Welcome to the second part of the series on how to take great street photography. I hope you found Part I interesting and that you have been able to apply it in some of your own pictures. Please feel free to upload some of your own pictures in the comments and we can compare some of your great works of art.
1. Don’t Disturb the people you are photographing.
Try to challenge yourself to not be seen too much when you are taking pictures. You have to remember that not everyone likes having their photos taken, and that there are some situations that are better than others to photograph. If someone is walking down the street and you stop in front of them to take a picture of them, they might be a little annoyed – if you try to be quiet though, you may see some extraordinary things happen. When Yanidel, another great street photographer, was taking the picture above he was photographing a completely ordindary situation to many and because he was able to take the photo unnoticed, he is able to show us a part of someone's everyday life without it being styled for the photo.
2. Shoot from the hip
Instead of always looking through the lens while taking pictures, try putting your camera or phone over your stomach or next to your hip while taking photos. This creates some really fun, and often unexpected, pictures. It also trains you in aiming before you shoot, so if you ever see something exciting happening in front of you and you need to quickly take a picture, you will know how to. It also means that you may catch some objects or people in your photo that you weren't even trying to photograph, which is suprisingly fun.
3. Photograph in Landscape Mode
A lot of people tend to shoot in portait mode, which is when the vertical lines are longer than the horizontal ones, but for street photography it is often better to shoot in landscape mode as you can catch more people and things happening. You should make sure your photo has at least one focus though - something that the eyes automatically look at when they look at your photo. If you see a single person that you really want to photograph it can also be really impressive to shoot in landscape mode, as long as the person stands out enough to become a focus. It shows real talent when you can get a picture in landscape mode that has a lot of things in it, but no one doubts for a second what you are trying to show.
4. Tell a Story with Your Photo
The best photos are the ones that tell a story. You won't know the people you are photographing when you are doing street photography, but usually you can look at people and make a story with their surroundings and them. If you see someone relaxing on a bench, for example, try to look at their surroundings; are they relaxing because they are in nature, or are the relaxing in the middle of the bustling city? Either way, make sure you make the surroundings clear in your photo. If you see a happy dog, try to get a picture of the person holding the dog as well, as they will probably be smiling too. Always focus on the surroundings of your subjects and incorporate them when it seems right.
I hope you found these tips and tricks helpful! Let me know if you have any questions
Image 1: http://blog.yanidel.com/
Image 2: http://erickimphotography.com/blog/2012/02/27/102-things-i-have-learned-about-street-photography/
0 Comment:
Be the first one to comment on this article.