Tao of Street Photography by Danny Santos II - Part 1
Photographer Danny Santos II collection of photography can be view on his website http://www.dannyst.com
Street photography is one of my personal favorite forms. You never know who will pass by. Each person has a story to tell and at that moment in time, a snapshot and pause.
Danny Santos includes shots from the street and a collection of amazing portraits.
TNTD: What are some of the funny and memorable reactions from your street
photography expeditions?
Danny Santos : I haven't really had any funny moments or misfortunes so far primarily because I've always tried to be very quick and discrete when shooting candids, and polite when shooting posed portraits.
TNTD: Who and what circumstances can you describe as strange/confused or outright weird?
Danny Santos: I can't categorize any as weird, but I did get an email from a disgruntled boyfriend of one of my candid subjects that they found the shot kinda creepy, so he requested the photo be taken offline. I apologized, explained what I was doing, and took the photo down respectfully from my flickr page. A few minutes later, the girlfriend (the subject in the photo) emailed me back saying she thought it was cool and requested if I could put it back up again. I was like "uhm... why not." :)
TNTD: Recognize that folks like photojojo have recommended the sign which says "can i take your portrait it will only take 5 seconds?"
In your experience in Singapore, for every 10 people how many agree and how many decline?
Danny Santos: I guess a fair estimate would be about 2 or 3 out of 10 people decline. Although I'm very selective in who I shoot - I usually pick those whom I think are quite comfortable and confident with how they look so that pretty much helps my chances of getting a 'yes'.
TNTD: If you have a dream street shoot, where and under what circumstance?
Danny Santos: I have a lot of dream shoots... like shooting portraits of strangers in the rain, or shooting candids with light strobes a la Philip-Lorca Dicorcia's Heads, or maybe even orchestrating a street shot with models like Jeff Wall.
There's so much stuff I would like to do :)
TNTD: What are some unwritten rules of street photography according to Danny Santos?
- The perfect street moment comes only once in a blue moon, but when it comes to you, it's worth the wait. So have the patience of a saint.
- To capture that truly unexpected moment, sometimes you have to be unexpected yourself. Be discreet by blending in the crowd
- Great street photographers like Garry Winogrand, Daido Moriyama, and Trent Parke are very trigger-happy shooters. Learn from them. Never hesitate, just shoot.
- The fear will never go away. Just learn to deal with it. Shoot through the fear.
- Relentlessly look for inspiration. The more you immerse yourself with great photos, the higher your expectations of your own photos will be.
TNTD:. 3 Things you didn't know about Photographer Danny Santos II
a. I used to smoke 2 packs a day. It's been 4 years since my last cig.
b. My dream lens is the Nikon 24mm f1.4G. I hope to get my hands on it someday.
c. I'm a big movie buff. One of my favorite movies is the Swedish movie 'Let the Right One In'. I've read the book and seen the movie so many times that I can now watch it without subtitles.
I'll be posting a follow up blog on Danny Santos II with more photos.
Street photography is one of my personal favorite forms. You never know who will pass by. Each person has a story to tell and at that moment in time, a snapshot and pause.
Danny Santos includes shots from the street and a collection of amazing portraits.
TNTD: What are some of the funny and memorable reactions from your street
photography expeditions?
Danny Santos : I haven't really had any funny moments or misfortunes so far primarily because I've always tried to be very quick and discrete when shooting candids, and polite when shooting posed portraits.
TNTD: Who and what circumstances can you describe as strange/confused or outright weird?
Danny Santos: I can't categorize any as weird, but I did get an email from a disgruntled boyfriend of one of my candid subjects that they found the shot kinda creepy, so he requested the photo be taken offline. I apologized, explained what I was doing, and took the photo down respectfully from my flickr page. A few minutes later, the girlfriend (the subject in the photo) emailed me back saying she thought it was cool and requested if I could put it back up again. I was like "uhm... why not." :)
TNTD: Recognize that folks like photojojo have recommended the sign which says "can i take your portrait it will only take 5 seconds?"
In your experience in Singapore, for every 10 people how many agree and how many decline?
Danny Santos: I guess a fair estimate would be about 2 or 3 out of 10 people decline. Although I'm very selective in who I shoot - I usually pick those whom I think are quite comfortable and confident with how they look so that pretty much helps my chances of getting a 'yes'.
TNTD: If you have a dream street shoot, where and under what circumstance?
Danny Santos: I have a lot of dream shoots... like shooting portraits of strangers in the rain, or shooting candids with light strobes a la Philip-Lorca Dicorcia's Heads, or maybe even orchestrating a street shot with models like Jeff Wall.
There's so much stuff I would like to do :)
TNTD: What are some unwritten rules of street photography according to Danny Santos?
- The perfect street moment comes only once in a blue moon, but when it comes to you, it's worth the wait. So have the patience of a saint.
- To capture that truly unexpected moment, sometimes you have to be unexpected yourself. Be discreet by blending in the crowd
- Great street photographers like Garry Winogrand, Daido Moriyama, and Trent Parke are very trigger-happy shooters. Learn from them. Never hesitate, just shoot.
- The fear will never go away. Just learn to deal with it. Shoot through the fear.
- Relentlessly look for inspiration. The more you immerse yourself with great photos, the higher your expectations of your own photos will be.
TNTD:. 3 Things you didn't know about Photographer Danny Santos II
a. I used to smoke 2 packs a day. It's been 4 years since my last cig.
b. My dream lens is the Nikon 24mm f1.4G. I hope to get my hands on it someday.
c. I'm a big movie buff. One of my favorite movies is the Swedish movie 'Let the Right One In'. I've read the book and seen the movie so many times that I can now watch it without subtitles.
I'll be posting a follow up blog on Danny Santos II with more photos.
posted by TheresNoTylerDurden at 5:40 AM
5 Comments:
Spot on! I love these photos.
My new hero. It's exactly how I've learnt. While my skill needs a LOT of development. I'm not afraid of raising my camera any more.
I really lust after the 24mm 1.4too.
Great read. Thank you
great pictures...thank you
great pictures!
Such a great article it was which
The perfect street moment comes only once in a blue moon, but when it comes to you, it's worth the wait. So have the patience of a saint. In which Each person has a story to tell and at that moment in time, a snapshot and pause. Thanks for sharing this nice post.
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