I've continued putting the 70-300mm through its paces recently as the weather has started to improve (at last!), and while it'll never be a lens for taking stealth shots, the reach it provides does come in very useful.
Now, maybe I'm engaging in self-deception (or maybe I'm mistaking the superb optics of this lens for my own ability), but I also think that the images I'm getting these days are a notch or two above what I used to be able to manage until recently, so much so that I'm starting to seriously consider recruiting actual models to work with.
My reasoning is that if I can get shots like these of random strangers just passing by, how much better could I do in an environment where I had a cooperative model, time to setup, and much more extensive control of my lighting?
I've come a long way from my first efforts less than a year ago, even if I do say so myself.
PS: One last photo taken with the 70-300mm which I really liked.
the images are quite good and almost all appear to tell a story of their own. forgive my naivety but how exactly did you get complete strangers to agree to be photographed in this manner? if these are all indeed strangers like you indicated, i find this feat rather remarkable.
Posted by: Beedaman | May 23, 2007 at 03:55 PM
It's not that remarkable when you consider that the images you see are the distillate of many, many hours spent walking around looking for something or someone photographically interesting to come along - it's sort of like digging for diamonds in that you've got to sift through a ton of cr*p to get a few good shots. Indeed, this aspect of street photography is yet another reason why I'd like to start working with actual models: my keeper rate will almost certainly rise dramatically.
Posted by: Abiola | May 23, 2007 at 04:09 PM