I spent most of the month walking around an area of Guangzhou called Yuexiu, the historic center of the Guangzhou. I explored three main streets – Guangzhou Revolution Road, Education Road, and Beijing Road. Street photography along these roads is not as exciting as the names of the streets suggest and I definitely prefer the old alleys I explored throughout January and February.
Weekly Street Photography Walk I
I started off the month by taking my 85mm prime for a walk trying to give it another chance but I quickly decided to put it back in my bag. 85mm is too narrow a field-of-view for my liking. Thankfully I brought along a 24-70 zoom to shoot some video and that ended up attached to my camera for the rest of the day.
As I approached the following scene, however, I started having problems. I knew I wanted to use the gateway as a frame but I couldn’t figure out where to stand and then ended up fuffing about with my zoom. I missed out on many good shots because I was not in the right place, couldn’t focus in time, and generally my mind was scattered all over the place. Although I could have done much better, this is my favorite image of the month.
Weekly Street Photography Walk II
The following week I ditched the zoom and brought along my 35mm prime and walked on and around Gaodi Road.
The light was far from great but I made do. When the sun began to set my old vintage prime lens picked up the unique colors in its own unique and washed out way.
Weekly Street Photography Walk III
On the last photo walk of the month I decided to venture up and down Beijing Road. This was a mistake as it wasn’t the best place for my “style” of photography. It is uber modern and jam packed with people. I had real difficulty composing a single shot. When the sun came down, however, it was easier for me to narrow down on some interesting compositions, and I managed to get some decent shots of smoking squid skewers.
And this gentleman shouting, what I can only assume to be: “NO SQUID FOR YOU!”.
Make sure to check out the YouTube Channel for weekly street photography walks and other videos.
Gear Used
Panasonic Lumix GX9
Lumix G Vario 12-35
Zhongyi Lens Turbo II MD-M43
Seagull Haiou 24/F2.8
Seagull Haiou 28/F2.8
Seagull Haiou 35/F2.8