hi YouTube welcome back to the channel, and welcome back to the next instalment
of the cheap camera challenge, when we find out whether this little canon x90
can produce the goods it takes some decent street photos. As I've decided that street photography
was going to be the challenge for the little canon, I decided to pick a venue I knew would
be suitable, and that was Newcastle because I've shot straight photography there before.
So before I left what I did was I set up the camera in manual mode, I set the ISO to
100. I set the aperture to 5.6 now the idea of that was to give a reasonable depth of field
because this camera has a smaller sensor than your average aps-c or full-frame camera it's
generally going to generate a greater depth of failed anyway. So rather than use the standard
walk-around setting which I believe is around f8 on a full frame or a APSC, I've tried to
compensate that by backing it off a little bit and that was going to hopefully give me a reasonable
depth of field, not too shallow but not too great so I could slightly isolate some of my subjects.
I then set the front dial to exposure compensation and the rear dial to the shutter speed.
One last thing I found when I was playing with the camera that the s90 was quite difficult to
hold on to in this position. If you're cueing up to take a vertical shot you'd need two hands
and that was down to the very smooth paint work that the camera has been given from the factory,
so what I did was quite simply in a very cheap mod it was to stick some grip tape
to the front of the camera body there. I mean it was pennies to do and it's actually transformed
the camera you can really get a good grip of it now. So of course the best way to decide whether
this camera is actually a good camera for street photography and actually worth that £16 investment
is to take it out and use it and take photographs which is what I've done. So here's the proof of
the pudding, I'm going to show you the photographs now and I'm going to talk through those and yeah
see what you think. So first shot of the day and it's the underpass at Heworth metro station
two figures ahead of me and I just exposed with the highlights and it's giving a nice silhouette
yeah quite like this image. This gentleman was waiting for the bus and he just caught my eye
mainly because of the unusual way his rucksack was over his shoulders obviously he's wearing a face
mask sunglasses a hat it was quite a warm day so he looks a bit overdressed for the occasion.
These next two shots were taken through the glass panels of the bus shelter itself there was a an
applied graphic to glass panes and I thought it made an interesting sort of mask to shoot through,
yeah quite like these shots something a bit different I thought. This next shot was
just a chap stood there waiting for the bus but quite like the way that the shadow fell across
half of the image in a diagonal, just just like the like where the light was in this particular
shot so that's why I included this one. This next shot was the first shot I took when we'd arrived
in Newcastle city centre and it was just a candid shot while I was walking towards this people
I don't think they're actually a couple I think the bloke actually emerges from behind
the lady in the wheelchair. I just like the way she's glancing over the dog, it's a shame about
the lens flare caused by the light bouncing off those information boards in the background really
quite like it. I like the perspective on it this really wide angle because of the 20 millimetre
wide angle lens on this camera. This next shot I've included just because I like the composition
ideally. I really wanted somebody to be stepping into that reflection on the left-hand side of the
image but this is sort of one of those shots you take so that you can come back to next time you're
here and hopefully you get the shot you really want. I thought it included because it's just
it's fantastic a bit of architecture anyway. This next shot I've taken a similar shot before looking
out from Windows Arcade out towards the Grainger Market and as people pass by the opening to the
doorway. Yeah it makes for a good shot I think, this time I quite like it because the lamp was
actually illuminated for a change which is quite unusual. I did walk past later on and it had been
switched off so I'm pleased to have got the shot when I did. It's also a bit of a shame about the
two easels at the front which have got Covid information on them which kind of clutter the
doorway a bit, but you know, it is what it is, you can't help what the situation is at the moment.
Next image well I could detect that for several reasons the grand architecture in the background,
bright colourful window addressing of Eldon Square, the guy busking just in front of
the doorway but what really attracted me was the light reflected back down under the pavement there
illuminating that section. Again it could have been better could have had somebody walking into
that area that would have been spot on you know that would have been the perfect image I think
from this shot but you know that didn't happen. I still quite like this one. This shot I think
could have been a whole lot better, I didn't really feel like approaching Joe, obviously
he's called, but yeah I should have already gone up to him and asked him if he'd mind having a
little portrait done. I could have got that in with that fantastic spotty background behind
him would have been quite good I think, yeah a bit of a regret with this shot but it's okay.
This shot I took because I quite liked the way that the shadows were being cast
across the street and that portion of light was illuminating the doorway with the woman having,
obviously a break, having a cigarette or something. Quite like it, quite like the
way that the double yellow lines sort of bring your eye into the centre of the shot as well.
This photo, all bit further along from the earlier shot and again it's all about light
and this was the reflections under the floor from the window of the department store opposite. I did
think I'd actually missed this shot because the chap walking was quite brisk and thought
by the time the shot had gone off I thought he'd actually pass me by and hadn't got it,
so I was quite pleased when I got back and had a look at the images and and there he was captured.
This alley was really good I ended up coming back to this alley
later on when the light was even better and I'll show you those photos later on.
This next shot was just one of those shots where you juxtapose your subject with some advertising
in the background and they say there's the sports shop in the background with the
built-a-run slogan on it and this poor old dear, she was very arthritic. I think um
she was really struggling and yeah it was kind of ironic I suppose the the two were together
an interesting image anyway. this shot really frustrated me I was determined to get the
reflection of the drummer and struggling to to get it to look symmetrical, still isn't but it is
what it is, and yeah it's something to practice with next time. I think it's probably hard to
believe but this shot was taken on Newcastle's busiest street, Northumberland Street and this
lady was selling sort of balloons, doing balloon modelling that type of thing, dressed as a clown,
yeah I thought just a weird image so I took it anyway. I don't think she was too
chuffed I was taking a photograph but it was public place so took the shot and walked on.
This chap was completely oblivious to me when I took his photograph.
He was busy on his phone talking to somebody, and yeah I just thought of it wasn't a shot I was 100%
with the composition but I do see what I was trying to get there you've got the circles for
distancing circles providing a sort of a leading line that's going away from them but it kind
of makes a reverse l it kind of comes down and sort of leads into him, I don't know if it works
quite like the reflections in the stone work as well beside them and obviously the reflections and
all the windows so it's it's it's got a quality about not 100% sure it works. These next shots
were taken in the local bus station and I was initially trying to take photographs of the people
within the bus station and everybody seemed to be quite perturbed that I was photographing them,
so instead I looked for alternative compositions and just saw this patch of light
at the entrance and the shadow which made a nice sort of division across the diagonal
and I just took a few shots and these were the three which I preferred I think the first
one's my favourite, I just like the light catching the back of the girl going through
as well as a leg, yeah the shadow of the the next person entering that light.
They're all very similar sort of compositions but yeah the first one I think definitely my
favourite, although I was quite happy to get a good shadow with that third shot.
This shot was taken on Percy Street and it's at the back of the shopping centre. What I
loved about this shot was the shadow and also the glass bridge sort of a walkway above the
road that's got a nice reflection in it and it kind of complements the shapes on the pavement
I took quite a few shots here but this was the one I was most happy with.
It's got good shadows from the people and I like the fact that the the lights sort of
in the back of them. It was an interesting shot to take because I had the security guard
and cleaner from the shopping centre sort of giving me the evils while I was doing it
but as I was on public land, just on the outskirts of their territory there's nothing they could do
about that. This shot may be the photo of the day. I'd walked past Black Friars in Newcastle,
uh which is just off Stowell Street and came through an alleyway, and there was a cobbled area
which I thought quite like the look of. I turned back and noticed this huge patch of light and
how it worked quite well with the lines from the pavement and dual yellow lines going up in one way
and this was contrasting going the other way and so I just stood there for five ten minutes just to
see who came past after a few missed attempts this guy walked through I managed to catch his shadow
just at the right point pointing back to the opposite corner. Yeah really happy with that shot.
With this shot I was expecting somebody to walk past the shop and then I just noticed
this guy heading towards me on his bike. I didn't really have a lot of time to mess about the camera
settings, just took the shots and hope for the best basically. I think it came out all right.
I like the irony that it's a running shop when he's on his bike. So we're back to the
Central Arcade but coming at it from the other direction and looking out towards Grey Street,
I just stopped there, I like the archway, i like the pillar and just wait for somebody to walk into
the shot downgrade street which just happened to manage to capture that guy just before he
passed by the black bin in the background which would have been a bit of a disaster.
oh yeah this next shot I thought I was going to get filled in by this guy I just spotted
his shirt, I thought yep August, hot day, you know British summer thought it'd be a good shot
and as they kind of approached him he was kept walking and I just fired off a couple of shots
and he looked at me like that, and uh yeah I don't think he was too happy about it but
that's street photography in it. Sometimes get people to object and sometimes they're quite happy
to be in your photographs. This shot's fairly self-explanatory just good shadows basically and
I just thought I'd capture those in an image. Okay in this shot we're going back to the alley outside
Fenwick's department store and the light had changed quite drastically from the previous
shots I'd taken. The sun to come round and was now illuminating the tiled wall at the side of
the building which gave sort of this great light and you still have the reflections from above
from the windows, coming down into the street, but it gave a nice sort of distinct contrast to
this orange band and I just like these shots so they're a set of I think five images there
pretty much similar compositions. Some portrait, some landscape and yeah just waiting for people
to walk into the shots and and into the right positions quite like these shots.
So this is the final shot of the day and it's in the same alleyway a bit further along and
again we're playing with light and shadows, this woman was just stood having a break using a mobile
phone quite oblivious to me walking around taking photographs to be honest. I was able to compose
this shot quite like the reflections of the light on the opposite wall and obviously the perspective
here you're getting the leading lines from the bollards and the double yellow lines there.
So which shots were your favourite I'd like you to comment and tell me which one's your favourites
in the comments below that'd be great. I'll chat now about the camera itself. I was quite impressed
with the colours the canon produced, they were quite vibrant even in the raw format that I shot
in and I didn't have to enhance them too much. Yes could have done with a few more megapixels, 10
megapixels it's not so bad but in a compact camera like this with a quite small lens then yes, it is
noticeable in in the distance you do get a little bit of noise and finally i did have run into a few
focussing issues with the camera. Now I'm not sure if that was down to operator, I've tried it since
and it's worked so I don't know whether it was the conflicting settings I'd put into the camera or
as I said the operator. Yeah I mean I love some of these shots quite happy with them
and definitely worthy little camera. So back to the start of this series I asked the question
does photography have to be so expensive? Sure if you're a pro and you have to keep
up with your competition, so you know you've got to be buying the best gear, but for us hobbyists
I think this demonstrates that there is an entry point to into photography at even the lowest
point in the ladder. If you've enjoyed this video then please give it a thumbs up
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Speaking of which, if you'd like to check out another video or two mine I'll be putting these
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