Street Photo Diary: Autumn Light on the Streets of Dublin

As the last vestiges of summer have now long faded away, my favourite time of the year for photography has come. I love Autumn, and indeed winter, for shooting street photography, because of the light. The low sun here in Ireland creates a beautiful golden character to the light and as the season turns from Autumn to Winter, and the sun gets lower, you get beautiful long deep shadows.

I’ve actually been struggling with Street Photography recently. Over the long lockdowns during the height of Covid, I got out of practice. Moreover, I’ve had problems with my knees recently (nothing serious, just a biomechanical problem with my gait) and this means that I’m in pain if I walk too long. It’s been very frustrating for me, and it means that I continue to lack the practice I need to do better. But I’ve been trying to get out more. I recently got some new gear I wanted to try out, and that was as good an excuse as any. For these, I was using the new (well, second hand) Sony 16-70mm lens that I had recently acquired. I was also shooting a video for this for my YouTube channel, and for that, I was using a new GoPro to replace my old one.

Watch on YouTube

Slowly, I’m getting back into the hang of it, but the thing with Street Photography is that it really does take practice. To be honest, I’m not sure if I even like the genre any more. After the past few years, and everything that’s happened, I think people have become more aware of their personal space, privacy, and general humanity. Sometimes now, when I’m shooting this kind of content, I feel guilty, like I’m invading their privacy or doing something wrong. I know there’ll be people screaming at me over this, as that’s kind of the point of Street Photography, but that’s the way I feel. I’m sure it’s all part of the lack of practice, and I still think it’s good to capture the life of your city. It’s possible of course I’m just looking for a new challenge, and maybe I just need to think outside the box a bit, or perhaps I need a change of scenery.

While these aren’t the greatest shots I’ve ever taken by any stretch of the imagination, I did get a few that I was happy with. Towards the end of the session I was definitely getting better shots, so again, back to that whole point about practice. I did really like the one about the builders, with the person just peeking out behind the other guy in the foreground. I could have timed it better and caught him between the two, but I actually like how this worked out. The wry smile half covered, giving it a sense of cheekiness, as if you’re listening in to a joke you weren’t quite meant to hear.

All of these were shot with the Sony A6000 and 16-70mm lens. I’m going to try to give the A6000 a break for a little while for my next outing and go back to the X-E4. I think it’s getting a little old now and starting to act up a bit, so time to go back to the Fuji. Part of me just uses it out of habit, and I haven’t given the Fuji the love it deserves. I just need to get some more lenses for the Fuji.