Happy Lensday, kids! It's Roley, how ya doin', welcome to the show.

Today, I want to talk a little about street photography and the hit and miss nature.  If you're keeping an eye on my Buy Me A Coffee page, you know I've been heading down to the Virginia Beach Oceanfront about once a month to take pictures of life on the beach because I want to capture the side of a beach town that you don't get to see.  Having done that for a couple of months now, I can see a few things I need to improve.   The first thing is the variety of shots I should be taking.  Most of the shots of people are off doing the things you usually see people doing, like walking a dog, riding a skateboard, or riding a bike.  I think a few shots stand out; one that springs to mind is of a young lady looking out the door of a cafe at something off the frame.   However, there's really not a lot of variety because, in the age of COVID, there aren't many people out and about.  Even in the dead of winter, there is at least some action.  

Something else I feel a little guilty about is shooting the homeless.  There's a significant homeless population down there, and I have a pretty good idea of when and where I can catch them.  I feel a little uneasy about photographing them, but that is part of the story I want to tell, so I need to figure that out.   I am sure I need to make this happen is a change in my lens choice.  For the most part, I've been using my kit 18-55mm lens for this, but it's possible I need to use a longer lens for this.  So, I'm thinking about using my 55-250 lens and taking my 24mm lens for wider shots of the street and architecture, things like that.  

Varying the times of day, I get down there may also help because I'm usually finding myself down there at midday.  I need some early morning and early evening shots, especially in the winter.  Of course, as we get into the summer months, night time shots with all the colors and lights will be part of the game, but then the streets will (hopefully) be full of activity.  Right now, the name of the game is the seedy part of the beach in the offseason.  I've been making a point to make all the winter shots in black and white, and when we move into spring and summer, we'll change to color.  That's just an artistic choice to help tell the story, but it's something I might need to rethink as we go forward.  

I've also been wondering about portrait shots of people down there, but I'm not sure how to go about that without pissing people off.  Cameras do tend to make people nervous now and then.

The most important thing I want to pass on to you is that nothing I've mentioned in this podcast is a dealbreaker for whether or not I continue.  Even if this project is largely a 'failure,' I can't consider it one.  Street Photography is something I have wanted to experiment with, and anytime I can take the camera out of the bag, I've already won because I'm learning every time I do it.   That's the big lesson out of this.  Just shoot.   Consider what you have, and iterate every time you head out.  Everything is practice.  You can't take the good shots unless you take a mountain of bad ones, and trust me, I've taken some bad photos, but I've got some outstanding ones out of this that I'm proud to share with all of you.  

If you've found this helpful, I would appreciate it if you'd share this with someone you think could use it. Subscribe to the podcast if you haven't already, and I'd really appreciate a review of the podcast if you have the time.  Also, if you find this episode or any of this podcast to be of value to you, how about being me a coffee?  You can go to buymeacoffee.com/krisroley, and...well...buy me a coffee.  Now, I've mentioned this at the end of the podcast since the beginning of the year, but I haven't really gone into a lot of detail about what you can find at the BMAC site.   Over at Buy Me A Coffee, I have three tiers:  Free content, content for supporters of my work, and membership content.  I'll always put up free content at the site because I realize some people can't part with a buck right now, but I still want you to have something.   Supporters get a weekly dispatch, a sample of my photographic work, and what I call 'One Sheets,' which are one-page tutorials on how to do something.  For example, January's one sheet had to do with how I process voices for audio.   Members will get all the Supporter content, a special podcast, and any video tutorials I do.   You can support my work for as little as a dollar, and memberships are 5 bucks a month or 50 dollars a year.  

There are two other ways you can support my work. The first is by going to krisroley.com and clicking on the photography link in the menu.  The photos I've posted there are available for purchase, and more photos will be posted there as we go.   The second is by hiring me to edit your podcast, provide show notes, or write for you, and you can check my rates by going to krisroley.com and clicking on the services link.

The website HQ for all this madness is krisroley.com, and you can go there to see the latest and connect with me on all the social mediasssss.  

Stay Solid, people, see you next time...buhbye.