures. In it, I take one of the shots I hadn't processed yet...



...and process it...



As a part of this I also show how I boost bokeh when backgrounds are a little too distracting, so you get that for free as well.


Nothing earth shattering here, but I know if you're like me it's always easier to see someone do it once than it is to read it and try and replicate it.

I used to be that way, too. I don't think I photographed a single person for over 2 years. It wasn't until my photojournalism internship that I was even comfortable shooting people at all.

90% of the time, people will say yes if you approach them. Even if they say no, take the picture anyway, then show it to them. They either laugh or say how horrible they look, and then you can strike up a convo and start snapping multiple pics as you tell them how interesting they are.

BackdoorHippie said:

Thanks, all. The Marine shot marks a turning point for me. I have done very little street photography, mainly because I've always had a thing about approaching strangers with a camera. I saw him today sitting at a table and knew he'd be a great photo, but I didn't want to shoot him serupticiously, particularly after walking around him a few times and realizing that there wasn't going to be a good shot unless he looked right at me. He didn't seem the ultra-friendly sort, but I said, "Screw it!", and just walked up and said, "'morning! Would it be alright if I took your picture?" He didn't say a word, just chuckled loudly, turned his head to me and smiled. Absolutely not what I was expecting him to do, and I was happy as I could be - particularly because of that chipped-tooth smile. I won't be as intimidated to ask someone next time.

Click to expand...

Back when I shot a lot of 35mm, I took photos of several people and was never turned down. And I always offered to send them a copy. The most memorable time I did this was at the Twin Lights of Navesink (a lighthouse that has a gift shop inside). The man running the gift shop was ever so friendly and filled me in on a lot of the lighthouse's history. I asked if I could take his photo, and although he said he didn't usually like to have his photo taken, he was gracious and said yes. That Christmas he sent me a Christmas card, and from then on we corresponded every year. Then finally one of my cards was returned by his co-worker saying he died. She knew I was the one who took his photo, and she told me that photo was his favorite of all time because he really liked how he looked and showed it to everyone. Sometimes a simple gesture can mean so much.

And another time I shot a couple of guys who were wind sailing. One guy was from Poland and was just learning. About 8 months went by then I received a thank you note. He took those photos back to Poland with him because his family wasn't familiar with wind sailing, and he was so proud to be able to show them what he could do. He was thrilled even though in most of the photos he was way off balance.

I find a lot of people will initiate a conversation with me as they assume I am a newspaper photographer. People may say no, but for all the yeses you receive, you will wind up with some incredible street images. Go for it, Jake!

I figure there's no reason to start a second thread, so as I continue to visit I'll add to this thread. Apparently bouquets were in order this week.