I recently had the pleasure of photographing two lovely and talented sisters – a musician, Liat Arochas and a model, Talia Arochas. We took street photos on and around the area of South Street in Philadelphia PA. While both were beautiful, they provided a nice contrast as Talia is dark and Liat is fair. We were in the middle of our photo shoot during the recent (and rare) east coast earthquake, which added a bit of additional interest to this shoot.
I always enjoy on-the-street photo shoots – there’s an energy that can’t be found in a studio or outdoors in another location like a park. A city street provides great backdrops and that human element we all thrive on. There’s grit, noise, distractions and ever-present on-lookers. It’s not uncommon to have people interrupt a shoot with questions or comments. Most of the time that’s not a problem as I’ve been fortunate not to have any really obnoxious or creepy interjectors. A simple “sorry, but we have to get back to work” has been all that I’ve needed to say. During this particular shoot, there was at least one tourist who was taking photos of our photo shoot.
Try your hand at some great street or urban portrait photography. It’s fun and there’s an endless supply of incredibly interesting backdrops to shoot against. If you start getting overwhelmed with the colors, start thinking about shooting in black-and-white, where texture then becomes more important.
Have fun shooting! Peace and love, Colleen (gjfoto.com)
