People | MiKS Media Photography

Hip shooting Fuji and 23mm Fuji lens in Las Vegas – Street Photography

by Mac Sokulski | Apr 14, 2014 | Art, Fuji X, People, Urban

Fuji to the rescue?

Street photography was never easy for me. I’m too big of a chicken, when it comes to pointing a camera, even a little Fuji X-E1 at strangers. It seems to me that every time I point a camera at someone on the the street, they will come over and beat me up, to a pulp. I like the work of people like Bruce Gilden, but I don’t have the guts to confront strangers like that. My way is discreet. I do a lot of hip shooting, or using long telephoto lens from a safe location 🙂 . Hip shooting is a gamble, specially when using a new focal length, which I’m not used to. This was the case when I mounted the Fujinon 23mm on the Fuji X-E1, and tried hip shooting the Freemont Street in Las Vegas.

Missed Opportunities

I’m used to hip shooting street photography, with a wider lens, so a lot of shots with the 23mm Fujinon lens were misses. Horrible misses. I knew starting this experiment I would need some practice, and it showed. Still, I was able to catch a few interesting frames, and didn’t get beat up… I think I can count that as a success 🙂 . Fuji X cameras are perfect for this type of shooting. They are small discreet and quiet. People do not notice you as much. It’s not like having a big white Canon lens. Maybe this summer I will be able to go out practice more hip shooting, and aiming my camera properly. Here are some of the shots I captured in Las Vegas. Enjoy!

Freemont street in Las Vegas to scantily dressed police women are crossing the street

freemont street in Las Vegas women exiting a store having a drink

freemont street las vegas a homeless disabled man sitting under a marquee

las vegas three women in striped dresses crossing the street carrying m&m candy bags

las vegas mother and daughter enjoying a rest on a busy street

las vegas a boy looking up in wonder on a busy street

Candid Beach People – Street Photography

by Mac Sokulski | Mar 31, 2014 | Art, Fuji X, People

Street Photography… what streets?!?

I don’t know if you can call this street photography, as there are no streets really… so what do you call beach people photography? I guess I’ll stick with street photography, since to me that definition basically says, that these are candid photos of people. Just the setting is a bit different from a street…. it’s a beach. Anyhow, now that we got this out of the way, let’s continue. I really enjoy photographing people. I am normally the biggest introvert you’ll ever meet, and going out among people and taking their photo, scares the crap out of me. I’m usually the creepy creep, training my lens on you, from far away 🙂

Candid Photography

When people are not aware that you are taking their picture, they behave as they normally would. The moment they spot a camera pointed at them, their behaviour changes instantly. They either hide, give you a fake smile, or just pretend to ignore you, but their natural behaviour, that moment, vanishes with out a trace. This is why I try to use either a very wide angle lens, or a long zoom. The wide angle is perfect for hip shooting. What I mean by that is, you pretend to adjust settings on your camera, and without raising the camera to your eye, you take a photo. Or you carry the camera nonchalantly in your hand, and point in the general direction and hope for the best. Wide angle lenses are best suited for this, as it is hard to miss the subject. Other lenses require lots of practice, to know exactly where to point to get that awesome image. Changing from a 17mm to a 35mm lens had disastrous effects, as none of the hip shooting images came out. I just didn’t know how to aim the lens properly. So my tip to you is… try hip shooting, or find some balls and don’t be afraid of people 😀

Here is some examples of beach street shooting, enjoy!

Hippies – Edmonton Couple Lifestyle Photography

by Mac Sokulski | Jul 26, 2013 | Couples, People

Today on the blog we have a very rare sight…. Hippies in Alberta. They are usually hard to spot, and observe in the wild. They sometimes migrate from bordering province of British Columbia, but not very often. The reason for this is that they are usually called Tree Huggers (lat. trunkus humpus), and Alberta being a prairie province does not have a lot of trees to hug, so they become very disoriented and either perish or quickly return to the west coast. The Hippies are usually a happy bunch, and this couple I’ve spotted have been behaving rather conservatively, like any Albertan should 🙂 There were no unwarranted displays of nudity, love, or grass smoking… I believe they might have been in the initial stages of disorientation.

Let’s Go Skiing – Edmonton Lifestyle Photography

by Mac Sokulski | Jul 24, 2013 | Art, Couples, People

Alberta skiers are a hardy bunch. Even lack of snow and generally hot temperatures of a brief summer season, does not deter them from putting on some skis and going for a run. I happened on a couple of them training. It was quite an sight. Lucky I my cameras with me to document the event.
Some of you might find it silly, but I had this idea for a very long time. I think the main problem with realizing it, was finding someone crazy enough to actually do it. I finally found that person and the little project could go ahead. It was a lot of fun shooting it. I can finally cross it out of my projects….. or can I? 🙂 Looking at the images after, I think I could go one step further, expand on the idea. Hmmm…. rusted gears in my head are starting to spin, I just hope I don’t break anything 🙂 For now I’ll let you enjoy the current project….

Being… – Art Photography

by Mac Sokulski | Jun 18, 2013 | Art, People

As you can see from the title, I had a tough time classifying these images. They could be part of a boudoir set, or part of an lifestyle series studying the human form. Thus I decided on art, as it is very general :). I guess the only thing that suffers here is my SEO, I think I can live with that. I just really like these images, and even though they don’t fall into any theme (I personally called them Yoga), I still wanted to show them to you. There is something about them that is calming, peaceful…. I let you judge for your self. Enjoy!

Portraits done a little differently – Portrait Photography

by Mac Sokulski | Jun 17, 2013 | Art, People

In the last post I was talking about lifestyle photography. Today I wanted to talk about portrait photography. I know that some look at portraits in a very traditional way. I, on the other hand, have a bit of a different view. I guess you can call them more candid, or lifestyle… I find that a traditional portraits can be really beautiful, I like to add a little extra emotion or story. Some may not call these portraits at all. I like to engage the subject in a conversation, and during our dialogue take the photographs. We usually joke around, which allows for the genuine smiles to appear. I also like to include elements from the environment, which then really becomes an environmental portrait. All these names, in reality do make a difference. Here are some examples of what I mean. Enjoy!