Street Photography

Street Photography is the topic of the month for April at Take-Out Photo.

Paris is definitely a great place to get some street photography in... and since my family was headed out to a few different places over Easter break, I kept this theme in mind and tried to get a few pictures in.

Some are more loose interpretations of street photography, and some offer a more traditional approach. I tried to use only manual settings, because one of my goals over the next year is to really feel at ease using manual exposure settings on my camera. As a result, some of them are not exposed quite right (or not at all right), or may have white balance issues, etc.

So here they are, sorted by location:


Paris: Charles de Gaulle Etoile (roundabout by the Arc de Triomphe)

The Champs Elysees. What better street to get a picture of traffic? Or, at least the lights of passing traffic...

Giverny (Monet's stomping ground)

Salzburg, Austria

This street in Salzburg requires the stores to have a special stylized store sign made up that hangs out perpendicular from the storefront. Even good ol' McDonald's had to design one.

A lil' game of chess in a square in Salzburg (but we walked through so many interconnected squares, I don't know which one this is.)

Prague, Czech Republic

In Prague they were still having their Easter Market and an Easter festival, so there were all kinds of booths out, including this guy who was weaving scarves, bags, blankets, and shirts. I bought myself a lil' teeny messenger-style bag. Then I went back and bought a bigger one.

Another artisan at the Easter Market was this blacksmith who was making ornate doorbells. Actual bells to hang outside your front door for visitors to ring. Very cool.

The pictures above and below were taken within the Prague Castle museum area. The music was really fantastic, and we bought a CD. I love how enthusiastic the flautist (I think that's a flute) is in the picture below. It was so fun to watch.

Vienna, Austria

Walking through the grounds of one section of the enormous Hapsburg palace in Vienna, we came across a lighting crew. Obviously there was some kind of photo shoot or filming going on inside... but we couldn't figure out what it was.

Then in the art museum (also built by the Hapsburgs) I came across this man who was creating a replica of the painting by his right shoulder. It was amazingly accurate, but a bit brighter, which I loved. What talent. And patience.

Hallstatt, Austria. (Such a cool village. More on that later--it gets its own post.)

Hallstatt is the dead-end of a road that snakes around the lake you can see below. It was a mining town, and is built up the side of the hill. So, staircases like the one pictured above, are the streets. Incredibly charming village, but I'm thinking it would be less charming if I had to lug groceries or -- heaven forbid -- something like a washing machine to my house.

Tourist season wasn't quite in full swing when we were there, and I liked how this cafe looked somewhat deserted. You can see the orange lanters above that hint at what the ambience must be like on a calm summer evening... but not in early April. :)

Strasbourg, France

Free hugs in Strasbourg!

Dresden, Germany

I thought it was kind of cool that this guy was just dancing away in the street, headphones in his ears. My dad thought it was odd.

I think this guy did, too. (I actually didn't even notice that he and his daughter were going to walk into the frame--but I think it makes the picture even better to see someone else's reaction to the dancing.)

Thanks, Marc, for having such a cool Monthly Special for April! It was a lot of fun to try my hand at street photography.