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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Sixteen: Story-telling street photography > All wrapped up, Braga, Portugal, 2004
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03-SEP-2004

All wrapped up, Braga, Portugal, 2004

When we tried to visit Braga's Baroque cathedral, we were asked to wait a moment – a wedding was just ending and another was about to begin soon after. It was a September Sunday in Portugal, and matrimony was that day’s biggest attraction. We were told we could have fifteen minutes to look around the old church between weddings. Meanwhile the street outside the cathedral was jammed with well-wishers clutching handfuls of rice and flower petals. Suddenly the bride and groom materialized before me – I had an unobstructed shot, better in fact than the official wedding photographer, who had somehow gotten himself and his strobes and multiple cameras all tangled up in the crowd behind me. But what good is a picture of just another smiling bride and groom, I thought to myself? And then it happened – the groom spontaneously lifted the bride’s veil just as they reached me, and incongruously placed it over his own head as well. I caught both them of grinning at their first joke as a married couple, and even captured the blur of his left hand as he was whipping it back down to his side. I used my spot meter to focus and expose on the bride’s white gown, darkening the background to make the couple pop out of the frame in natural light with startling clarity. This shot made the required tour of the Cathedral superfluous. I had made my best shot right out there on the street – where somehow the best photographs usually get made.

Canon PowerShot G5
1/50s f/4.0 at 7.2mm full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Phil Douglis11-May-2007 17:34
Being in the right place at the right time is only half the battle, Alina. You have to be able to anticipate what is going to happen, and when it happens, press the shutter at the most important moment. Regarding your question of posting pictures of strangers on the internet -- I have never had a problem with it. I am not making and posting these images for profit. If I did, I would have to get permission to use such images as these. I am using them here for educational purposes, and as far as I know, there are no reasons why I can't use such images as these in this manner. If any of my subjects should object to my use of their pictures in these galleries, I would immediately remove them. I make this very clear in a disclaimer on my profile page and again on my introductory page. Here is what I say:

"This is an educational site dedicated to helping photographers all over the world learn how to make expressive travel photographs. I am grateful to the hundreds of people who I've photographed in these images. Knowingly or unknowingly, by appearing in my photos, these people are indirectly helping others to learn and grow as photographic artists. I thank them all for their help. On the other hand, I would hope that none of them will object to being in my pictures. If so, I would hasten to remove them".
Alina11-May-2007 09:29
This is funny photo. You were at right place and time. I have a question about street photography that is bothering me for a long time. Are we allowed to post a photo on internet of people that we don’t know? Did you personally ever have a problem from somebody who didn’t want to be used like that?
Phil Douglis21-Nov-2005 05:32
Thanks, Kelly, for your kind words on this image and on my commentary. I had a lot of fun with this one, and I am glad you did, too. This moment really humanized this town for me.
Guest 21-Nov-2005 04:28
fantastic, great moment in time...it definately adds more flavor to the place, and I love your commentary!
Jenny 27-Oct-2005 13:38
excellent photos, excellent descriptions.
Phil Douglis23-Oct-2005 22:27
You are welcome. That's what my cyberbook is intended to do, Samiullah. Help.
samiullah 23-Oct-2005 22:24
Thank you very much for the reply its nice to see some one helping others.
Phil Douglis22-Oct-2005 21:18
Thank you, Samiullah, for your comment and question. Most experienced digital photographers look at Photoshop as an essential tool. Very few digital images come out of camera "ready to go." Most serious photographers will reduce in-camera processing to a minimum so they can have as much control as possible over exposure, color balance, contrast, sharpening and so on. Some, if their cameras allow, will routinely shoot RAW image files, which are essentially digital negatives -- allowing them make ALL decisions over how an image will appear. I do not shoot RAW -- jpegs are fine for me. RAW processing takes more time, and is better suited to images that are going to be printed. I use my images for web display, and put all of them through Photoshop until I feel the photograph expresses what I have to say as effectively as it can. There is no fine line between "nice photos and photos made good in photoshop." All photos, as far as I am concerned, can be enhanced with Photoshop. Please note that I said "enhanced" -- not manipulated. I prefer to let the facts behind a picture ring true. I do not alter facts in Photoshop. Rather, I routinely use levels, curves, color balance, saturation, and sharpness controls in Photoshop to improve exposure, color, contrast, saturation and sharpness. I hope this helps.
samiullah 22-Oct-2005 21:02
well this is amazing picture very nice i started taking interest in photography just over 5 months i guess. One thing i am bothered about is that i have same category equipment as G5 mine is Canon A520 and read some books about photography but still my pictures dont have tha maturity as the picture of other photographer i usually end up doing high editing photoshop just to compete with the acceptable among other photos i just want to ask how much photoshop is good and if there is a fine line between nice photo and a photo made good in photoshop.
Phil Douglis11-Oct-2005 00:46
I agree. Posed images are often nothing more than pictures of people having their pictures taken. I prefer spontaneity in my images. (Posing can work well in portraiture, but I usually prefer adding context to make the pose mean more.)
Guest 10-Oct-2005 23:32

That's also one reason why "posed" shots do not have the same appeal to me. This shot reveals so much more about what they truly feel at that very moment, in my opinion.
Phil Douglis27-Sep-2004 22:45
Thanks, Lara. More incongruity for you here. The wedding photographer missed this shot -- he was already well out into the street fumbling around with his complex medium format cameras and lights as he waited to catch them being deluged in rice. He probably never even saw this moment. It just happened spontaneously -- a joke on the part of the groom. Street photography is often based on a spontaneous gesture or action that tells a story. To capture such moments requires anticipation. I stood at the very spot where this bride and groom would greet the crowd of well-wishers as man and wife. What would happen? Would I capture pride? Enthusiasm? Love? Or nothing but a smile? And this is the result. There is an old saying in photojournalism, which also holds true in street photography. "f/8 and Be There!" It was a gray afternoon, so this shot was made a f/4. But I was There!
Lara S27-Sep-2004 22:07
And I bet ya the wedding photographer is so pissed that he so missed that shot. That was a perfectly caught moment.
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