38 Photography tips to use on your street and candid pictures

Image by panorist.com/fulldeyproduction

Learn photography with Panorist University. In this article you will find 38 tips to use on your street and candid pictures. Enjoy it!

38 Photography tips and techniques

Panorist University recommend you to practice those tips every day with your camera. And visit more articles in our blog to learn more about photography.

Photography tips for beginners

Expensive equipment does not make great photos. Great photographers do.
If you are a beginner, keep taking photos, look at your photos, then take more photos.
Fill the Frame, meaning, don’t let the object or subject too small in the picture. Get closer to the subject if you have to.
Sounds obvious, but always remove the lens cover.
Keep your batteries charged because you never know when you might want to use the camera to get that special shot.
If you go for digital cameras, you can never take enough shots.
Understand the basic tips and use of the camera, get a feel for them, apply them regularly and break them occasionally.
You can’t take a photo without a camera so always carry one. Even if you do not get a great shot, you had a chance at getting it.
Do not spend your time looking at the pictures you took at the LCD screen. You will end up missing fantastic moments. The pictures will still be there later.
“Your first ten thousand photographs are your worst” – Henri Cartier-Bresson.
Try to use Manual settings regularly. But take your time. Just enjoy photographing in Auto Mode, and experiment with the advanced settings as you go.
Do not spend your entire trip or event looking through the lens. Enjoy your time just enjoying the ride.
Always carry your camera. Most street photos are made during the course of an ordinary day.
Learn to work fast. Best pictures are made of a raw reaction to a small trigger.
Shoot plenty of frames. When something is good, do not take a single frame and leave. Watch the scene develop and make small changes, picking out the best moments to make your picture.
Learn from your mistakes and do not be afraid to experiment.

Photography tips for portraits

For portraits, fill the frame with your subject. Use the optical zoom of your camera.
Aperture Priority gives you direct control over the aperture, and as a result gives you the “depth of field” (DOF). This can help you create those creamy-smooth, out of focus backgrounds that give portraits a professional quality.
You should try to shoot portraits with light in one side of the subject. Take a chance and see what you get.
Whether you are taking a child’s portrait or a group portrait, shooting in short bursts will ensure you capture a fleeting range of expressions, and improves your chances of getting a shot where everyone’s eyes are open in a group portrait.

Street Photography tips and tricks

Treat your subject as well as you can. Do not shoot people who do not want to get snapped. But be aware that most people in public places do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy, though.
Camera shake or blur is something that can plague any photographer. Make sure that you are using a shutter speed that is appropriate for your len’s focal length.
If you want to capture a subject in motion, use the panning technique: choose a shutter speed around two steps lower than necessary so for 1/250, we would choose 1/60. Keep your camera on the subject with your finger half way down on the shutter to lock the focus and when ready, take the photo, remembering to follow them as they move.

Photography tips por advanced users

If your camera has it, shoot in RAW mode. You will have more possibilities for editing afterwards, than if you shoot in JPEG.
Learn about the exposure triangle in Manual mode. Use it to decide how to adjust the exposure: the key is that when you increase the exposure for one element (a yellow arrow), you need to reduce it for one or both of the other elements (the black arrows) in order to maintain the same exposure.

Adjusting the ISO or light sensitivity affects how much light the sensor needs, useful in dark scenes, but can introduce visual noise.
Adjusting the shutter speed is useful for moving objects, as sports scenes. When using a faster speed, you should adjust the ISO to get more light exposure.
Try to learn how to use and enjoy the benefits of natural light before you buy that expensive flash or reflector. Some of the best never ever used flash in their photography.
The best light to capture most kinds of subjects is in the golden hours. One hour after sunrise and one hour before sunset. Remember the side light?
Do not be afraid to play with the shutter speed to create some interesting light effects. Not so good for portraits, though.

Photography tips for outdoors

Instead of moving only the camera, move yourself, bend, squat, whatever it may take.
Shoot the magic moment. You have to predict what your subject will do next, and prepare for that instant.
Rather than running around a town or city chasing pictures, stake out a promising location. Look for crowded areas where there is a constant stream of people.
One of the hardest aspects of starting out in street photography is building the confidence to take pictures candidly. Shooting candid’s is likely to mean working at the longer end of a zoom lens’s range, but remember that this may draw attention to you.
When people spot you taking a picture of them, smile – it works! Sometimes just looking at anything but the person you are photographing is good too. If confronted, just explain your work. Try to be unobtrusive instead of unseen.
You only need permission/releases if you are going to sell the picture for commercial use. Panorist share photos only for non-commercial use.
Put yourself in a place where there are plenty of people about and you should be able to make a good street picture at pretty much any moment.

Panorist wishes a great improvement for you with all this tips for photography. And remember to check the other articles and videos here in Panorist University.