Rob & Street Photography in NoDa

Rob and some friends headed to NoDa for some adventurous street photography starting with an exciting interaction at Zämbies Pizza to a visit to the fire station. Rob used his Fujifilm XE5 camera with a 20mm F2 lens. His aperture stayed around F2-4 with a shutter speed of 1/125 and ISO 400-2000. It was an overcast Saturday around 7pm. 

Street photography is the art of watching and noticing. Sometimes passively interacting with others and being ready to snap a photo at any moment or directly asking to take someone’s picture. It can also be an act of bravery depending on your style. Are you a lurker in the shadows catching people in their element without them noticing? Or are you an audacious and daring shoot-and-go type of photographer that likes to get up close and personal? Everyone has a different type of style that makes street photography fun and engaging. Many will have differing opinions on what it is, exactly. At its core it will always be capturing people in a way that shows how human we all are.  

Rob showed fearlessness as he shot photos on the streets of NoDa, with the first being two women waiting to cross the street while drinking iced coffee. As Rob approached from the side, getting ready to cross the same way as them, he snapped a quick shot mid coffee sip. However, right at that moment, one of the women turned to meet eyes with his lens with a piercing, analytical stare. Much of his remaining photos display raw and creative shots of a lively Saturday evening in one of Charlotte’s notable art districts. As night fell, he describes one of his challenges as not having enough artificial light to utilize since NoDa only had pockets from the surroundings storefronts. 

When asked what got him into street photography, he says it was the one thing he could create art with without having to rely on anyone. It became therapy for him. What draws him to keep doing it is the desire to always get better. HIs video is about 7 minutes long with some mellow Lo-Fi music baked in. Check out Rob and his video from the NoDa meet up on Instagram @rpmrtn_imagery

Written by Carmen Cummings (@naturalescenes)