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Photo Breakdown #5 with David Rubin

David Rubin is a Dallas-based photographer specializing in Street Photography from around the world, especially Europe and Asia. He has had 4 exhibitions in Dallas at Zhens Music and Art Institute, where he also teaches photography for kids, hoping to inspire the same passion behind the camera. He has also shown twice in San Antonio during the city-wide Foto Septiembre as well as participating in numerous collectives. David has also held 2 exhibits in Paris, France where he continues to be a photographer of record for the Centre de Danse du Marias.

Listen to the episode to learn some insights into the story and inspiration behind one of his street photographs from France and the mystery woman within.

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Transcription was done by Descript or Rev’s automated transcription services which means it’s an AI-generated transcript. The transcript may contain spelling, grammar, and other errors, and is not a substitute for listening to the episode.

David Rubin: My name is David Rubin, and this is the photo breakdown.

Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Photo breakdown is a podcast where I talk with a photographer, sharing the story of a specific photograph technique or business when I’m your host, Scott Wyden Kivowitz and this is the photo breakdown. Let’s break it down. Today, I’m sitting down with David Rubin to talk about this really cool photograph that he has.

And while I’m not gonna give anything away because we will get to it. But it is a gorgeous black and white photograph that I’m excited to learn more about. Hey David, how are you doing today?

David Rubin: Doing great.

Scott Wyden Kivowitz: How about yourself? I’m doing well. Staying inside as much as possible. I actually have a pandemic wetter.

Late tonight. I’m glad it’s tonight and not today because not during the day, because it’s so disgustingly hot outside right now that I’m glad that the sun is going to be going down when this wedding happens. Yeah.

David Rubin: I live in Dallas, Texas, so I’m with you on that.

Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah. So I’ve got two questions for you.

Sure. The first, what are you? Not very good.

David Rubin: Podcast. Yeah, no. As far as

Scott Wyden Kivowitz: photography, just in general, just so people get to know you,

David Rubin: what am I not very good at? I’m not very good at being organized. It’s I’m the guy that, like I like Einstein. The thing about a messy desk is, rhino, it’s a sign of a cluttered mind or not the sign or whatever, but I know where everything is, but I just can’t seem to quite get to it.

So there’s that

Scott Wyden Kivowitz: right? Okay. Yeah. I, you know what I like to say that I’m organized in certain ways. I’ve got OCD in certain ways. For example, when I put my, I did a whole video on this a while, a long while ago, When I put my lenses on my shelf, I’ve got to put them a certain way. They have to be a certain way and they have to be in, I have to be in like focal length order too, which

David Rubin: is ridiculous.

Very anal retentive, I can say. Yeah.

Scott Wyden Kivowitz: But then if you look at the shelf, otherwise it’s a hot mess. So that’s really interesting. Okay. Second question. What are you most proud of?

David Rubin: What almost obviously I’d have to say my two boys because I have two sons, 1 19, 1 17, and they’re just awesome kids.

So I have to say out of the way, in case you ever listened to this, which they probably won’t. But I think what I’m most proud of, I’m going to have to go in photography is my street photography. And it’s my passion and pandemic has slowed that down for me quite a bit because it’s, I don’t like to use the word travel photography.

I just happened to do it traveling. But yeah, I, I started. This business late, it’s only by, I’ve only been a quote unquote professional photographer for about nine years, but I’ve had eight shows and, I do other forms of photography, but I had, I think my fine art, my street photography is what I’m really the most proud of.

Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Awesome. Yeah. I looked at your portfolio. There’s a lot of great stuff there. The one we’re talking to be talking about today in particular actually does fall into, I believe the trial. It category, but it’s still street photos. Of course it

David Rubin: does, but there’s a. When you want me to get into the backstory, it’s kinda cool.

But I hear again, you’re

Scott Wyden Kivowitz: driving where we dive in this episode is sponsored by my lead generation course for photographers called more leads more clients. Yes. If you would like to increase the leads you’re generating on your photography site, you can use the strategies I teach in my course, access [email protected] slash Lee.

So let’s break down the photo.

Where was this photo? Okay.

David Rubin: The, that was photographed in Paris

Scott Wyden Kivowitz: and. And what time period was this? Was it recent or a while ago?

David Rubin: That was fun wrapped in 2014. And I have a I have a live used to live in Paris years ago and I taught school there and I go back quite often and it’s like my home away from home.

So that’s usually my jumping off point to traveling. And but there, I just, it was in the spring of 2014 and. For spring break, I told my wife, you’re going to keep the kids and I’m just going to photograph. And that’s what I did. So I just, and I actually. During that picture, there was a street photographer that I saw on Facebook and I’m trying like, heck to remember his name and I think his last name as well.

And he was, he just had some awesome pictures, mostly monuments and things like that. But so I messaged him and I said, Hey, I’m going to come over. And would you mind meeting with me? And we can hang out and go shoot. And he said, yeah, sure. Why not? So we did. And it was with him that I photograph that and He taught me several things.

Some I use some I don’t. But do you want, can I get into those or

Scott Wyden Kivowitz: So yeah, before we do that though, let’s briefly describe this photo. So w what I’m looking at right now is a gorgeous black and white at the tonal quality. And this is absolutely stunning. And there’s this sort of outdoor hallway with arches going all down.

This path, right? For a

David Rubin: greater, for your readers. It might be familiar with Paris. This was in the sixth hour and small right close to the Luxembourg. It’s where the Senate is. And there are these, there’s the Senate building is actually on two different streets and there’s arches going that way that you see.

And then behind me going the other way as well.

Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Okay. And then, so there’s some cool, lights, light coming through from the gaps in these arches and whatnot. But what’s what really makes the photograph. At least in my opinion, is this woman. You can’t, I don’t even know what she’s doing.

It looks like she’s like peeking in to see what’s going on was

David Rubin: well, that’s what I have to get. That’s why I’m in the story, because it basically taught me, you said you can set your camera Fletcher, ISO and lock your lens down to the widest point and shoot pass and put a f-stop at 16 or 32 or whatever.

And that’s probably about what those settings are. But he, and we did this, like you said, you find an interesting spot and then you wait and you wait if I’m going to, if there’s an orange wall, I’m gonna wait for a person in your orange shirt to walk by and it can be 10 minutes. It could be an hour and a half.

And we were. There. He was actually just behind me and I said, okay, so we’re going to wait. And right then that lady poked her head in and I just threw up my camera and shot it. And he looked at me, he went, I, and Fred, these are your shit. He goes, we got male. He said, you got that. And I did. And I said, y’all okay, because let’s face it.

When you’re doing street photography, it’s a lot of it’s luck. You get your camera set, you get, yeah. Happy accidents or lucky accidents. And that’s one of them and I’ve actually sold quite a few of those because it needs different things to different people. So it actually, Ruth Buzzie is was a TV actress in a 67.

She lives close by here and she has one. Okay.

Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Did this a woman wind up walking down there or did she just walk in and then walk away?

David Rubin: Hope helped him right back. And that was good. And so immediately on chimping and looking on the back and he comes over and looks at you. Yeah, that’s a winner.

And so it, obviously I edited, I was tilted too much and and I didn’t shoot it in black and white, so I converted it. And thanks. But that’s just kinda, if you look, a lot of my things where I stopped, I looked on a shoot that because when you do street photography, I only take one, maybe two shots and that’s a,

Scott Wyden Kivowitz: yeah.

The, the yeah. What he was talking to you about with, setting the fixed focal length, focal, focus point and fixed opportunities. So that’s cool. So that’s called the zone focusing. I, oddly enough, I just, I brought that up in episode three with James Mayer. Cause he’s also a street photographer.

He, he, I know that he does a lot of some focusing. And so I actually asked him if his photo was in particular was zone focused. But,

David Rubin: And I don’t shoot like that anymore. I do, I, he basically said you put it on infinity. I was shot with the first one. Version of the Canon 60, which I think is one of the best value cameras out there, and don’t only shoot with it anymore, but it’s a great camera.

And the 24 to 72.8 and it was set, on, I guess is zone focusing. It’s first library is just set to infinity. So basically whatever you shoot is going to be in focus. And the ISO is I think, 5,000 on it.

Scott Wyden Kivowitz: It’s interesting that, so you use a DSLR. And zoom lens. That’s very interesting for somebody who has a lot of street photography, because it’s not common.

It’s not like a bad thing. I’m not saying it’s bad at all. I’m just saying it’s different than what most street. That’s why I find it. Interesting.

David Rubin: That’s what I did then right now I shoot with the the Canaan . And I usually for, if I’m out on the street, it’s just an 85, 1 0.2 or 1.4.

Scott Wyden Kivowitz: So that’s more, yeah, that’s more alone, a small camera and usually a prime or short, a short zoom or something.

David Rubin: I go out and I shoot with the 50. I just, I don’t like it as much as the 85.

Scott Wyden Kivowitz: My, so my go-to, whenever I do street is either 35 or 85. I’ll swap it depending. I love my favorite food. By far it’s 35 millimeter. I love it.

David Rubin: I’ve heard a lot of people do I need to get one? I don’t have five, so yeah.

Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah.

But it is hard for street photography to do, to use the 35. Because if you’re doing the type where you’re like right up next to a person, sure. It works well because you’re getting it. You’re, you’re practically right in their face. But if you’re trying to do it from a distance, obviously you can’t get closeups.

You’ve got.

David Rubin: You gotta tell the story more. That’s what I’ve been advised photographers is one thing. If you’re like I photographed a I spent a lot of time in China because my wife is Chinese. And I photograph, for example, a beggar on the strategy game, some money. And I said, just stay there.

Cause I’m going to take your picture. And I took it with, I think it was still the 60 and probably the 85 and I focused in on him and he’s got praying hands. And that’s a great shot, but when I actually got my portfolio critiqued and the, I said, yes, a great shot, but that could be in Ohio for all. I know you don’t have anything else.

And I say he’s right. I needed to show the temple behind him or whatever it was. And I didn’t, I focused in on him. So that’s, I guess that’s how we learn.

Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah. Yeah, of course. So with this photo so you, you photograph it in color, you did some angle adjustments, which is, everybody does it.

The columns though, those columns have a lot of. Gradation in them and texture in them. I’m wondering if you did a bunch of dodging and burning to bring that out or? Nope. It was just that

David Rubin: textures. I think what they call noise because when you’re shooting at 5,000, it’s going to be a little bit noisy.

I should pull that photograph up and look at it so I can remember it. That’s but no that I did not Dodge and burn on that. In fact, no, I didn’t. I think a lot of that is, and you might think at the very end we’re, it’s light, you were showing him, but I didn’t do any Dodger burning.

That’s not really, it’s not straight out of camera. I can’t say that, but I think I might’ve highlight might’ve bumped the shadows up a little bit and the highlights and down a little bit, but not, I, it was global. It wasn’t on any certain.

Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Interesting. Yeah that, that speaks volumes for the the exposure of the columns in particular.

That was probably the, what was more Technically, but who’s to cares about technical more technically exposed. Correct. You know what I mean?

David Rubin: Interesting. One of the really great things about this picture, and this is hard to do see, and I think from bay, my emotion, but the lady’s face is not showing because that’s no, in France you can’t do that.

You can’t they have a thing called Raleigh match, which means. For example, here, I take this, I take a picture. I own the copyright and I can do not what I want with it because I can’t really market it or I can’t, but I do have rights to that photo in France, you take somebody’s picture. They have all rights to that photo, you don’t.

And I’ve been warned by people. You gotta be careful and you can’t, show faces and stuff and they can come back and Sue you and I’ve heard horror stories or whatever. But what I liked about this one is I got what I wanted. No, there’s absolutely. No hassle. Nobody knows who this lady is. And the very first photograph I ever did is the one I showed him my portfolio after that, where I have a bicyclist going down in a row of trees.

And it’s it’s the you don’t see his face. And, but it conveyed exactly what I wanted. The grass kind of white and people were like, is it smell? And I’m like, yeah, if you want it to be snow, But it’s not, that’s what you want. It’s snow. And see that picture. I’m going to digress. I remember. I love backstory.

So that picture, I w that was in 2012 and I was hosting some of my Chinese family in Paris. And that trip, I call five Asians, two half-breeds in a Jew, and that’s where it was. And we were all not on the same page. I had some friends come up from the south and I put all of the other people on a bus to go out to their side.

Cause I want to go for the hunky time. And he and I were walking. Up to the shows that he say, and we’re walking, I see this bicycle. I said, Craig, just wait a moment to take this picture. I took the picture off. We went, I didn’t think anything of it. And my first show, I blew that up and framed it. First guy that walked in said, I’ll take it.

And I’m like, wow. Great. What a rush to actually sell something you’ve photographed.

Scott Wyden Kivowitz: It’s also the type of, yeah we’re talking about a different photo for everybody. Who’s listening. We’re talking about a different photo right now. But but that photo with the cyclist is, in particular, anybody who’s obsessed with bicycles in general would, would buy that photograph.

That’s

David Rubin: bicycles. So red door, so any can red cells and color photography. If you have something that’s red itself. Look, I have to tell you I, wasn’t always a photographer. I grew up in the clothing business and did that for 30 years. And. I knew about markets. I knew about marketing and your merchandising colors, things like that.

And most of all, I knew about retail because it, if we’re selling pictures, we’re in the retail business. And I figured out pretty quick, a lot of the color photography I was selling had red in it, red seems to sell. And so I made a point to go photograph right there.

Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Awesome. Thank you.

David’s so much for breaking down this photo with me. I have another question for you. Yes, sir. What should I have asked you, but didn’t

David Rubin: oh man you, these thought provoking questions.

Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah. I liked it. I liked to throw a bone into it.

David Rubin: Yeah, you do. What should you have asked me that you didn’t How tall am I?

I don’t know.

Scott Wyden Kivowitz: You know what that’s, how tall are you?

David Rubin: I’m shrinking, I’m getting older. So five maybe, oh really? Yeah. How old are you, sir?

Scott Wyden Kivowitz: I am just shy of 40.

David Rubin: Okay. Now I’m 65. So yeah, Medicare year and yeah it’s you get you could ask me how I got into photography.

That would have been a good. Sure. How’d you get into photography? Because, as I said, I was in the clothing business and my wife worked for at T and T where we lived in San Antonio which is my hometown. And we decided to move here for a career. And so I gave up mine because, working spouse.

Don’t always have it, the best tax wise and things like that. I needed to do something that was going to mirror my kids and I taught and I translated because I speak a few languages. And did the sergeants or photography. Clicked on. They’d always done it. My first camera was a Canon TX back in the film days.

And photography started to take off and I’m photographing around schools are asking me to do portraits and I’d always done, Artsy kind of pictures. And pretty soon that became a full-time job, but a full-time job that I could control, especially hours wise. So I got to, I’m very fortunate because I got to go into a career.

I really like and also got to raise my voice. So I wouldn’t give that up for anything.

Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah. Yeah. That’s awesome. So where can our listeners connect with you online?

David Rubin: My if they Google me, they’ll probably come up with my SmugMug site, but I only use that for galleries and selling and things like that.

Cause it’s, I’m not smart enough to make it look good, but I do have a portfolio and it’s just David Ruben photography and it’s R U B I N a.zenfolio.com. And. You find me on Facebook, you can find me on Instagram, just David Rubin photography. And not that hard to find me.

Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Awesome. Thank you for listening to the photo breakdown for the show notes and to see the photo shared today.

Visit photo breakdown.com.

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Comments

16 responses to “Photo Breakdown #5 with David Rubin”

  1. I give up! How do I see the image he is taking about?

    1. Click on the button that says “See the photo” :-)

  2. This conversation has reignited my passion for photography! David’s journey from the clothing business to becoming a dedicated photographer is incredibly inspiring. It’s a reminder that creativity often stems from unexpected paths.

  3. Thalia Avatar

    The way David captures moments in time, especially with his black and white photography, is nothing short of poetic. His story about waiting for just the right moment encapsulates the patience required in street photography, making it an art form that requires both skill and serendipity.

    1. Cassius Avatar

      Absolutely! The interplay between light and shadow in his work adds such depth. It’s this meticulous attention to detail that elevates street photography into something truly remarkable.

  4. Jdavies Avatar

    David Rubin is amazing. I love how he does street photography. Its the best.

  5. Anthony Avatar

    I was truly impressed by David’s candid reflection on his growth as a photographer. The blend of personal narrative with technical discussion is a testament to how deeply intertwined our experiences are with our art.

  6. Dcampbell Avatar
    Dcampbell

    I wish I could take pictures like David Rubin. He is very good.

  7. David Rubin’s insights into the subtleties of street photography are both enlightening and inspiring. His ability to capture the essence of a moment, especially with such a captivating image from Paris, speaks volumes about his talent and dedication to the art form.

  8. Treynolds Avatar
    Treynolds

    Paris photos are so beutiful! David Rubin is really good at what he does.

    1. Fgriffiths Avatar
      Fgriffiths

      Yes Treynolds, his Paris shots are my fav!

  9. Holden Avatar

    The discussion around the legalities of street photography in France was particularly fascinating. It highlights how cultural contexts can shape artistic expression. David’s approach is a refreshing reminder of the importance of respecting subjects while still pursuing one’s creative vision.

  10. Sabrina Scott Avatar
    Sabrina Scott

    This is so inspiring. I want to learn photography now!

  11. Noah76 Avatar

    Wow David Rubin is so cool. I love photography and his work is awsome.

    1. Florence44 Avatar
      Florence44

      Yes Noah, his photos are great! Specially the black and whites.

    2. Joshua Reynolds Avatar
      Joshua Reynolds

      Agree with you both. He is very talented!

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