Capture a typical Portobello Road street scene
Challenge 1 Vidya Rada
Having decided to tackle Portobello Road Market from its top end, we walked across from our rendezvous at Ladbroke Grove Underground station. Shooting in the middle of a working week, hordes of market-goers weren’t going to pose a problem for us, but there were still plenty of tourists and casual shoppers taking in this popular and quirky spot.
Some of them would shortly go on to model for us, alongside local residents who were largely unfussed by our participants flitting around and scoping potential shots.
From the start, Imran and Vidya each adopted a different approach. Vidya was happy to trust her 50mm fixed focal length, while Imran went for a little more versatility with his 24-105mm zoom. It wasn’t long before both were capturing some pleasing street photography. One thing that struck us was just how polite and accommodating the general public and the market traders were. It seemed that they were all friendly and happy to appear in a photo or two. “This shot seems to reflect the mood of the market, where everyone seems so busy with their activities,” says Vidya. “Maybe I should have tried this when there were more people.”
Expert opinion
There’s a lot happening in this image, and nearly all of it falls across a central band: the flower seller, the motorbike, the man walking and, finally, the photographer on the right. They’re all oblivious to each other, and are part of Portobello Road’s charm.
One problem that manifested itself early on was being able to compose a shot without an empty road or a line of white vans parked at the kerb. So what better solution than an iconic London black cab showing up right on cue and filling the empty space? After all, street photography is all about various elements coming together at a given moment.
“I didn’t notice the taxi until the very last second, but thankfully it all worked out,” says Imran. “I would have liked it to have been a bit closer, so you could see more of the curve of the road behind, but overall I’m pretty pleased with the end result.”
Expert opinion
Another great street scene with a lot to enjoy – the flags, taxi, people and shop canopies draw this entire image together and leave you wanting to keep looking.
Challenge 2 Vidya Rada
We asked our participants to shoot images corresponding to three themes, but the results from the first two were the most successful.
For the portrait challenge, Vidya came across this happy face soon after arriving at the market, so knew it would be her first subject. Having approached Marcia to get her permission, Vidya could then think about how she wanted to frame the shot.
“The market is a very lively place and offers a wide variety of street photography scenes,” she recalls. “I really enjoyed the day – it was fun and challenging at the same time.”
Expert opinion
It’s hard not to feel instantly happy when you look at this photograph. Vidya has perfectly captured the spirit and sunny disposition of this market trader as she sells natural soaps and oils by her stall. It’s a posed image, but feels really natural.
After some refreshments and a quick review of the images taken so far, we carried on to the junction with Westbourne Grove. As we arrived, a shop owner started to talk to a stall holder about passers-by not respecting the ‘No Photo’ sign in their window. We had complied with the sign, but it was a reminder that you can’t take everything for granted in these times of ‘peak photo’.
Turning around and heading back up Portobello Road, the mild temperature and sunshine had combined to coax some pubgoers onto the street, and Imran soon spotted this man and his dog relaxing over a pint.
“I was drawn to this chap, as I thought he had an interesting face and the pair of them would make a good subject,” says Imran. “He was more than happy to pose for a few shots – if his dog had sat still and looked at the camera, then it would have been perfect!”
So all in all, was it a good day out for Imran? “Having lived in London most of my life, it was great to go somewhere I’d never been before and take some pictures,” he says. “Although we were set some informal challenges for the day, it added focus to the shoot and meant we had to think about which shots we were taking and why.”
Expert opinion
The dominant colour palette of blue and grey works really well in this image, as do the warmth of the dog’s coat and the wooden furniture. The opposing colours of the interior lights behind the subject combine well to help freeze a brief moment in time of someone’s day on Portobello Road.