Capture the people of Oxford in black and white

After spending the morning scouting for street shots against a classic spire-lined backdrop, the trio tried a more familiar high street scene. One of the most effective techniques for this type of photography is to find a spot with potential, then wait for the right people to enter the frame and set the scene.

Ash was constantly on the move around this location, photographing graffiti one minute and tourists taking family portraits the next, but spotted the possibility of an arresting shot with this sign. “I was drawn in by the way that you couldn’t see the person’s head in the frame, and the line of the lighter coloured slabs to the left, which I thought added to the composition,” he says. “But I decided to add to the composition and wait for a subject to appear to the right. I normally use an aperture of f/5.6 for my street photography, but I decided to open it a little to f/4.5, in order to create slightly more out-of-focus effect on the passing female.”

Expert opinion

This is a lovely shot that works brilliantly in black and white. There’s a natural flow to the image, with the entry point being the ‘headless’ figure, then up through the sign, following the arrow to the right and down to the pedestrian glancing at Ash. That flow wouldn’t work as well in colour.

We like the documentary approach Ash has adopted here; although it doesn’t have the obvious Oxford trimmings of John’s picture, it’s a situation that most of us can relate to.