Street photography is a quite a difficult type of photography because is very fast. The difference between a good photo and a average one is just one second, the second it takes to grab your camera and get a nice frame. That’s way if you are interested in street photography this tips might be very helpful.
We talked about this tips at the beginning of Street photography around Triana photowalk, that took place on 24 of November, 2018.
1. Always ready
Seems obvious but is not. We should always be ready and alert with our camera in hand and all our senses alert. In the city people move very fast, they come and go out of our vision and you have no time. That’s why is important to have your camera ready, on and with all the configuration adapted to the surroundings.
What I do is:
- I change the framing of the camera to adapt it to the scene
- I take the photo
- I check the background, the framming and other details
- I take more pictures if needed
- I setup the camera with a general configuration that would allow me to take pictures that particular day so, afterwards, while processing them I would only have to make changes in lighting
2. Raise you ISO
Someone told me long time ago: while making street photography always raise your ISO.In shinny days is not necessary but if it is cloudy or you have bad light (nighttime or dawn) it is a good idea to raise ISO, set speed to 1/250 and adjust aperture. This would help you to make sure that you have enough speed so, everything and everyone is in focus. I also tend to set the focus point in the center point to avoid moving the framming which may make me miss a good photo.
3. Where should I place myself?
This tips are less techinical and more about what we can do to achieve better photos. In first place we can either stand in the middle of the hustler or stay unnoticed. As always there is no one way better than another and it all depends on the situation.
Sometimes keep distance and don’t interfire with the scene we want to capture is the best option. In that case is better to have a teleobjective that would help us to take a closer photo without interfiring with what is happening.
Other times the best place to take a picture is the center of the hustler and you have to be in the middle to capture the true essence of what is happening.
4. Seek portraits
That means speaking with people you don’t know to ask them if they mind if you take a picture of them. That might difficult for us but it helps to get used to speak with strangers and take fast and good photos. After we have the consent to make the portrait, we have to take few fast photos of medium shot format paying special attention to the background. Many beatiful portraits have been ruined by a trash container at the background.
5. It is not all about beatiful things
The city hides a lot of great photos that are not actually beatiful. We don’t only have to pay attention to the pretty photos we may find in our way but also seek for those scenes that at the beginning may look ugly.
6. Seek for a different approach
As well as we always look for beatiful things, we tend to take pictures in the same position and that make us have the same angle, every time. It is a good idea to change the way we approach to our photo to achieve a different point of view, a different way to tell the same story. Something as simple as taking a picture from an elevated place may change your photo completely.
Bonus: inspirational images
