During February, I wanted to do more street/on-location portrait sessions on daylight. Photographing on a busy street or responding to a location pushes me to work harder; so introducing myself to the sunny 16 rule was an eye opener as it allows me to get better interaction with the subject, and not worry too much about camera settings.

The best results I get when doing street photography are when I roam the streets without any pressure, and in February I limited my street photo walks to an hour before meeting with a model. Now I see that’s the wrong approach because it makes it even more difficult to pay attention to what I’m doing. Nonetheless, the few chances I photographed in the street helped me gain a little more confidence; it made me less intimidated and more receptive to shapes and color. In addition to the sunny 16 rule, I also need to get better at estimating distances between the subject and my camera to become more proficient with zone focusing.

Halfway in the month, I was able to add a new film camera to my kit, but more than a camera, I wanted to experience 6x6 framing with medium format film. So I purchased a Yashica Mat EM. To learn more about that camera, I suggest watching this video by A.M Brikaer where he gives some good insight into how it works. So far, my only complaint about that camera is that it doesn’t focus well at a short distance, so it's not my ideal choice for film portraits, other than that, it is a joy composing with the Yashica Mat EM, and I think it will be my camera of choice for while when going out for a walk.

As March begins, I’m excited to put more attention to those techniques so I can become better with making decisions on the spot.