10 Tips for Successful Street
Photography
The essence of street
photography is about documenting everyday life and society on the streets. You
can find opportunities to practice street photography everywhere and you don’t
necessarily need to travel to capture great shots.
It’s a genre of
photography usually done candidly without permission and without your subject’s
knowledge. However, street photography doesn’t rule out staged pictures. You
may spot an interesting character that catches your vision; you can wander up
to strangers and ask for permission to take their picture. This is a great way
to get a more intimate portrait of someone in his or her environment.
The most important thing with street photography is to have fun and enjoy
getting out with your camera. Remember, your goal is to capture emotion,
humanity, and depict a person’s character. It takes time to get your shot, but
with some practice and patience it is rewarding.

#1:
Choosing the best lens
Deciding which lens to use is
one of the most important factors for street photography. You may be tempted to
use a telephoto lens, but that’s more than likely to result in more harm than
good. You don’t want to be that creepy person standing across the road aiming a
giant lens at strangers. If you want to look inconspicuous you’re going to need
to get up close and among the action. Use a wide-angle lens and get lost in a
busy crowd. Many street photographers choose a compact camera that’s less
confronting than a large DSLR, the advantages being smaller, lightweight, and
discreet.
#2: Camera settings
The quickest and
easiest way to set up your camera for street photography is by switching the
camera to AV (aperture-priority mode) and selecting your f-stop (aperture) and
ISO manually. The camera will then decide the shutter speed (exposure). On a
bright sunny day a good place to start is around f/16 with an ISO between
200-400. If your camera displays a shutter speed higher than 1/200th a second
you are ready to roll.
Take note of the
shutter speed your camera is reading and make adjustments to aperture and ISO
accordingly. If your camera is giving you a shutter speed that is below 1/80th
you run the risk of a blurred shot, but that could be used for good effect too.
To overcome blur simply increase your ISO and/or choose a wider aperture. If
you’re new to photography you can always set camera to P mode (program or auto)
and let the camera select the correct settings. You can still adjust the EV if
you want to over or under expose the shot to your liking.
This is useful if you
are shooting run and gun (in a hurry with no time to think), but you have
little control over what the camera is doing, so this isn’t always the best
option. Program mode does a pretty decent job, but I wouldn’t rely on it in low
light where there’s a high possibility your shutter speed will be too slow to
freeze the action.
#3: Get close to your
subjects
Using a wide-angle lens
enables you to get nice and close to your subjects. The advantage of the wide
angle gives the viewer a sense of being there in the moment. You’ll also blend
in with the crowd as part of the environment, rather than standing out across
the street with a long lens.
Many successful street
photos were taken only few meters from the action and sometimes only
centimeters away. Walking through a busy street, market or park can result in
some rewarding pictures if you are observant and keep your eyes open for
interesting subjects. If your images aren’t how you visualized them, then you
may need to get closer, so use your feet as your zoom to be sure you’re in the
right place at the right time.
#4: Take your camera
everywhere
Street photography is
spontaneous and waits for no one. It’s a discipline you must practice to make
perfect. Your camera is an extension of yourself — it’s your gateway to sharing
your vision with the world and you don’t want to miss an amazing photo
opportunity by not having your camera on you. If you’re serious about street
photography, you will have your camera within reach at all times.
This is known as the
‘decisive moment,’ where you have only a split second to capture your subject
before it’s gone forever. You rarely get a second chance, so be prepared.
#5: Ignore the voice in
your mind
Some people struggle
with the idea of street photography. Some concerns may be the fear about your
subjects getting angry because you took their picture, threaten you with
physical violence, or even worse, call the police. Fear is simply false
evidence appearing real. These are all common fears, but it’s possible to
overcome by practicing and getting out more with your camera. Here are some
suggestions to overcome your concerns.
Find an interesting
spot to sit with your camera. I spend a lot of time at cafes and restaurants
when I travel, my camera ready for any opportunities. Observing from a
comfortable setting you’ll feel at ease and can wait for pictures to come to
you. You are less likely to be noticed sitting outside a café with your camera
than standing in the middle of the street.
Tune out and listen to your
iPod while you are out walking with your camera. Music is somewhat of a
distraction that can help relax and inspire creativity. It may not sound logical,
but it works wonders, and if it means you’re comfortable in your surrounds then
it’s worth a shot. (I don’t suggest doing this at night, in uncrowded or
unfamiliar places! Always be aware of your surroundings.)
#6:
Shoot from the hip
As a general rule of
street photography, if you can get the shot with the camera to your eye, you
will get a better shot. However, there are times when it’s not possible to
raise the camera to your eye, and so shooting from the hip is a useful method
of capturing a decisive moment.
When I first started shooting
on the street I found it difficult holding my camera to my eye and pointing it
towards strangers, so I started holding the camera by my hip to capture more
candid pictures. At first I wasn’t successful, but the more familiar I became
with my camera and the focal length I managed to capture some great candid
moments.
#7:
Shoot at night
Night photography in
the city is a great opportunity for unique images. It’s not as easy as shooting
during the day; you will need to be mindful of low shutters speeds to avoid
blur and use your ISO and aperture to compensate for low light.
Take a tripod with you
if you plan on doing long exposures. Alternatively, using a fast aperture lens
will enable you to shoot low-light scenes and still freeze the action. When
shooting at night try finding interesting lines, shadows and compositions to
give the image a bold visual statement. Silhouetted subjects are interesting
and can create nice compositions with the shadow filling the foreground.
#8:
Think outside the box
Powerful ideas and
emotions can be portrayed through the simplest of scenes. Most people wrongly
associate street photography with people or portraits on the street. You don’t
always need people in frame, or capturing interesting juxtapositions or fitting
as many different people or objects into frame.
It may be difficult in
some busy places, but take a walk down a quiet alleyway or side street and look
for different subjects that interest you. There are infinite opportunities for
all kinds of images with or without people.
While in Vietnam, I spent time
wandering the streets photographing bicycles, which I have turned into a small
series titled ‘Transportation’, that has been quite popular among the photo
community. This was unintentional, but by doing something different I
discovered a series that I may not have explored otherwise.
#9: Image quality isn’t
everything
Some photographers may
disagree with me here, but from my personal experience in shooting on the
street, I haven’t been concerned with image quality as much as I am when
shooting landscapes or commercial work. Yes, you should strive for high image
quality when possible, but with street photography it’s not as important. In my
opinion, composition, light, drama and the story you are trying to tell are of
more important than image quality. If your images capture those four things,
then you’re on the right path to becoming a great street shooter.
Sharpness, low noise
and immaculate image quality are worthless if you have poor composition, bad
light and no atmosphere to tell a story. Focus on what’s important — that’s
essentially what makes a great street image.
#10: Most importantly, have
fun
Like all genres of
photography, it’s important to enjoy what you do and do what you enjoy. If
shooting on the street doesn’t sound like your kind of thing, then chances are
you’ll probably take ordinary images. Creativity flows where the passion lives,
so do what makes you happy, not what other people expect to see. I love
shooting street because it gets me out and about, meeting interesting people,
and seeing everyday life from a fresh perspective. That’s what inspires me to
do what I do.
Conclusion
Street photography
requires practice and the more you get out there, the more your eye will
develop and your confidence grow. The approach is much simpler than other
genres and manipulation should be kept to the essentials, with minimal to no
post-processing. The only manipulation I tend to do with my street photography
is done through the camera viewfinder.
Perception and
intuition are the most important factors. Perception requires a creative eye
for detail and is an attentive effort. Intuition is immediate and is not
duty-bound to any attentive reasoning. These two factors are combined to create
the decisive moment, an amazing process that takes your images to the next
level. Because of this process, it’s here in the moment that street photography
is captured and expressed.
Strong street photos
come from powerful ideas and emotions captured in a simplistic manner. It comes
down to perception to force yourself out with your camera to capture decisive
moments that unfold in front of you.
Source:
https://petapixel.com/2015/12/22/10-tips-for-successful-street-photography/