7 Steps to Better Street Photography

[Gary@Red Photo]

Street photography is a wonderful part of the photojournalistic tradition in photography. Along with documentary photography all of these areas share the common ground of the images not being set up. The true 'hands off' approach is what gives the journalistic purity to this genre and also creates a challenge for a photographer. I am primarily a documentary photographer. I began more as a traditional one and then later branched off into what I call a 'fine art' documentary photographer. I still follow all of the tenants of good journalism, but my images have more of a romantic and artistic feel to them. They may have some post processing effects added to enhance my artistic vision. But for the most part they are in the pure 'hands-off' style. You can see and read more about my work in my posts 'Riding on the Marrekech Express' or 'How to Get Motivated.'

Here are some suggestions to help you improve your street photography work.

1. Get in the action

You want to be close, close enough to reach out and touch your subjects. So you will want to favor a wide angle lens, like a 35mm (full frame) or 24mm (cropped sensor). Some famous photojournalist, I cannot remember who, once said that if you can't touch it you shouldn't photograph it. Good advice.

2. Use a wide angle lens

Like I mentioned above the wide angle lens allows you to get in close but still see the surroundings. That is why the 35mm equivalent lens has long been the photojournalist's choice. It gives you a bigger picture, literally, and allows you to see the setting. With that in mind play attention to the setting and make sure that it is adding to your image not taking away from it.

3. Make it real

Remember this is photojournalism. Don't set it up. Don't ask your friends to do something in the image. Hands off! And making it real means very little post processing work. Most journalistic agencies will only allow basic retouches like dust and spot removal, conversion to black and white, sharpening, and contrast enhancements. Toning would also be permitted.

4. Look for light and shadow

This goes for all areas of photography. Light and shadow are some of our most important compositional tools. Subject matter and emotion are great, but don't let that overshadow good, interesting, or dramatic lighting. Most images will benefit from this extra layer.

5. Include people

Including a person just draws people in more. We are programmed to look at other people and when we see them we are drawn into the scene. Our curiosity takes us on that journey and we can more easily create a narrative, a story, that goes with the image.

6. Take us there

You want your viewer to feel like they are standing where you are. That is why being in close is so effective. I want to know what it was like to be at that place at that time and with those characters. Make this element seamless. People should not notice it, but they will notice it if it is not present. This will strengthen your narrative.

7. Be respectful

People on the street do not want to be hassled. Today, may of them are very distrustful and afraid that an image of them is going to end up on some weird website. You need to respect people, their dignity, and their privacy. Make sure, either through words or gestures, or eye contact, that it is fine for you to be there and taking a photograph. Don't let this hinder your work. Just have a respectful attitude and you will be surprised at how many people respond positively.

So now that you are armed with some advice go out there and do it. Practice and practice some more. You have to know your camera and its' settings very well because most of these images happen very rapidly. With practice and experience you will begin to anticipate things. Good luck.

Gary Miller

Houston Wedding Photographer

Eye Candy and Brain Veggies

[CaptivatedByBeauty]

I see lots of these guides, and like this one, I disagree with a lot in them. It's fine if that's the view of the author, if that's the way they wish to do it, if that's what they think, but please don't assume everyone else has to conform to those views or agree with them.

To me "street photography" is not only photojournalism.
To me, a wide angle lens is not the way to create what I want.
To me, it can be pre-planned. It depends what you're trying to capture.

To me, this 'guide' is very limited, and only considers one aspect of "street photography".

I'm glad the many creative possibilities haven't been realised by so many

[CaptivatedByBeauty]

I feel that I could have been more constructive in my last post. Sorry about that, I'll try again.

I think it's helpful by starting to consider what "street photography" might be. Everyone will have their own definition, but to me it encompasses all forms of photography done in or in a similar environment to a street. So it may be in a street, but could be in a park or beach or anywhere else street-like that's a public space.

That photography can then be broken down into categories. If photography is divided into portrait and landscape, then that's the first part of the taxonomy. Is it pictures of things, people, cars etc or pictures of scenes.

In portrait photography I would put photojournalism as one possibility. I would also include "portraits", as in pictures of people, where the person fills most of the frame. These may be static, people sitting or standing, or they could be dynamic, people walking, running etc. Most "people portraits" I see are static, and posed.

So a picture of a burning car in a street. That could be seen as photojournalism, as telling a news story, or it could be seen as simply a portrait.

The above 7 steps are concerned with a certain category of street photography, one where the author feels that a wider angle lens and getting in close is best.

But, when taking "street portraits", I don't want noses to stick out, just like 'conventional' static portrait photographers don't, and that's why both prefer to be further away using longer focal length lenses.

I think photography is about being creative, of finding new and interesting ideas, to excite & surprise your audience. For that reason I think it's good not to be too limited in ones definitions, and to consider possibilities outside your normal thinking.

Maybe that's a better explanation.

[LeeR]

Originally Posted by CaptivatedByBeauty

I feel that I could have been more constructive in my last post. Sorry about that, I'll try again.

I think it's helpful by starting to consider what "street photography" might be. Everyone will have their own definition, but to me it encompasses all forms of photography done in or in a similar environment to a street. So it may be in a street, but could be in a park or beach or anywhere else street-like that's a public space.

That photography can then be broken down into categories. If photography is divided into portrait and landscape, then that's the first part of the taxonomy. Is it pictures of things, people, cars etc or pictures of scenes.

In portrait photography I would put photojournalism as one possibility. I would also include "portraits", as in pictures of people, where the person fills most of the frame. These may be static, people sitting or standing, or they could be dynamic, people walking, running etc. Most "people portraits" I see are static, and posed.

So a picture of a burning car in a street. That could be seen as photojournalism, as telling a news story, or it could be seen as simply a portrait.

The above 7 steps are concerned with a certain category of street photography, one where the author feels that a wider angle lens and getting in close is best.

But, when taking "street portraits", I don't want noses to stick out, just like 'conventional' static portrait photographers don't, and that's why both prefer to be further away using longer focal length lenses.

I think photography is about being creative, of finding new and interesting ideas, to excite & surprise your audience. For that reason I think it's good not to be too limited in ones definitions, and to consider possibilities outside your normal thinking.

Maybe that's a better explanation.

Sorry, Captivated, but I think you're full of hot air. First of all, this forum has a lot of beginners on it who love simple straightforward instructionals. Advice like "Use a wide angle lens" may not be helpful for a professional who has learned exactly how to use the right lens for the job, but could be helpful for someone getting started, who needs to understand that a wide angle lens does a better job of revealing context in our images.

Second, what we know as "street photography" is pretty well defined. It is photography done ad hoc on the street with no hint of posing or preparation. Oh, sure, there are times when photographers stage the action a bit, but it had better look natural in the final image or people no longer recognize it as "street photography."

A few years ago a production team came to my little town to shoot a commercial on a street in a particularly picturesque part of town. Was this street photography since it was done in the street? Not any more than pornography is a form of nude photography. Yes, in both people have their clothes off, and the line does get blurred at times, but most of us have no trouble telling when we are looking at art and when we are looking gratuitous nakedness. The same is true of street photography; most of us have no trouble telling the difference between the natural "capture life as it is" of street photography and those images that are staged for effect.

If this tutorial does not apply to you then I would suggest you ignore it. Chances are at least a few of the 510,000 other members will find a nugget of inspiration here.

[Indigo November]

Originally Posted by CaptivatedByBeauty

So a picture of a burning car in a street. That could be seen as photojournalism, as telling a news story, or it could be seen as simply a portrait.

Since when is a picture of a car, a portrait?

Go take a walk, a few deep breaths, then come back and see Gary's advice for what it is, a helpful resource for anyone wanting to get into street photography.

Great tut Gary!

[BuddhaPi]

Originally Posted by Indigo November

Since when is a picture of a car, a portrait?

Go take a walk, a few deep breaths, then come back and see Gary's advice for what it is, a helpful resource for anyone wanting to get into street photography.

Great tut Gary!

Indigo you really shouldn't mince your words! We prefer if you just tell it like it is..

hope you feel better soon

[SwissJon]

Just wanted to pick up on the thread, rather than the comments. The advice to use a wide angle lens is a bit off. Normally when taking street photography I take photos at 50mm equivalent. I wouldn't call a 35mm lens "Wide Angle" on a DSLR, it has the same FoV that our eyes have, and it's the same as a 50mm on a FF camera, so it's the one I would suggest you use on a cropped sensor. That way the photos you take look like they would if you were actually standing there, looking with your own eyes.

I also wouldn't use an SLR of any description. I would use a Range Finder or a Point and shoot camera with a fixed focal length. The reason being that with street photography you tend to need to be descrete. With a range finder, the FoV is predicatable, and you can shoot from the hip. Same goes with small P&S cameras that you can hold in your hand. In street photography, you are often in places where the people you're photographing are not happy, they may be poor and destitute.. If you turn up with $10,000 worth of camera gear, not only will they resent you, but how are you going to get a candid photo when you're pointing so much shiney glass at them? You'll stick out like a sore thumb. Stick with a small, descrete camera, the older and more beaten up it is, the more likely people will ignore you and get on with their business.. Oh, and the less likely you are to get mugged.

[RichardTaylor]

Re the above post.

"With a range finder, the FoV is predicatable"
This statement is correct however so is a prime lens on a (D)SLR or a zoom lens used at a singe focal length.
You can still shoot from the hip if you want to.

I agree small and discrete is good however do you know of any small discrete range finders, with lens (especially digital ones) that don't cost an arm and a leg ($10000?). My Canon 350D + 12-24 lens is a lot cheaper.

I don't shoot a lot of street, most of it is on vacation or street festivals.
I tend to like wide, unless shooting head shots at street fairs & festvals etc.

Here are some examples.
The first three are with a Canon 5D (full frame) with a Canon 24-105 F4 zoom..

(1)

Camera Canon EOS 5D
Exposure 0.01 sec (1/100)
Aperture f/18
Focal Length 24 mm
ISO Speed 400
Exposure Bias -2/3 EV

(2) One of the advantages of a zoom. From the same location as the pic above.


Camera Canon EOS 5D
Exposure 0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture f/10
Focal Length 95 mm
ISO Speed 400

(3) Again at 24mm (on a full frame camera).

Camera Canon EOS 5D
Exposure 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture f/11.0
Focal Length 24 mm
ISO Speed 800

(4) And when I really like wide. When things are "tight".

Taken with a 12-24 lens on a 1.6 crop camera (Canon 350D) probably around 12mm.

At the end of the day it is what gear you have with you and your style of photography.

[LeeR]

Richard, you tell us you don't shoot much street then proceed to lecture us on how to do it right. I'm sorry, but I'm with SwissJon on this one. Small and discrete is the name of the game here. That's how Henri Cartier-Bresson did his best work; with a Leica rangefinder, the film version of a p&s.He could have had any camera he wanted, but he liked that one for its unassuming qualities (and its remarkable glass.) Plus, there's no reason to spend a great deal of money, there are plenty very good p&s cameras for a fraction of what you paid for your camera. Many of them have outstanding features and do not, as a rule, raise issues of invasion of privacy when you use them. I'm not saying it's not possible to get good street shots with a big DSLR, I'm saying that if street is your serious passion you'd be better served with a high-end p&s.

[Sime]

Whilst I agree, the more discreet the gear - the less 'alerted' your subject when street shooting, however.. I just realised that I took my fave street shot with a 30D / Grip / 400mm lens... umm...



Horses for courses... or something...