Picture This

At The Flea Market

Staff  |  Jul 3, 2012  |  First Published: Jun 1, 2012

Our Picture This! assignment this month was “At the Flea Market.” The amazing diversity of material found at flea markets and antique malls is grist for a photographer’s mill. Not only are there odd and unusual items aplenty—from castoffs to treasures unknown—there’s also the element of the yet-undiscovered art directors, the dealers and vendors who arrange these items in sometimes random, sometimes ironically intentional ways. When photographers talk about capturing “found art” they needn’t go farther than their local flea market to find all they need.

Oil Lamp Burners

Sandra Wittman found this carton filled with metallic texture and form at the Kane County Flea Market in St. Charles, Illinois. She used a Canon EOS 40D and an EF 28-135mm IS lens and exposed at f/22 at 1/15 sec at ISO 200.
© Sandra Wittman

Old Tractor Wheels

The colorful wheels sit against a complementary and dynamic backdrop in this photo made by Charles Magin at the Elephant’s Trunk Flea Market in New Milford, Connecticut. He photographed with a Canon PowerShot A1100 IS at an exposure of f/5 at 1/60 sec.
© Charles Magin

Folders & Twin Lens

The point of view and variety of models on a tabletop certainly caught our eye. Warren Levingston made this photo at the Portobello Road flea market in London with a Canon PowerShot SX100 IS with an exposure of f/4 at 1/125 sec at ISO 200.
© Warren Levingston

Red Wrenches

David Ferrier found this arrangement of tools that is a study in both color and design. He photographed with a Nikon D7000 and an AF-S Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 lens with an exposure of f/9 at 1/400 sec.
© David Ferrier

Hands Up

Rob Santeramo made this photo at one of the biggest “fleas” and antique stall shows in the Northeast in Brimfield, Massachusetts. He photographed with a Nikon D300 and a Nikkor 18-105mm lens with an exposure of f/8 at 1/250 sec.
© Rob Santeramo

Blue Fence

Southern climes are indicated in this HDR photo made at Sarasota Architectural Salvage in Sarasota, Florida. Robert Barton made this photo with a Canon EOS Rebel XSi and an EF-S 18-55mm IS lens. The image was processed using Photomatix Pro.
© Robert Barton

Oil Cans

Repeating forms are a repeating motif at flea markets, and this one was photographed at the flea market in Packwood, Washington, by Stephen Agosto with a Nikon D5000 and a Nikkor 55-200mm lens. Exposure was f/8 at 1/500 sec at ISO 400.
© Stephen Agosto

Pencils

David Stoll got close to this stack of neatly arranged color pencils at a flea market close to Quito, Ecuador. He worked with a Nikon D700 and an AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 lens.
© David Stoll

Surreal Trio

We agree with photographer Tom Speropulos who wrote us that he wasn’t sure whether these mannequins caught at a flea market in Phoenix, Arizona, were “cool or creepy, or maybe a bit of both…” In any case, he worked with a Nikon D300 and a Nikkor 18-200mm VR lens and an exposure of f/16 at 1/1000 sec at ISO 400.
© Tom Speropulos

Collage

This composition by Dale L. Veach uses angles and edges of the artifacts from the flea market stall. His exposure with an Olympus SP-565 UZ was f/5.6 at 1/160 sec.
© Dale L. Veach

Rooster On A Shelf

Bobby Sanchez photographed this contemplative rooster in a local flea market in Grand Junction, Colorado. He worked with a Canon EOS 40D and an exposure of f/5 at 1/50 sec.
© Bobby Sanchez

Monster-In-A-Box

The point of view and foreground unsharpness make it appear like this little gremlin has just pushed open the carton and is about to leap from the box. Steve Jarocki shot with a Canon EOS 7D and an 18-135mm lens and an exposure of f/5.6 at 1/250 sec.
© Steve Jarocki

Apparel At The Brooklyn Flea Market

Photos are about the quality of light and that’s what caught our eye in this photo where the tones, textures, and setting all seemed to work together so well. Jackie Weisberg worked with a Nikon D200 and a Nikkor 55-200mm lens and an exposure of f/10 at 1/40 sec at ISO 320.
© Jackie Weisberg

Sunday Comics

Rhonda Campbell wrote that she considers flea markets “eye candy for the photographer” and we couldn’t agree more. These chairs were photographed in a flea market in the Provence region of France with a Canon PowerShot G10. No processing info was supplied, but as can be seen the color was stripped from the surrounding area.
© Rhonda Campbell

Unique Skates

You never know what you’ll find and Bruce Casale proved it with this photo of cowboy boot roller skates. He recorded these gems with a Canon EOS Rebel XSi and an exposure of f/3.5 at 1/125 sec at ISO 400.
© Bruce Casale

Picture This! – Our Next Assignment
Deep Depth Of Field
Our next Picture This! assignment is “deep depth of field,” photographs where you use every trick of the depth of field book to get sharpness from close to far in your image. You get max depth of field by working with short focal length settings and minimum apertures and working at a fair distance from the camera. But we’d like another “take”—making sure the foreground subject is as close to the camera as possible, given the minimum focusing distance on the lens and the deepest depth of field you can get with your settings.


This photo made in Maine’s Acadia National Park was photographed with a 24mm lens and an exposure of f/16 at 1/8 sec. Conversion from Raw to black and white was done in Photoshop.
© George Schaub

Please Read This
It is important that you read and follow these guidelines. We need to follow this procedure because of the large volume of images we receive. If you have any questions, please e-mail us at: editorial@shutterbug.com.

1) Images sent to us cannot be returned. You retain complete copyright over the images, but do grant us permission to print your image(s) in the magazine and on our website, www.shutterbug.com.

2) Because images are not returned please send a quality print or duplicate transparency. We will not accept or view images on CD, ZIP, or any other electronic media.

3) Images will be selected on the basis of content and technical quality. Please mark your outer envelope with the topic of the month (for example, “Wide View”).

4) Enclose a short caption with the image stating camera, lens, film and exposure, plus location. If you are submitting an image with a recognizable person we must have a model release or signed permission from that person to reproduce their image in the magazine and on the website.

5) Please submit no more than three photos for consideration (4x6 up to 81/2x11).

Send your image and information to:
Picture This! Shutterbug Magazine,
1415 Chaffee Dr., Suite #10, Titusville, FL 32780.
Deadline for submission: July 15, 2012.
Images will appear in our October 2012 issue.
Our next topic: Panoramics
Deadline: August 15, 2012
Publication Date: November, 2012

Please note: We receive hundreds of submissions for Picture This! each month and want to be sure we properly identify each image we publish. Please be sure to attach your name and image information to the back of each submission.

Want to see images selected for past Picture This! assignments? Go to www.shutterbug.com and click on Picture This! in the “More Articles…” box on the homepage.

COMMENTS
ValentineUrba's picture
Submitted by ValentineUrba on July 4, 2012 - 4:37am

I have been to flea market many times and had seen those things before but never noticed their uniqueness before. I realized the uniqueness through your clicks. Awesome clicks!
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shutterbug123's picture
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rikki07's picture
Submitted by rikki07 on April 22, 2013 - 4:44pm

Renters of the flea market are vendors. It may be indoors, as in a warehouse or school gymnasium; or outdoors, as in a field or parking lot or under a tent. www.zlotx.com Flea markets can be held annually or semiannually, others may be conducted monthly, on weekends, or daily.

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