Image by Alain Cuadro Padilla
It is a very natural desire for photographers to document the life that revolves around us. It may seem like it’s just about photographing random people in public places, but it’s more than that. Today we will see some tips for making good street photography.
What Is Street Photography?
In essence, street photography is a type of photography that takes place in a public place, whether it is a street, a restaurant or even public transport. The approach is similar to that of photojournalism and most involve people (and / or animals) in a populated environment (which provides the context of the story being told), such as a city. However, street photographers often focus on the everyday lives of strangers rather than some kind of major events like the graphic reporters.
Usually, street photographers try their best to go unnoticed when shooting. The goal of street photography is to capture scenes unaffected by the photographer in order to show a story and a natural person. The story and the subject are possibly the most important aspects of a good take on the street. Henri Cartier-Bresson, is possibly the best street photographer of all time, “the father of photojournalism”.
Noticing and telling a story through a photograph is one of the most difficult tasks to master when doing street photography. Fundamentally, it is something more complex than just taking the photo.
Stop Moving
There is nothing wrong with treating street photography as if we are taking a lovely walk around the city, but it is very difficult to walk, pay attention and capture quality photos at the same time. We will often find ourselves out of position when something happens and it is much easier to get noticed when we try to get the position.
People usually move in the opposite direction from us and do not wait for us to find the right time to achieve a good shot, while framing correctly at the same time. All this requires a lot of coordination to carry it out as we move.
The key is to slow down. Let’s make a stop every few blocks and wait a few minutes. Let’s see what happens. We want subjects to come to us and not the other way around. Let’s explore the environment in a detailed way and wait for things to develop around us. We will be surprised at the number of moments that occur while standing.
Encourage
There is no point in talking about art and various street photography tricks unless we really dare to take a picture. Now, it doesn’t seem to be a big deal when reading this article, but once we’re out on the street, things can get a little more uncomfortable. Of course, from time to time someone may smile when they see that we have a camera, or that they do not pay attention to us at all, which is preferable. But sometimes, we may find ourselves in an unpleasant situation.
Even if we are not dealing with someone aggressive, it takes a little courage to invade someone’s private space and photograph them without permission. Let’s think about our motives: why we take these photographs, if we are doing something wrong in any way, if we would get angry if another photographer takes a picture of us, etc.
There is no reason why anyone should be angry at us for taking our photographs, unless we give them a reason to be angry. It is important to know how to behave in a friendly manner and not to make subjects angry. Try to seem kind and interested, smile at people.
Let’s make sure we’re not doing anything illegal. We must read all the laws relating to photography in public places (depending on where we are, of course). In most countries photography is allowed. Sometimes we can be approached by the authorities when we are not doing anything wrong. we must be calm.
However, photographing children, for example, can be more problematic. The laws concerning them are often stricter.
Photos Without People
Street Photography is often mistakenly associated with being only about photographing people on the streets. Street photography is about people, or more specifically about human nature, but people don’t have to be present in the scene. There are an infinite number of opportunities to take photos without people and look great.
But do not confuse a street photograph without people with an urban landscape. An urban landscape is a shot of an urban environment, like a simple shot at a building. The street photos on the other hand say something about human nature. They have a message.
What Equipment Should We Use?
Let’s forget about the camera and use the function it has. Of course there may be limitations, but we have to learn to live with it. There is no perfect camera and there is always something better very soon. Let’s go out and shoot, and forget about the gears.
Shoot From The Hip
This on a very common advice. Shooting from the hip has two advantages. We’ll have a different point of view, but most importantly, people don’t realize we’re taking a picture of them. If we have a camera with a rotating screen, we can even see what we are shooting and remain cautious.
If we do not see what we photograph, we have to practice before. First we choose a wide angle lens to get more in the frame since we have a greater chance of capturing our lens.
Finally, we have to look for interesting topics and focus on the story. We don’t have to go crazy trying to photograph everything we see. In this way, we may not realize something worthy of our attention.
Let’s try to separate the most interesting people, and to find a good background for the pictures, look for an interesting light, emphasize the subject… and most importantly, go out to take pictures!
Font: club de fotografía
