How to prepare for street photography

Lead; Preparation is an important step in ideal photography. Most forms of photography are like wedding photography, headshots, family photos, commercial photography or racquet photography. Almost all have clear preparation steps and settings before shooting, such as scenery, clothes, furnishings, photography assistants, models, lighting, tripods, polishing boards, backgrounds, side shots, or large screens that can monitor photos in real time. How to prepare for street shooting? Street photography has no fixed decoration, background, light or model and any of the above conditions. Everything changes randomly. All a photographer can do is walk around the street with his camera. How to plan ahead? Street photography cannot plan the subject or scene. It can only plan itself, the camera and the most important thing: mentality.

▲? Lost in translation? Taiwan Province Taibei-Ethan Qian

1. Shoot what? Where to shoot?

This question is not difficult to answer in other forms of photography, because there are already goals and specific steps. For example, racquet photography is to shoot products or beans, wedding photography is to shoot new people who are getting married, and what is the big photo? Hmm? Have a big fight? . The answer to this question can be said that street photography is not easy and quite open, depending on your creativity. Many people who have just started shooting streets often don't know what to shoot after going out for a day. One way is to set some simple goals first, such as taking pictures of passers-by's shoes, bags, backs, animals, old people, children, lovers, people wearing thick glasses and people wearing thick glasses.

You can set any theme, or you can look for pictures on the street with your camera, but you usually have little chance to capture good pictures on the street at will, unless your observation ability has been trained to see mountains, mountains and water, and any photo you take casually can make people feel palpitation. Otherwise, if you are just trying street photography, my personal suggestion is to set the theme as today's goal, such as objects, colors, shapes, postures, behaviors, contrasts and so on. And observe others at will. I used to take less than three pictures a day, but later I deleted them all. As for where to shoot, it depends on where you like to go, where you feel familiar and comfortable in the crowd. I usually go to crowded places, and the pictures and stories I can observe will be more abundant. But don't set limits, try different places.

▲? Red shoes? , new york-Ethan Jain

2. Personal effects

My current street photography equipment is very simple:

Canon 40D, 50mm F/ 1 .8

That's it.

I once carried a backpack with spare batteries, spare memory cards, water, notebooks, lens wipes, a Canon 24-70mm F/2.8 lens, and sometimes my son's diapers, clothes and toys? But after several times, I decided to go into battle completely lightly, only with my camera, because really? It is too heavy. I usually take pictures downtown. Water is easy to buy. Random loading of 8GB memory card, the battery was fully charged the night before. I wear protective glasses on the lens, so I can wipe them with the cotton T-shirt I'm wearing. I try my best to focus on walking and looking for a map, otherwise I can only think about carrying a backpack: "Where is a storage box in this hellhole?" 」

Wear comfortable clothes and shoes.

I usually wear thin clothes when I go out on weekends. If it is summer, I like to drag my feet to the streets, but dragging my feet to the streets to take pictures is definitely not a good idea. Personally, I suggest wearing sports shoes or comfortable shoes. I almost broke my camera when I dragged my feet into the street. Comfortable shoes can not only prevent you from falling, but also make you walk all day without hurting your feet. And clothes. I try not to wear shirts or pants that are too tight. There are many things that make you lift your camera or squat down instantly in street photography. A big move too close to your body will keep you on the side of the road, btw. It's not me down there.

▲? Not gregarious? New york-Ethan Chiang

4. Transportation facilities

When shooting street photos, I like to take the bus, bus or MRT, so I have more opportunities to see more pictures. When I am lazy, I will drive to a fixed place to shoot. Personally, I have a habit of hanging my camera on my chest when driving, and I will observe the surroundings when waiting for a red light or traffic jam, such as whether there are interesting pictures to take on the sidewalk or other cars. Once I suddenly saw a picture to be taken on the side of the road, and it was yellow.

▲? Quit , new york? Ethan Chiang

5. Relax and don't disturb others.

I found that as long as my mind is thinking about other things, my observation will be dull, including thinking about where there is a locker, the unfinished work in a week, whether my son is constipated today, what to eat for dinner, especially when I go out with a telescopic lens, and the most stressful thing is to worry about the lens being hit. My telescopic lens was hit by a heavy glass door, which affected my shooting mood all day, which is one of the reasons why I suggested using a fixed focus lens. Short and light, if you have other things on your mind, I suggest that you don't shoot first, because if you don't shoot the ideal picture, you may make yourself more stressed. Don't take street shooting as a kind of pressure. Don't think I have to shoot anything today. Try to enjoy observing everything on the street and pay attention to details.

Don't care too much about what others think of you. When going out for a walk on weekends, I usually take street photos with my wife. Often after I shoot a scene, my wife will say to me, "Hey, a passerby was watching you just now", and my usual answer is "Whatever." If you care too much about what others think of you, you will become stubborn and naturally affect your observation.

▲? Curious girl? Seoul, South Korea-Ethan Chiang

Step 6 be open-minded

Please keep an open mind and a high degree of curiosity about the surrounding environment, and change the established impression of things in the past. Picasso once said, "Every child is an artist. The question is how to maintain his identity as an artist when he grows up. " Every child is an artist, the problem is how to keep the artist's heart when he grows up. Try to look around with a child's mind, and look at what you are familiar with from an angle or concept that you have never tried before. Don't presuppose your position, don't criticize, feel the truest breath brought by the street with an open mind, and let the audience smell the breath of the street through your photos!

The above is my pre-planning in hardware and mentality when I was shooting in the street. Do you have any other suggestions or experiences? Welcome to share!