I spent Saturday morning photographing the Edinburgh Farmers Market and the characters there. I used my f/2.8 70-200mm lens which is a large, heavy white lens which stands out. I have noted in other students postings the challenges of using a lens like this in a public place because you are really noticed. I knew that this could be a problem before I went, but I was pleasantly surprised with how easy it was to take photos without being noticed. I think this is mainly because it was really busy and people were concentrating on the stalls & produce, not on other people around. There were a few other photographers out too, and it is a common place for tourists to visit, so perhaps it was a good place to pull out the big lens.
My first photos were not great - a few blurry, some out of focus and I had some real challenges with metering in the bright sunlight. As I realised this, I adjusted some settings, and waited for the patches of cloud to drift past the sun to take my photos, and also chose my position more carefully so I wasn't shooting towards the sun. I also became more aware of the background of my photo, and tried to avoid bright spots (eg from vans in the background etc). I wandered through the market a few times and gradually felt more comfortable taking photos. Towards the end of the morning I simply stood in one spot and shot a few photos of people in the distance, exchanging money, chatting, drinking coffee. I felt a little like shooting prey on a safari, but I did like the feel of being able to stand back and take photos without people noticing, or at least most people not being aware of me.
It was a shame that a number of people were wearing sunglasses, though I guess this is a common problem, however it would be nicer if their eyes were not covered. I took a lot of photos and have chosen what I consider to be the best ones and display them below. I have tried to choose a mix of people - some young, some older, some were watching a cooking demonstration, others are simply walking around. I have cropped in close with some, and tried to capture a bit of background in others. This was really fun project and a good challenge for me. I really enjoyed using the long lens to grab shots of people, and I quite like the effect of the telephoto - blurred backgrounds and foregrounds in some shots. This really makes the subject 'jump' out of the photo I think.
These people were watching a cooking demonstration and were easy to take lots of photos of.
A stylish young lady with her fancy sunglasses on.
Even though she is blurred in the foreground, I really like the capture of this girl with her mother.
This lady seemed very expressive.
I found sometimes people walked through the shot as I was taking it, and sometimes the shallow DOF didn't work so well, but overall I found using the telephoto quite good. If I was more clever, I think you could play with juxtaposition with the telephoto lens, but I have not managed to do that in this set of photos. I think my favourite photo is of the mother & daughter, the young girl is out of focus but she looks directly at the camera (I think she noticed me), she is biting her lip and the mother is looking at something in the stall. I think it is an interesting image.
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