Street photography is all about detailing the everyday life of people, society and circumstances on the street. It features the subject in open situations within public places. Street photography is a kind of photography which is generally done without the permission and knowledge of the subject. It’s like an art that features the ability to spot an interesting character or some rare incident on the fly. It doesn’t require the presence of any street or urban environment. You can practice your street photography anywhere and it doesn’t require travelling a lot to capture awesome shots.
Street photography is one of the most challenging and exciting types of photography. Capturing strangers along with their actions and emotions is the ultimate goal and it requires good planning and skills. However, street photography is not as easy as its name might suggest. Photographers do face a lot of challenges, such as how far can you stand from your subject, put the camera close to your eye, focus on the subject, and click without getting nervous. With practice, one can overcome the fear of photographing strangers as well as learn the various techniques that can help in getting better candid shots.
In this article, Shaw Academy is going to explain that will help you in taking awesome pictures of people without getting noticed.
Choose the best lens:
Deciding which lens to use in street photography is the most important aspect. Street photographers get very close to their subject as it allows them to capture the actions and emotions. Whether you want to capture the subject’s emotion or portray an action, a wide angle lens is usually best. People also prefer to choose a compact camera as it’s lightweight, smaller and easy to carry.
Camera Settings:
Switch your camera to aperture-priority mode and keep on selecting the ISO and aperture manually. This combination is ideal while doing street photography. If possible, choose a high ISO with as fast a shutter speed as allowable as it will give you a perfect shot and reduce motion blur. It’s recommended to keep the ISO settings between 400 and 3200. Also, be prepared to change the camera setting fast.
Get close to the subject:
Using a wide-angle lens is suggested in street photography as it gets you close to the subject. However, you also need to get physically close to the subject to be an observer and keep your eyes open to capture interesting scenes and moments. Getting close to the subject is very important to get a good picture composition and lea out any distractions.
Shoot from the hip:
It’s perfect to shoot with the camera to your eye, however, sometimes it’s not possible in street photography. Holding the camera and pointing it at a stranger sometimes feels and looks odd. So, shooting from the hip is the best method to capture vital moments. It also helps in capturing people from a low angle.
Be creative: It’s necessary to be creative in street photography. Look for interesting spots, spend time at restaurants, markets and keeping your camera ready to take opportunities. This is the best way to get creative and capture technically superior photographs.
Forget about image quality:
This may sound odd, but it’s true. Image quality is not important in street photography. According to professional photographer, lighting, composition, depth, the drama and the story are more important than the image quality. Image quality has no value if you have bad composition and no story to tell in street photography.
Zone focus:
According to Spyros Papaspyropoulos, “zone focusing is when we adjust our camera to be in focus for a particular zone, or a particular size of invisible mask. This can be a short zone or a long zone”. It’s very crucial in street photography and depends upon three aspects, i.e. aperture, lens focal length and subject distance.
Have fun: Like other photography, it’s important to have fun with street photography too. Fun brings happiness and creativity, which is required to get the best out of your street photography. Moreover, the more fun you have, the more relaxed you are. You will see the reflection of joy in your pictures.
The key for successful and beautiful street photography is to be organized, prepared and confident. You should practice capturing the right moments and develop an eye for detail. Street photography requires more practice, patience and creativity.
Following these tips will definitely enhance your street photography. With the information mentioned above, you should be ready to capture the perfect shots every time. Street photography is all about detailing the everyday life of people, society and circumstances on the street. It features the subject in open situations within public places. Street photography is a kind of photography which is generally done without the permission and knowledge of the subject. It’s like an art that features the ability to spot an interesting character or some rare incident on the fly. It doesn’t require the presence of any street or urban environment. You can practice your street photography anywhere and it doesn’t require travelling a lot to capture awesome shots.
Looking to sharpen your photography skills? Join our top-rated professional diploma in photography today!
