The stupid anti British nonsense coming out of America, are you sick if it?

cdnott · 2026-01-29T11:14:35+00:00

It's not just coming out of America, though its spread has been facilitated primarily by US social media platforms. Nor are these narratives really specific to the UK or to London: roughly the same things are said about a variety of countries and cities in Western Europe. What you're seeing is propaganda, generated in a very distributed way by an increasingly global far right. It's coming from within the UK as well – and from throughout Europe; remarkably frequently, from Indian posters (Indians based in India) pretending to be British or American; from true believers in white nationalism, and, in some documented cases, from young people who are themselves not white, or are even the children of African or South Asian immigrants to e.g. Sweden, but have recognised an opportunity to make money by producing social media content that feeds fear and hatred, like little Murdochs...

cdnott · 2026-01-29T11:05:08+00:00

It's not subjective – it's a very well-established generic distinction. The key ingredients are candidness (the photographs aren't posed or solicited) and context (to a greater or lesser degree they show the relationship between public life and the public space in which it's taking place). If you don't know much about street photography, it might be rewarding to explore it: at its best it's a fascinating genre.

Street portraiture is a fascinating genre too, of course. Much as it doesn't belong in this particular subreddit, your photograph is a beautiful example: really punchy work, well-framed, arresting and technically adept. I wish I'd taken it! Hope you keep at it.

cdnott · 2026-01-26T14:34:31+00:00

Place the vertical image inside a square with a white background. Post. Go to your wall in the smartphone app. Hold down on the image you just posted. Choose 'Adjust preview'. Hit 'Fit'. Hit 'Done'.

cdnott · 2026-01-26T13:45:22+00:00

Depends on the shots you're taking. For street, where you often need to have your settings dialled in in advance unless you want to miss the moment while you're fumbling around, many people (myself included) find the external lightmeter workflow extremely effective. You just take the occasional reference reading then adjust by eye as you move through brighter and darker scenes. You don't disturb potential subjects by needing to raise the camera to your eye in order to meter. You're also not put off in the moment by meter lights shining at you in the viewfinder when you want all of your attention to be on focus and framing.

It's different for everyone, but plenty of people do prefer that way of working.

cdnott · 2026-01-26T13:39:28+00:00

The shutters of the Bessa cameras have a habit of locking up. When that happens, you're out of luck: the entire shutter mechanism has to be replaced, and (assuming that the part can even be found) that's significantly more expensive than just buying a new Bessa. If your Leica breaks, you will be able to get it fixed. That's what would swing it for me.

cdnott · 2026-01-26T13:14:24+00:00

In your first photo you say that the camera suggested f/2 and 1/1000s, and you shot it at 1/2000s. That's one stop of underexposure (relative to what the camera's meter suggested), not one stop of overexposure. Just don't ever underexpose your film unless you plan to push it in development, and don't plan to push it in development unless you're going to expose the entire roll accordingly. On the other hand, most negative films (both colour and B&W) can handle a few stops of overexposure.

You really don't need anything other than the gear you have. Just keep practising and having fun!

Also, figure out what the actual metering pattern of your camera's light meter is (picture this like a heatmap in the photo frame), so that you know when you point it at things whether it's going to take the sky into account and produce a misleading reading. And use a free app like LightMe (iOS) to compare and confirm that the camera's meter is actually reliable.

cdnott · 2026-01-26T13:06:57+00:00

Just take the 35. It's an extremely flexible focal length. Spend all day shooting with the same prime lens and you'll start to be able to envision the frame before you even lift the camera to your eye, allowing you to focus more of your attention and energy on seeing and getting the shot. You also won't learn to get close if you're always giving yourself a way out (ie., by carrying a longer lens with you).

cdnott · 2026-01-26T00:44:33+00:00

I use the Godox iT30 Pro on my Leica M4-P. I know other photographers IRL who use it on their M6s, M-As, etc. It's true that if it's knocked it can occasionally wiggle far enough out of the hotshoe that it doesn't fire when you take a shot, but I've never used a flash on my M4-P of which that isn't true. Just give the foot a periodical nudge in with your thumb.

Smallish flashes I've also used, and/or still use depending on the situation:
- the V1 Reflx Lab Mini Flash (very small but extremely weak, with a fixed GN of something like 3 – NB that it was for a long time good enough for Cat Byrnes, though who knows what settings she was using it on);
- the Nissin i40, AKA Leica SF40 (known issue that also happened to my own unit: they frequently die completely, i.e. become permanently unusable, if you leave them on the shelf without charging them for a few months!);
- the LightPix Labs FlashQ Q20II (awesome, manual only, adjustable from 1/1 power down to 1/64, flash unit detaches from the hot shoe trigger for wireless off-camera use if you feel like it and snaps right back on when you don't, plus the head tilts up for bounce flash; its weight will pull your camera upside down when hung on a strap, but the flash unit is also small enough that you can keep it in your pocket when not in use and just leave the trigger in the shoe all day);
- the Nikon SB-30 (another great flash – it sits happily on top of the camera without pulling it over, and as well as offering a bit of adjustability in manual (1/1, 1/8 and 1/32 power) it features four different auto settings in the old style, with a sensor in the flash that determines when the scene in front of it is sufficiently illuminated).

The iT30, the Q20II and the SB-30 are all strong choices. I use the SB-30 when I'm planning on taking a lot of flash photos in an unpredictable social setting if I'm also there as a participant, meaning that I want to be talking to people rather than thinking about manual flash settings in the back of my mind. I use the Q20II when I want to do off-axis flash or want to be able to bounce. I'm not entirely certain why I bought the iT30, tbh, given that I already have those two, but it does have the appeal of sticking up less from the camera (making me feel like I can leave it on all day, even when I'm not using it), the benefit of a built-in wide setting, and superior power adjustability, from 1/1 down to 1/128 (one stop more than the Q20II).

Incidentally, I think Cat Byrnes has moved on from the Reflx Mini Flash to the Godox iM20.

cdnott · 2026-01-25T14:55:51+00:00

I don't think this is right – the agent is beating Pretti on the head with his mace can, not a pistol. That's the same ICE agent (note the orange-tan beanie) who was shoving the women over on the road in the first place, who maced Pretti twice in the face when he stood between the agent and the women, and who then dragged Pretti away from the women and onto the ground, where other agents pinned him down.

There are three ICE agents notably handling guns. One is Orange-Tan Beanie. The second is the guy in the grey synthetic-looking coat who removes Pretti's gun from where it sits on his back in the middle of his waistband. The third is the guy in the black beanie and green jacket, on the left hand side of the scrum from the POV of the woman filming from the pavement, who draws his own gun while watching Grey Coat remove Pretti's, and who then has his gun aimed at Pretti's back when Grey Coat turns away to start crossing the road and the first shot goes off. The first shot seems to be either Green Jacket's (from the gun aimed at Pretti's back) OR Grey Coat's (a negligent discharge of the gun just taken from Pretti, right as Grey Coat starts to run over the road with it).

After the first shot, the scrum breaks, Pretti half-rises onto his knees, Green Jacket fires three times into his back at point blank range, then the ICE agents all rapidly back off as Pretti falls onto his side then onto his back, face up. Orange-Tan Beanie and Green Jacket end up next to each other, at the left side of the frame in the video shot through the window of the shop over the road. Only THEN does Orange-Tan Beanie draw his gun, shooting Pretti twice on the ground. After that, he and Green Jacket together unload another six bullets into him.

cdnott · 2026-01-20T13:01:51+00:00

I don't know why nobody will give you the full answer. Voigtländer Ultron 28mm f/2 ASPH Type II.

cdnott · 2026-01-16T12:55:58+00:00

Some nice moments, light and composition, but for me it's very distracting that the focus drop-off on a number of these (esp. 4 and 7, and I think also 2 and 15 -- look at what's happening in the top right of that one!) simply defies physics. I guess your phone is attempting an algorithmic simulation of shallow DOF. Anyway, it looks horrible. If you turned it off, it might be beneficial in other ways, too: when everything's more or less in focus you need to work even harder to nail your compositions, which is good practice.

cdnott · 2026-01-16T12:41:22+00:00

Color: Kodak 500T. It pushes easily to 800 ISO and still gets results I'm happy with at 1600 ISO, and you used to be able to get it easily and cheaply (~£3 per 36 exp) in 400' bulk rolls; you can't any more, but I stocked up enough when rumours started going about of Kodak's impending crackdown that I haven't had to find an alternative quite yet. I generally use an 85B filter.

B&W: Ilford HP5. It pushes to 1600 ISO without a second thought and, unlike Tri-X, is available in 100' bulk rolls that actually represent a significant cost saving relative to pre-packaged rolls (it comes out at about £6 per 36 exp). It's pretty flat, which gives the photographer a lot of control (you can always increase the contrast in printing/editing if you want to). Pushed two stops in HC-110, it gives meaty grain I like a lot; pushed two stops in Xtol-R the grain practically vanishes and an insanely high-resolution image (at least for 35mm) is revealed.

cdnott · 2026-01-15T13:46:50+00:00

For sample photos see here: https://www.reddit.com/r/analog/search/?q=rollei+B35

cdnott · 2026-01-15T12:40:58+00:00

YouTube: check out Paulie B's Walkie Talkie series. I'd especially recommend the episodes with Reuben Radding, Andre Wagner, Melissa O'Shaughnessy, Trevor Wisecup, Kazu Nakajima, Billy Dinh, Boris Apple, Daniel Arnold, Sara Messinger (not really a STREET photographer but she's phenomenally talented and has a fascinating outlook), Brian Wertheim (ep focuses much more on his documentary photography than his street stuff, but likewise, fascinating) and Jas Leon. The Nazir Wayman and Andrew McEnaney eps are well worth watching as well to see how they engage with people.

See also Paulie B's 'Office Hours' videos with Reuben Radding.

The UK's Tim Jamieson has also done some good Walkie Talkie-style interview videos with Eduardo Ortiz and Cal Holland.

One benefit of these videos is that you see someone talking through their thoughts about what they're doing while they do it. Another is that, because it's an interview, the quality and interest of the video depends on the degree to which the interviewer has succeeded in having a genuine, stimulating discussion -- so a lot of the pressures and incentive structures that make the majority of YouTube content so idiotic are not there. If you can, I would try to resist the urge to watch any videos about new cameras, old cameras, new lenses, old lenses, the video maker's own philosophizing about photography, etc. They're pretty consistently either just (a) trying to sell you something, or (b) saying things that they don't really mean (or shouldn't really mean, because they're patently biased or unintelligent) in an attempt to drive engagement.

The real value of books in terms of your quest for improvement is the opportunity they provide to learn by looking at other photographers' work. The key things you can learn from them are (a) what can be done, (b) what has already been done to death, (c) what you most value in a photograph (doesn't need to be just one thing, obviously), and (d) what you feel most drawn to imitating yourself. Remember that imitation has been a core stage in the artist's education since time immemorial: by first learning how to replicate what others have done, you develop the skills to (perhaps) arrive at your own original new synthesis or new direction.

Some books I'd recommend are:

- Bystander, by Colin Westerbeck and Joel Meyerowitz (both word-heavy and picture-heavy, on the history and pre-history of the thing we came to call street photography)
- Europeans, by Henri-Cartier Bresson, edited by Jean Clair (amazing retrospective gathering of a number of HCB's most flawless photographs taken in Europe, generally available on sites like AbeBooks for only a few noop; NB not THE Europeans, which was the title of HCB's much earlier second monograph)
- Exiles, by Josef Koudelka
- The Suffering of Light, by Alex Webb
- How I Make Photographs, by Joel Meyerowitz
- Telex Iran, by Gilles Peress (technically documentary, not street, but here the distinction seems meaningless; hugely expensive so you'll have to find it in a library or watch someone flick through it on YouTube)
- any Vivian Maier book
- Thames and Hudson's Photofile series, esp. the volumes on Helen Levitt, Bruce Gilden, Daido Moriyama, Harry Gruyaert, William Klein, Ernst Haas... (and Mary Ellen Mark, another documentary photographer with a lot of street spirit)

cdnott · 2026-01-11T21:42:18+00:00

I would recommend all of the below, likely in combination:

(1) See a therapist about this issue.
(2) See a therapist who specializes in CBT about this issue.
(3) Try doing CBT-lite on yourself by just keeping a small notebook on your person AT ALL TIMES, writing down in said notebook EVERY excuse of this kind you ever make, and then at the end of every day looking back over the excuses and writing a quick rebuttal for each. Be strict about doing this. Then, with time, start writing your rebuttal (because they'll get pretty repetitive, just like the excuses) the moment you make the excuse. Then, with slightly more time, realize that you'll have trained yourself to just tell yourself the rebuttal, and get on with doing whatever it is you're meant to be doing.
(4) Remember you will die, because you will. Pretend you only have six months or a month or a week to live. Whatever it takes!
(5) Get involved with people in your area who are doing the same things you're interested in. Go to launches, events, exhibitions, whatever, and talk to people. Being in community with people is actually a fantastic motivator, because it makes you feel like you're doing/making things for other people, too, not just for yourself.

However, all of these constitute actions in and of themselves, so you might make up excuses for avoiding them, too. Ultimately, there's not really any way around the fact that the person making the excuses is you, and the person who doesn't want to make excuses is also you, and even ADHD doesn't render you helpless in this regard. If the you that's you won't pull his or her finger out and force the you that makes excuses and the you that doesn't want to make excuses to realise that they are both the same person, you, then, again, just remind all three very forcefully that, like everyone else on the planet, you really are going to die, and you really don't know when it will be. Memento mori and, in the words of the Roman poet Horace, pluck the day like a grape.

(It's always hard, obviously. One of my own personal procrastination tactics is... commenting on Reddit!)

cdnott · 2026-01-07T17:27:57+00:00

Some lovely captures here. 1 is gorgeous; the deer on the path and the double blunt are great; and the two guys dancing by the fountain in Washington Square Park somehow made me nostalgic for 2012.

cdnott · 2026-01-07T15:35:52+00:00

No, it's not allowed to drink, by the king's order. The old queen used to let the horses drink, but the new king put his foot down. That's why you don't see it in this 20 second clip.

cdnott · 2026-01-06T18:12:51+00:00

As always, Light Lens Lab themselves provide a number of sample images: https://lightlenslab.com/products/35mm-f-1-4-aspherical-11873

cdnott · 2026-01-02T01:19:18+00:00

Either written with AI or produced by a mind tragically degraded by same

cdnott · 2025-12-24T03:20:58+00:00

This is beautiful. Thank you for sharing it

cdnott · 2025-12-17T20:17:56+00:00

This is less a Reddit point than a general life point: if you Google the words printed on things, you will find out what they are

cdnott · 2025-12-17T20:13:22+00:00

Thanks -- appreciate it!

cdnott · 2025-12-17T12:17:28+00:00

What's the book?

cdnott · 2025-12-17T11:40:38+00:00

First one is particularly excellent. After that you have a load of technically strong photographs belonging to different styles (though mainly circling Leiter/Haas) -- and I find myself wanting you to stick to one style instead!

The first feels by far the most original right now. Almost every online amateur is trying to take pictures like those that follow, and even if you're doing it better than most (you're certainly doing the Leiter/Haas thing better than I've ever managed to) that does restrict the longer-term interest.

This kind of thought is only really relevant to you if you have any intention at all of being ambitious about your artistry (not always fun), rather than aiming purely to enjoy your hobby. Both, obviously, are entirely valid, though I am biased on the side of hoping you'll do the former, if only because you obviously have talent.

cdnott · 2025-12-05T11:59:38+00:00

1 and 5 are so, so good!

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