When someone on TH-cam states that it is not good to do something with photography and never do it if it is a limitation I think no. I want to be free the photograph the way I want and placing limitations on what I can do is not good. I can choose limitations myself on any day I photograph and that can be helpful, but I will give myself the freedom to experiment and come up with my own judgement. I learn from other photographers and have spent many years studying photography and doing it. I find your approach to photography perfect.
I completely agree. So many TH-cam videos start with "Stop doing this" "This is ruining your photos" "The worst mistake" etc. etc. Peter's positive attitude and encouraging approach to trying things out is ideal. Matti Sulanto's channel is also full of positivity. There must be something in the photographic ether of Finland!
It is good to know I am not on my own with the concerns I expressed. Matti and Peter are among my most favourite photographers and I have learned so much from them both.
I love abstract photography. I love looking at geometric equivalent shapes and the way light creates shapes, the way colours combine and also high contrast black and white. I love high key photographs too. Thanks Peter.
Love contrasty b&w images, yours are great and although you say it’s not your best work or portfolio worthy the key thing here is that you went out and took some shots, made a video and shared it with us👍🏼
The right monochrome can look amazing. For me, I love very old buildings (ones that are almost falling down). The B&W adds to the sense of ‘ancient’ if you will. This was another great video! Expanded my horizons!
Love the high contrast black and white. As an exercise it helps the image maker to really understand light and shadow. I noticed how often you included just legs and feet. I am happy to see this - it is my favorite thing to focus on!
That composition with a small object in a large area is a classic composition idea, and having lots of big areas of black with feet in the distance uses the blank black shape to make the shoes stand out and be noticeable. I have enjoyed looking at your photographs and it motivates me to get out more and do street photography. I love it that this more about photography and less about gear.😊
Thank you very much. I have used negative space quite a bit. It works the way you described. On that particular image I am not sure if it works as it best. Part of a series it goes well, but as a stand alone image I am not sure.
Unless there is a lot of texture in the image, high contrast B&W works well, especially in the middle of the day. It simplifies the scene, in my opinion. I don’t do much B&W photography, but I enjoy looking at it. Thanks for the film!
The use of 'negative space' often unbalances a photo, I have recently used the high contrast B & W and really enjoyed the experience of finding and waiting for the right moment.
You say it is not your best work but for me it is one of your most inspiring videos. I like these pictures very much. While I first learned about yur channel when watching videos about Olympus M43 gear and found your content usefull I like your less gear related videos even more. While high contrast mono work will not be to everyone`s taste, I actually like it and think this kind of photography shows that you have good eye for composition as this style really needs good framing. Best wishes from Austria, Thomas
I tend to more abstracts than traditional street photography where people are the main focus. I like the "citycenter" photograph, the story is there. It is a personal thing, but I would crop most of the highlight of the street grating. I like this new direction of your channel, thanks Peter.
I have been photographing quite tight compositions in the past and I am bit experimenting with looser compositions to show a bit more. I also like to use negative space. Thank you for the comment about the direction of my channel.
A video or 3 on vertical images would be wonderful. I often have problems finding the vertical shot compared to the horizontal photograph. Love your HC B&W images in this video, also your music selection works very well.
One thing about high contrast black and white, is almost any camera can achieve good results from old point and shoots to the latest full frame models. Add grain in post and it's virtually indistinguishable from film.
Peter, you asked about image at 12:57, so here is my take on it. I would crop the image using the dark shadow at bottom left as base, then take the window at right out, but leave the negative space top of city center sign. That black space on top will force the view downwards. If the tiles nearest bottom are too bright, then chop more off the bottom, but it serves a purpose of odds, or a third element. Loren
At the moment I Iove my 27mm Voigtländer maual pancake lens on my Fuji X-T5; the Fuji 23mm f2 (35mm) and the Fuji 35mm f 1.4 (50mm) are more on the shelf these days. The quality and form factor of the Voigtländer is outstanding and the focal legs (40mm in full frame) is ideal for me currently.This might change but at the moment I really enjoy that!
Thanks for an interesting photo session. The photo inside the railway station is my favorite. Other decent photos too in this video. I think your photography has definitely improved after you ditched gear topics and set yourself free😀
Many thanks, Matti! I appreciate your opinion. My aim has been to improve my photography by not going out to make videos but rather photographing and, if possible, making a video as I go.
I was able to find a GR III Diary Edition on eBay in like new condition. The former owner, never bothered to do a factory reset, but I’m glad. They had a very good custom mode, they made to look like Kodak Tri-X. It is very close, perfect for some high contrast black & white images.
I like the video. I took a similar picture of the "weeping" statutes outside the library when I was in Helsinki a couple of weeks ago. As with you I thought the image worked well in black and white.
I hope you enjoyed your visit in Helsinki. That staue is actually in front of the Contemporary Art Museum Kiasma. The Oodi Library is around the corner.
Great fun images. A professional photographer friend of mine uses her father's 1950s half frame PEN film camera. That would be ideal for some of the vertical compositions you are creating plus you get 72 frames on a film.
Perhaps the abstract and vertical aspects you are currently embracing are due to you having looked at some of Saul Leiter's work (one of my favorites).
That's excellent. I only do b&w and I find the higher contrast more interesting. I'm using a 6d with a 40mm pancake, would a smaller lighter camera be worth purchasing as the full frame is a little bit intrusive
If you get the results you like with your excisting gear I would not get a smaller camera. If you have a possibility to test one do it. then you find out.
Haven't tried B & W since my film days. Time to try again. Almost all of my photos are vacation/riverboat cruises in Europe every August. Camera gets a real workout! My goal is "Quality image not Image Quality " as per another YT photographer. One statement that has really stuck with me when I got into digital ,was by Henri Cartier-Bresson he said (para-phrased here) to shoot at least 10 keepers a year. I like that challenge & as i review my days outing of photos, I ask myself that question. Up to 3 so far that I would hang on my wall. many people do a 1 to 5 star rating prior to culling the herd.
I totally agree that we should aim for quality image rather than image quality. Well said. It is quite astonishing fact that the amount of portfolio images is about one per month. I have heard that being said by many masters of photography.
Hi Peter....Liverpool Kev here again from UK....Thank you for another thought provoking video to learn from...Here's a thought...English expression 'Tongue in cheek'...it means loosely not that serious...Do you ever wonder if photography is genuinely a relaxing pastime?...I wasted perhaps several minutes I will never get back...wondering if you should have moved the white tissue to a black stripe????...I often think things like this...Obviously all the best...Liverpool Kev
I think photograohy can be a very relaxing thing, but it can also be very stressful. It is all about the attitude and the ability to enjoy the process of making the images.
Thanks for the video, very informative and inspiring! The only question I have is: there is no saturation slider in the Ricoh GRIIIx high-contrast BW adjustment menu… how did you crank up saturation to +2? Thanks!
I tend to take most of my photographs in the vertical format as well. I've never thought about why, but thinking on it now, maybe it's because a vertical image narrows the focus onto the subject more than a landscape format does. With the wider, horizontal format, the photograph is busier and the subject struggles to be the focus of the image.
You took lots of vertical photos where my (amateur) eye would’ve instead opted for landscape. Was there a deliberate attempt to shoot this way or was it just whatever felt right in the moment?
I am not sure why I took more vertical images. That is something I need to analyze and think about. Possible some of the scenes would have been better in horizontal.
Peter, you prefer vertical because you dont like wide angle compositions. Just like me. We re both, 40 to 50mm focal length photographers. I love the 50mm more than anything else. Great video of yours. That kind of videos re real photographer;s ones!
Since you asked, the worst distractions for me are crooked, angled, falling over buildings in architectural ( or street) images. I see it all the time even from professional photogrpahers! Creator does not care or too lazy to fix it in editing ??? That said, I actually like "Quirky" images if done creatively.
The image of the "heel and shadows" in the station at about 11.20. i like the image but would that not work better as a square composition? I used to have a Rolleicord TLR 6x6 and loved shooting B&W in that format.
Thanks. Yes I agree that it is a style that it might not be for everyone. I am not sure either if I like it or not. It is very interesting to try anyways and see waht comes out.
@@ForsgardPeter i would consider the extreme black & white a bit like infrared photography. It is hit and miss, but you can get good ones for sure. Extreme black & white probably needs street scapes to work best. i live in a rural area, so i seldom try street stuff, but i'll keep it in mind for the next time.
You use your phone's vertical screen too much for SM, which is why you see images vertically more often than horizontally. Even landscape YT photographers use vertical format more often than horizontal.
When someone on TH-cam states that it is not good to do something with photography and never do it if it is a limitation I think no. I want to be free the photograph the way I want and placing limitations on what I can do is not good. I can choose limitations myself on any day I photograph and that can be helpful, but I will give myself the freedom to experiment and come up with my own judgement. I learn from other photographers and have spent many years studying photography and doing it. I find your approach to photography perfect.
Thank you very much.
I completely agree. So many TH-cam videos start with "Stop doing this" "This is ruining your photos" "The worst mistake" etc. etc. Peter's positive attitude and encouraging approach to trying things out is ideal. Matti Sulanto's channel is also full of positivity. There must be something in the photographic ether of Finland!
It is good to know I am not on my own with the concerns I expressed. Matti and Peter are among my most favourite photographers and I have learned so much from them both.
I love abstract photography. I love looking at geometric equivalent shapes and the way light creates shapes, the way colours combine and also high contrast black and white. I love high key photographs too. Thanks Peter.
Love contrasty b&w images, yours are great and although you say it’s not your best work or portfolio worthy the key thing here is that you went out and took some shots, made a video and shared it with us👍🏼
Thank you very much. I am glad that you enjoyed the video.
anything different can be good - so yes, I like high contrast and abstract - as well as lots of other styles
Yes, it is a style among many others.
The right monochrome can look amazing. For me, I love very old buildings (ones that are almost falling down). The B&W adds to the sense of ‘ancient’ if you will. This was another great video! Expanded my horizons!
Thank you. Yes, old buildings in decay are great subject for photographs.
I like vertical images as it allows me to show sense of size and scale
Good point.
Good video. I think the City Center sign photo is my fave. Made me smile because it’s not centered.
Interesting style for consideration Peter your compositions in this format are very fascinating.
Thank you.
Love the high contrast black and white. As an exercise it helps the image maker to really understand light and shadow. I noticed how often you included just legs and feet. I am happy to see this - it is my favorite thing to focus on!
Thank you. Yes I tend to make that type of images. I find them more interesting in many ways. There is a slight mystery of anynomous people.
That composition with a small object in a large area is a classic composition idea, and having lots of big areas of black with feet in the distance uses the blank black shape to make the shoes stand out and be noticeable. I have enjoyed looking at your photographs and it motivates me to get out more and do street photography. I love it that this more about photography and less about gear.😊
Thank you very much. I have used negative space quite a bit. It works the way you described. On that particular image I am not sure if it works as it best. Part of a series it goes well, but as a stand alone image I am not sure.
@@ForsgardPeter I like it as it is and respect your judgement as to how good it is as you are so knowledgable.
Unless there is a lot of texture in the image, high contrast B&W works well, especially in the middle of the day. It simplifies the scene, in my opinion. I don’t do much B&W photography, but I enjoy looking at it. Thanks for the film!
The overall dark sombre lighting of the video footage, including in your studio, was a nice touch. Btw, I really liked the white shoes too.
Thank you.
The use of 'negative space' often unbalances a photo, I have recently used the high contrast B & W and really enjoyed the experience of finding and waiting for the right moment.
You are right about negative space.
You say it is not your best work but for me it is one of your most inspiring videos. I like these pictures very much. While I first learned about yur channel when watching videos about Olympus M43 gear and found your content usefull I like your less gear related videos even more. While high contrast mono work will not be to everyone`s taste, I actually like it and think this kind of photography shows that you have good eye for composition as this style really needs good framing. Best wishes from Austria, Thomas
Thank you very much.
I tend to more abstracts than traditional street photography where people are the main focus. I like the "citycenter" photograph, the story is there. It is a personal thing, but I would crop most of the highlight of the street grating. I like this new direction of your channel, thanks Peter.
I have been photographing quite tight compositions in the past and I am bit experimenting with looser compositions to show a bit more. I also like to use negative space. Thank you for the comment about the direction of my channel.
A video or 3 on vertical images would be wonderful. I often have problems finding the vertical shot compared to the horizontal photograph.
Love your HC B&W images in this video, also your music selection works very well.
Thank you very much. I have been thinking about why I make vertical shots more often nowadays. This is definitely a topic for a future video.
One thing about high contrast black and white, is almost any camera can achieve good results from old point and shoots to the latest full frame models. Add grain in post and it's virtually indistinguishable from film.
Good point.
you did a good job on your lights with your face cam image
Thanks.
Peter, you asked about image at 12:57, so here is my take on it. I would crop the image using the dark shadow at bottom left as base, then take the window at right out, but leave the negative space top of city center sign. That black space on top will force the view downwards. If the tiles nearest bottom are too bright, then chop more off the bottom, but it serves a purpose of odds, or a third element. Loren
HC B&W Seems like a cheat code with my photography, It really can make average colour photos look incredible.
It can be, Yes. The results will be better if you plan the style before hand.
Amazing video! The video inspire me to take more monochrome street images!
Great to hear! I hope you have chance to go out and make some monochrome images!
At the moment I Iove my 27mm Voigtländer maual pancake lens on my Fuji X-T5; the Fuji 23mm f2 (35mm) and the Fuji 35mm f 1.4 (50mm) are more on the shelf these days. The quality and form factor of the Voigtländer is outstanding and the focal legs (40mm in full frame) is ideal for me currently.This might change but at the moment I really enjoy that!
I'm doing this more and more. Great video Peter.
As usual I might add.
Cool, thanks!
Great monochrome images, Peter! The high-contrast idea will also work with the Mono2 setting on the Pen-F and E-P7. Bravo for #SOOC!
Many thanks!
Thanks for an interesting photo session. The photo inside the railway station is my favorite. Other decent photos too in this video. I think your photography has definitely improved after you ditched gear topics and set yourself free😀
Many thanks, Matti! I appreciate your opinion. My aim has been to improve my photography by not going out to make videos but rather photographing and, if possible, making a video as I go.
Quirky might be a good descriptor. Would really like to see a video on vertical versus horizontal. Thanks. Keep up the great work.
I will make that video about landscape and vertical images.
I was able to find a GR III Diary Edition on eBay in like new condition.
The former owner, never bothered to do a factory reset, but I’m glad. They had a very good custom mode, they made to look like Kodak Tri-X. It is very close, perfect for some high contrast black & white images.
Sounds great! I ove my Ricoh GR3x so much. It is the best camera for me right now.
Long ago, I learned that vertical compositions create more tension in the photo, so they work well with high-contrast images.
You might be right.
I like the video. I took a similar picture of the "weeping" statutes outside the library when I was in Helsinki a couple of weeks ago. As with you I thought the image worked well in black and white.
I hope you enjoyed your visit in Helsinki. That staue is actually in front of the Contemporary Art Museum Kiasma. The Oodi Library is around the corner.
Hi Peter! You do a lot of vertical because you like half frame, I guess!
Great fun images. A professional photographer friend of mine uses her father's 1950s half frame PEN film camera. That would be ideal for some of the vertical compositions you are creating plus you get 72 frames on a film.
I have an original Pen-F. Maybe I should take it for spin.
Love the abstract not much High contrast!! But in this case a couple of them are nice those with people included!! Nice video
Thank you. Abstract photos can be made without using high contrast.
I think some of the images you didn't think were that good should be looked at in a few weeks & you might change your mind.
Yes, you are right about that. Getting some distance to the images does good. Sometimes we do not see the best ones right after the photo walk.
Perhaps the abstract and vertical aspects you are currently embracing are due to you having looked at some of Saul Leiter's work (one of my favorites).
Could be that. Saul Leiter was a magnificant photographer.
That's excellent. I only do b&w and I find the higher contrast more interesting. I'm using a 6d with a 40mm pancake, would a smaller lighter camera be worth purchasing as the full frame is a little bit intrusive
If you get the results you like with your excisting gear I would not get a smaller camera. If you have a possibility to test one do it. then you find out.
Haven't tried B & W since my film days. Time to try again. Almost all of my photos are vacation/riverboat cruises in Europe every August. Camera gets a real workout! My goal is "Quality image not Image Quality " as per another YT photographer. One statement that has really stuck with me when I got into digital ,was by Henri Cartier-Bresson he said (para-phrased here) to shoot at least 10 keepers a year. I like that challenge & as i review my days outing of photos, I ask myself that question. Up to 3 so far that I would hang on my wall. many people do a 1 to 5 star rating prior to culling the herd.
I totally agree that we should aim for quality image rather than image quality. Well said.
It is quite astonishing fact that the amount of portfolio images is about one per month. I have heard that being said by many masters of photography.
Hi Peter....Liverpool Kev here again from UK....Thank you for another thought provoking video to learn from...Here's a thought...English expression 'Tongue in cheek'...it means loosely not that serious...Do you ever wonder if photography is genuinely a relaxing pastime?...I wasted perhaps several minutes I will never get back...wondering if you should have moved the white tissue to a black stripe????...I often think things like this...Obviously all the best...Liverpool Kev
I think photograohy can be a very relaxing thing, but it can also be very stressful. It is all about the attitude and the ability to enjoy the process of making the images.
Thanks for the video, very informative and inspiring! The only question I have is: there is no saturation slider in the Ricoh GRIIIx high-contrast BW adjustment menu… how did you crank up saturation to +2? Thanks!
My mistake, it is the sharpeness... I need to fix that in my blog post.
I tend to take most of my photographs in the vertical format as well. I've never thought about why, but thinking on it now, maybe it's because a vertical image narrows the focus onto the subject more than a landscape format does. With the wider, horizontal format, the photograph is busier and the subject struggles to be the focus of the image.
Very good explanation. I agree with you about vertical vs. landscape. Landscape can be a busier images.
Well said!
You took lots of vertical photos where my (amateur) eye would’ve instead opted for landscape. Was there a deliberate attempt to shoot this way or was it just whatever felt right in the moment?
I am not sure why I took more vertical images. That is something I need to analyze and think about. Possible some of the scenes would have been better in horizontal.
For me the image at 12:25 would not have worked if the words were in the middle.
Peter, you prefer vertical because you dont like wide angle compositions. Just like me. We re both, 40 to 50mm focal length photographers. I love the 50mm more than anything else. Great video of yours. That kind of videos re real photographer;s ones!
Good point! It could be just that. Thank you very much.
Since you asked, the worst distractions for me are crooked, angled, falling over buildings in architectural ( or street) images. I see it all the time even from professional photogrpahers! Creator does not care or too lazy to fix it in editing ??? That said, I actually like "Quirky" images if done creatively.
I like to work with High Contrast B/W.
The image of the "heel and shadows" in the station at about 11.20. i like the image but would that not work better as a square composition? I used to have a Rolleicord TLR 6x6 and loved shooting B&W in that format.
It propably would work better in square format. I would be able to get rid of the black area at the bottom.
My thoughts... White shoes are a "gift" to black and white photographs, because the add "movement" to the theme of the image.
I totally agree.
i'm not sure about high contrast images, i certainly never tried it, but i think that one worked at 5:48
Thanks. Yes I agree that it is a style that it might not be for everyone. I am not sure either if I like it or not. It is very interesting to try anyways and see waht comes out.
@@ForsgardPeter i would consider the extreme black & white a bit like infrared photography. It is hit and miss, but you can get good ones for sure. Extreme black & white probably needs street scapes to work best. i live in a rural area, so i seldom try street stuff, but i'll keep it in mind for the next time.
Nice. But I prefer 'solarization' in black and white. (I will send you at Instagram)
Thanks. Please do. I will take a look.
@@ForsgardPeter done it. See you in Athens.
You use your phone's vertical screen too much for SM, which is why you see images vertically more often than horizontally. Even landscape YT photographers use vertical format more often than horizontal.
That is an interesting thought. It could well be the reason.