Four experiences of advanced street photography

Lead: Many people like street photography, but sometimes street photography is not as easy as landscape photography, and sometimes it may be misunderstood. Then the following little Bianchi will share some advanced experience of street photography for everyone.

If you can't be invisible, try to be polite.

Recently, I saw some friends sharing their street photography works and experiences. Some of them took photos directly at strangers, some said they were warned, and some said they were scolded. Being chased by dogs, stared at by passers-by, and asked by strangers if they were filming them.

In street photography, I often see interesting people with scenes and can't help but want to take pictures. Most street photographers share in two ways, "invisibility" or "friendliness". There are many ways to be invisible, such as shooting blindly, making a diversion, pretending to be a tourist, taking pictures quickly and leaving without looking at each other.

Another way is to be polite. If you are caught shooting at a stranger, nod, smile and wave. Most people won't make a mountain out of a molehill just because you took a photo. Street photographers seem aggressive and aim at others, but I believe that most people are harmless and just want to capture beautiful, moving and interesting pictures, but it is very strange for the people who are photographed. Usually, they are shocked, or offended, followed by weirdos or photographed.

I used to prefer the "invisible" way, not making eye contact with the subject and trying not to be found, but recently I found that many times I had to be close to the subject and shoot in front of him to get the picture I wanted. If the other side finds out after shooting, I will smile at them, wave my hand and leave as soon as possible before they react to avoid conflict.

Here I appeal to all friends who are interested in street shooting, please be friendly. The motivation of street photographers is to capture beautiful moments, not to "invade" the subject.

Don't look down at the screen immediately after filming.

There is a funny word among foreign photographers called "Chimping", which refers to the action of looking down at the LCD screen immediately after taking a photo. The origin of this term is "chimpanzee gorilla", because imagine that you took a great photo, looked down at the LCD screen after it was taken, and uttered a sound of woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo.

I have been practicing non-chimpanzees in street photography for some time, and I still do it occasionally. Well, I admit that I still do it occasionally, especially after I see a great picture and press the shutter. I'm not sure if I have it. However, I really looked down to see if the previous shoot was good or not, only to find that there were several shortcomings.

1. You will miss many pictures. When you look down at the screen, the next great picture may flash before your eyes.

2. The battery is dying.

3. You will accidentally delete the photos you want to keep. Believe me, I've done this stupid thing many times.

4. There is pressure. Constantly looking down at the screen will make you feel the pressure to "shoot a perfect picture", but "perfect picture" does not exist.

5. Destroy the rhythm of street shooting.

These are the reasons why chimpanzees are not recommended when taking pictures on the street. Another thing I'm practicing now is that I don't output photos until I take a certain number of photos, which is actually a bit difficult, because after a few hours in the street, you will want to see the results of the day's shooting. I don't know what the result is (because I don't look at the LCD screen now). I feel a little addicted to looking at photos, but I will be fine in a couple of days.

The reason for doing this exercise is to let those photos sink, forget the emotions and feelings when pressing the shutter, and see if those photos are worth staying in the future. Many times, when the street photographer presses the shutter, he will have a strong emotional projection on the scene or object. As a result of looking at the photo immediately that day, they will think it is a great photo too subjectively, and lose their objective analysis and self-criticism. I want to try to play down the mood when I press the shutter and see if those photos can still impress me after a while. You might as well try. Now I dig out some old photos and find that I really don't feel why I kept this one at that time. Wait, I believe this exercise can improve the photographer's sensitivity to photos to a certain extent.

Street photography taught me to "let go"

I started street photography for beautiful images, further to tell stories, and then kept thinking about what "meaning" is. After reading the sharing of many senior street photographers, or the sharing of foreign masters such as Bresson, Alex Weber, william klein and Joel Meyelowitz, it seems that they all found their own philosophy or epiphany in street photography. Many people will say, don't think so much, just have fun. Indeed, "I took a photo that I classified as" failure "a while ago. Usually I don't have the habit of looking down at the screen immediately after filming, but now I know that the focus is not aligned. Sure enough, when I came back to see the photos, the whole theme was burned out, which is the following one.

What I want to shoot is this young mother and the sleeping baby hanging in front of her. When I saw this photo, I thought, "This will be the best photo I have taken recently." The mother walks at a moderate speed, so I have enough time to focus in advance. I stood on the side of the road, staring intently at the back shelf, waiting for her to enter the shooting area, but when I raised my camera, I suddenly adjusted the focus intuitively, and I missed the opportunity to shoot. Focus on the uncle behind the cool mom, because the distance is very close, and she only presses the shutter once for me, so I can only watch her float past with the baby hanging in front?

The first reaction is "chagrin" and "regret", which gradually turns into "anger"? But after a few minutes, I began to think about why I just started street photography, because I like to see stories and people on the road and capture interesting moments. Is it worth getting angry about this missed photo? Even if this is the best photo I think I can take in the first half of the year. Is it worth it to be angry about something that made you happy at first, because of the setting of expected image quality and the wrong camera operation? After thinking about it, it should be written here, "Are you feeling better? Put it down " No, my heart is still X (maybe I haven't realized it yet), but I can only do this first and put it down.

Bresson said a word-? Once a moment in the street is missed, it will never happen again, never, you can only move on. ?

I always think that street photography can not only bring me the pleasure of photography, but also let me learn some things in life, such as seeing the beauty from a small place, cherishing every moment, learning to wait, creating opportunities, shooting accurately and knowing how to let go? I think I can almost become a monk if I keep writing. I hope it will be fine tomorrow. Let's go out for a walk and applaud!

When you are too busy to take pictures

I haven't carried my camera around for a long time. I have to go to work during the day and get together with my children and family on weekends. When I saw the words related to photography recently, didn't I think of something similar to the past? How to take good photos? ,? What street shooting skills should I share? ,? What new photographers are there abroad recently? Instead? I don't even have time to take pictures? ,? I don't even have time to take pictures? ,? I don't even have time to take pictures? ,? I don't even have time to take pictures?

Calm down and think for several reasons.

1. The standard is getting higher.

Just like getting used to eating Sichuan food and then going back to eating white tofu, there are few street photography works that can make me excited or excited now. It may be that the standard of investigating street shooting has become higher, or it may be that the clockwork is too tight and the head is loose. I am no longer as excited as before to rush out to shoot every day, but I am constantly thinking about what to shoot and how to shoot.

2. Life and work reduce motivation.

As I said before, ordinary life has been occupied by family and work. Sometimes I wish I could concentrate on street shooting wholeheartedly, but I think many people are like me, but they still have to take care of their stomachs.

3. Interest turned into pressure

At first, I just wanted to simply enjoy photography, but after a long time, I began to demand myself, and pure enjoyment became the pursuit of higher results. But I forgot that the best work is always the next one.

I recently saw a taxi street photographer in new york. He used the time of driving to work every day to shoot street shots on the streets of new york, and his works were very wonderful. This taxi street photographer made me rethink how to take pictures in a limited time. If you are like me, you don't have time to take pictures every day because of life and work, try to think about your free time in the day, such as commuting and lunch break. If you have a family and two children like me, try to walk around the house with your camera when the children take a nap on weekends. For myself, no time is just an excuse. I might as well get up and shoot instead of sitting and thinking.