I have a great example of a street portrait and street photography today. We are on Calle Obispo (Obispo Street), a popular shopping area in Old Havana. I saw a group of lovely young women walking down the street, and I zoomed to my maximum 70mm to make a candid street photograph of the group. They were unaware that I had taken the picture.

Then, as they got closer, I asked them if I could make a portrait. I used the same exposure settings for both, but shifted to a wider 38mm, as seen above. You can notice the difference in compression when looking behind the group. The background buildings below at 70mm look closer.

I love both photographs and can’t decide which I like better. But they are a great example of the difference between the typically candid nature of street photography and the more controlled nature of a portrait with permission. Normally, I would present the second picture first, in the sequence in which they were taken. However, to be consistent with the portraits from the previous two posts, I opted to present the portrait first, then the candid.

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