Recently I have hit the wall, figuratively speaking, with what is known as traditional street photography… the process which typically sees a photographer amidst a lot of people and trying to take their pictures in relatively close proximity.
Truth be told, the process of being out there and working that way is likely only one part of the frustration, other parts have nothing to do with photography at all, yet tend to negatively affect creative mindsets.
I almost never shoot on Sunday’s, I just tend to shoot on Saturday’s and leave Sunday as a ‘whatever I feel like’ day.
Also, there are a lot more people on the streets on a Saturday when compared to a Sunday.
Strangely, I found myself one Sunday being motivated to head out and shoot, problem was that I didn’t have a clue what and where to shoot.
I decided that I was going to head south into Sydney, however my initial instinct was to avoid the CBD. But where do I go?
One location that had recently entered my mind was the Balmain and Balmain East area. When I first thought about this area my concept was to find interesting perspectives where there were buildings, vehicles, people etc in the foreground, with the city skyline and Sydney Harbour Bridge deep into the background.
Balmain and Balmain East are adjoining suburbs in the inner west of Sydney, just a few kilometres from the Sydney CBD.
This is a very affluent area with hugely expensive real estate and stunning views of the Sydney CBD and Sydney Harbour from various streets.
That concept sat well with me, but what gear setup should I use?
Well, my favourite cameras are my Fujifilm X-Pro3 and X100VI, however the X100VI has a fixed 35mm focal length lens, too wide for this application, and the tightest small lens that I have for my X-Pro3 is a 50mm focal length lens… this change of pace and concept required something a lot tighter.
The ‘no brainer’ was to take my Fujifilm X-T5 with the Fujifilm 16-55 f2.8 lens. Of course I’d prefer to have a longer lens than that for this process, however that’s the longest lens that I own, so I had to make it work somehow.
Yes, the 16-55 lens can go onto my X-Pro3 also, however the longer, heavier lens just feels better on the X-T5 for me.
I had a quick look at the Rozelle end of Balmain upon arriving however I just wasn’t feeling it, and so I decided that Balmain East was going to be the way to go… this way I knew that the water from Sydney Harbour would feature in many pictures.
Darling Street is the main one running through Balmain and down to the water at Balmain East. I decided not to focus on the many people in the main part of Balmain, and instead focus on the back streets and look for those perspectives which could depict what the area looked like, whilst showcasing the skyline and harbour at the same time.
I parked my car in a side street and within fifty metres I stumbled upon my first opportunity to shoot a scene with the harbour in the background.
The temptation was to immediately follow the street down toward the harbour, however I decided to head into back streets first to see where I could find more obscure perspectives than the first two pictures..
“When I first thought about this area my concept was to find interesting perspectives where there were buildings, vehicles, people etc in the foreground, with the city skyline and Sydney Harbour Bridge deep into the background.”
If you take the time to walk these streets, you’ll find plenty of opportunities to shoot ‘through the streets’ and highlight the beautiful Sydney Harbour at the same time.
I love the rich contrast that can be achieved with monochrome pictures.
In most streets here there is some type of Sydney Harbour Bridge perspective.
Imagine living here and staring at the harbour through your windows!
I decided to head back across to Darling Street and then down toward the water. Darling Street is filled with stunning historic terrace houses, I’ve always been fascinated by them, especially the ones which have been meticulously cared for.
As you head down the hill there are beautiful semi obstructed views of the bridge.
When you reach the bottom of Darling Street you are in full view of the harbour, well, not the Opera House side, complete with views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and some of the city skyline.
Just above the harbour there is a narrow street with some very old and historic dwellings, along with some interesting trees and fauna.
This is a very unique part of Sydney. Being able to reside this close to the city and harbour must be a fabulous and fulfilling experience.
I thoroughly enjoyed slowing down and taking my time walking through these back streets to create pictures that partly tell a story of our beautiful city of Sydney, without the need to fill each frame with people.
I hope that you enjoyed the pictures, and thank you for reading the blog.
Roger Brooks.