People are always an interesting subject to shoot. The pure emotion you can capture in a single photograph is amazing. When their mannerisms and little quirks show in a photograph, this can explain their personality more than a simple conversation. A great place to start taking pictures is the street. With street photography a lot of visual traffic passes by and you can meet various interesting subjects just by waiting.
Street photography looks simple but needs a lot of experience to pull off. Here are some tips to start your way into street photography.
Be Safe
Unless you are quite familiar with the place you’re shooting in, take care of yourself and your equipment. Your camera will attract a lot of attention and a lot people know that it’s worth a lot of money. If possible form a group of photographer friends and shoot with them.
Equipment Selection
Bring only what you need. You don’t need 3 lenses and 2 camera bodies. A small compact DSLR with an attached semi-wide angle lens will do you perfectly. A Canon 5D and a 35mm prime can do wonders. Focus less on your gear and more on shooting.
Color
A lot of photographers shoot street photography in black and white. This technique has been used countless of times and doesn’t have that much impact anymore. Shoot in color and you’ll probably discover more things going on in a photograph. Black and white is still great but use this effect sparingly.
Be Alert
You’ll never know when something great comes up. Take note of everything so you can capture amazing shots. Watch people and their habits and capture them during the right time. This can make or break a photograph.
Good Light
Good photography is good lighting. No amount of post processing can fix an image with horrible lighting. Try to position yourself so you can capture great light. Make use of shades and shadows. Some photographers direct their subject so they can get better lighting, you can do this too if you’re feeling you can get a better image out of it.
Shoot a Lot
Digital storage is cheap so there’s really nothing bad with shooting a lot. Sort out your pictures and get the best from it. Hopefully, experience will develop your skill and you will be shooting less and creating more great photographs.
Experience is the best teacher in this kind of photography. Getting a feel of your environment and the people around you can get you better pictures. Keep on shooting and embrace the light!
The most important, I think, is to look at people and their environment before you start shooting. A lot of photos that look as if they've been taken "on the fly" actually required a lot of prior investigation. When are there a lot of people and when are there only a few? Until when is the market up? when is the light the best?
Another important thing is that photographing children is forbidden in a lot of countries, and also if you want to publish photos of adults, you often need to have their official approval.
Hi Nicolas,
Some great tips there, especially taking time to watch people in their environment before shooting… it gives you a chance to find the right moment for that perfect shot!
Thanks,
Paul @
TravMonkey.com
Street photography is something I really admire. I usually forgo taking photographs altogether and count on my travel partners or my memories. I do love looking at travel photography, though.