Street Photography: An Indispensable Guide for Beginners
Yes, street photography is one of the most challenging genres of photography, but at the same time, one of the most exciting. Portraying totally unfamiliar people can be, to say the least, intimidating.
The essence of street photography is to document society and the everyday life that occurs on the streets. While it may seem simple at first glance, once they hit the streets to give it a try, most photographers realize just how difficult it can be. Taking street photos requires a lot of patience, observation skills, and a bit of courage.
If you want to speed up your learning process considerably, join us for the paragraphs of this article. We will tell you what street photography is, what are its characteristics and techniques and we will also give you tips that will be very useful to start photographing.
1. What Is Street Photography?
In general terms, street photography is a genre of photography that consists of portraying the everyday life of unknown people in public places. It can be a street, a flea market or even a subway station. It has some things in common with photojournalism, since it mainly involves subjects in a certain context, such as a big city.
Normally, the street photographers tend to focus on the daily lives of strangers, rather than a particular activity or event. This is where street photography differs from photojournalism. A good street photograph tells a story without the need for explanations to the viewer.
One of the goals of street photography is capture moments and scenes to tell stories in the most natural way possible. To achieve this, it is very important to go unnoticed when taking pictures. Nobody likes to have their photos taken without asking for permission, this could even be considered disrespectful, although there are street photographers who have other ways of working.
Your first 10,000 photographs are the worst
French Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004) was one of the most famous street photographers of all time. According to him, history and subject matter are the most important aspects of good street photography. Other of his famous phrases are: “Photography is nothing, it is life that interests me”.
Street photography has played a very important role in history. How else would we have evidence of how people lived in other times? Yes, painting and drawing have also been important to the historical record, but a photograph captures the rawness or nature of the moment without any alteration.
2. Tips to Master Street Photography
Identifying an interesting scene and telling a story through street photography is one of the most difficult aspects of this photographic genre to master. Knowing how to take the photo correctly is also essential, which is not so simple. Next, we will give you some tips for you to master street photography.
Choose Your Photographic Equipment
Choosing which lens to use is one of the most important factors in street photography. You might be tempted to use a telephoto lens, but this is not highly recommended for street photography. I don’t think you want to be that person across the street pointing at strangers with a gigantic target, right?
If you want to go unnoticed, it’s best to lose yourself in the crowd and join in on the action.
Many street photographers tend to opt for a compact camera that fits in their pocket. The advantages they offer are: lightness, discretion and practicality.
However, if you don’t have a small camera, your SLR camera or your cell phone’s camera can also work. As for the lens, you can start with a 28, 35 or 50mm lens, which are the most popular for street photography.
Do not forget to wear comfortable shoes to go out to photograph, since you will probably travel many kilometers to find those incredible scenes. Another tip that never hurts is to dress in an outfit that helps you go unnoticed, you don’t want to attract unnecessary attention. If you wear all black, great!
5 MUST KNOW STREET Photography TIPS
Set up Your Camera
The easiest way to set up your camera to take street photos is by choosing the aperture priority mode, setting the aperture and ISO manually. This will make the camera choose the appropriate shutter speed automatically.
If it’s a sunny day, you can choose an aperture of f / 16 and an ISO of 100-400. If the camera selects a shutter speed of 1/200, you are ready to start shooting. Remember that the aperture value will depend on the depth of field you need.
If you take a picture up close, an aperture of f / 3.5 is fine. If you are taking a photo from the other end of the street, opt for a greater depth of field to ensure that all subjects are in focus.
Make sure that the shutter speed is not less than 1/80, as you will run the risk that your photos will be out of focus. However, it could also be that you want to achieve this effect. If this is the case, you can use a tripod and a longer exposure time.
If you want to configure your camera manually, this setting will serve as a starting point:
Shutter speed: 1/125 or faster (most of the time, you want to freeze every movement in the scene). Aperture: f / 5.6 ISO: 400 Focal length: 18mm to 200mm Exposure mode: AE Focus mode: AF
Code of Conduct
Taking photos in public places is legal in most countries of the world. However, you always have to respect the privacy of other people, especially if they are complete strangers. If you see that a person does not want you to take a photo, apologize and go on your way. The streets are full of many interesting people, it is just a matter of being attentive and looking around you.
Keeping a smile will do you a lot of favors too. If you see that a person has noticed that you took a photo and has not reacted badly, smile and thank them. The person will most likely smile back at you. If that’s the case, you can even ask if he wants you to send him the photo.
Photographing Children
If you want to photograph minors, try to act very ethically, as it is a very sensitive subject. Parents typically take an overprotective stance with understandable reason. To avoid any kind of discussion or problem, always make sure you ask for permission before photographing a child, and even give your contact details to the parents.
Photographing strangers from a very close distance is very challenging. These people have no idea who you are and the vast majority of them don’t want you to take their picture. That said, street photographers can be classified into two: intrusive and non-intrusive.
There are those who use to their advantage the adrenaline produced by the fact of photographing a stranger intrusively, or as they say in English: in your face! There are also the non-intrusive or candid, who identify an interesting frame and wait for the right moment to capture the subjects without them noticing.
Learn to Ask Permission
If you saw an interesting subject and you want to ask him if you can take a photo of him to avoid any kind of problem or because you want to take a photo of him from close up, do so. The key to asking for permission is to praise the person.
Don’t desperately approach pointing your camera at him while asking if you can take a picture of him. Approach with the camera on its side and give it a subtle compliment. You could tell him that you love his hairstyle or that his clothes go very well with the sunny day.
It is important that you explain that you are a street photographer and that you take photos of people in your city. When you inspire confidence in the person, ask if they would allow you to take a portrait. With this technique, I assure you that more than 70% of people will say yes! Finally, offer to send her the photos.
Take Your Camera Everywhere
Street photography is a spontaneous practice and requires that you be prepared at the right time. You don’t want to miss out on an amazing photography opportunity by not having your camera at the time. Whenever you can, take it with you everywhere and have it set up for shooting in improvised situations.