Street Photography Skills of Street Photographers

Street Photography, also known as street photography, was originally an urban art form born in new york and other big cities, and it has such a tradition in big cities and small towns in the United States. The following are the street photography skills of street photographers I brought to you for reference only. Welcome to read!

Plan your street photography.

When I first started street photography, I went out with my camera without any plans. Anyway, street photography is walking around the street with my camera. It turns out that taking pictures like this is inefficient and tiring. Sometimes I walk all day without anything. I will try to plan the route in advance in the future. I have to go to work during the day, and sometimes I walk around with my camera during my lunch break. Before I go out, I will look at the map of MRT or bus online, choose a place where I can go back and forth for at least 30 minutes, and get to know the nearby terrain and route before I go out to take pictures. Therefore, we should not only plan advertising shooting, outdoor shooting or indoor shooting, but also plan street shooting.

2. Know that you shouldn't take pictures at the right time

Take a street shot for a while and you will know when to stop. Be curious, but know when to stop. Don't shoot everything like tourists. Usually, experienced street photographers are quick and leave the scene before they are noticed. Many times you need to know when you shouldn't take pictures. For example, if you see someone fighting, you'd better not take pictures for your safety, because their anger is likely to turn to you. When you see a physically handicapped person or beggar, don't slap others. It's disrespectful.

By Matt Stewart

3. Street photography and law

In some states of the United States, street photographers can sell and take photos including passers-by, and street photography is defined as art in some parts of the United States. But in more places, the law makes street photography quite "stuck". For example, in France, you can't shoot people casually, because everyone has the absolute right to portrait, and any photo with them belongs to him, even in public. In Taiwan Province province, such as portrait rights law, privacy law and so on. In most countries, it is legal to take photos in public, but assembling books or selling photos is another matter. It is better to know the relevant laws of street photography in advance, so that you can take photos on the street more freely and take out legal evidence to protect yourself when you encounter problems. I have written a legal content that street shooting can refer to before.

4. Know what to do in case of conflict with passers-by.

It's best to avoid it, but what if someone finds you filming him? Smile, this method is usually useful. Or pretend to look at other places and pretend to be tourists after filming. Listening to music at ordinary times, in addition to isolating myself from the environment and focusing on the subject of shooting, I can also pretend not to hear when others ask you something. Try to keep a low profile when shooting. If a passerby makes trouble, tell him honestly why you filmed him, because you think he is dressed in a special artistic conception, or you think he looks good. You can show him your photos. If the other party wants you to delete it (although no one has the right to ask you to delete it in public, please refer to this article), I suggest deleting it next time to save trouble and protect yourself.

5. Does street photography need the permission of the subject?

I don't usually ask if I can shoot objects. In Taiwan Province Province, you don't need permission unless you want to sell some street photos of people or buildings inside. Moreover, street shooting is a very natural state, and it is impossible to photograph people's natural appearance by asking in advance. In addition, if you ask for it afterwards, few people will be willing to let you keep the photos.

6. How to keep a low profile and not be noticed in street photography?

-Get into the environment and wear appropriate clothes.

Hold your elbows when shooting, and don't exaggerate your limbs like an angry lizard.

-Set up the camera. Don't play with camera settings when shooting. Take a quick shot and leave.

-Don't look down at the screen immediately after filming. (digital camera)

-If the camera hangs around your neck, please shorten the length of the sling and reduce the distance that the camera moves the eye guide away from your chest.

Make the camera a part of you, be familiar with your tools, and turn shooting into a reflex action, just as Bresson said that the camera is an extension of his eyes.

7. Try to learn from street photography books and websites.

The best part of street photography is "the moment". Photographers are looking for moments that life throws at them in the street, perhaps interesting dislocations, dramatic scenes, people wearing special dresses and so on. Unlike news photography, street photography usually doesn't shoot a specific person or thing by reporting, but simply waits for the surprise thrown at you by the street. Try to read more works, websites and books of other excellent photographers, and refer to why those photos make you feel, how they reinterpret some seemingly familiar daily scenes and why they capture some moments.

8. Location of street photography

When shooting in the street, we usually want to travel all over the city and explore all the interesting scenes, but we are very tired. At first, I tried to walk from Xiao Zhong East Road to Xinyi District, constantly looking for something to shoot, but I found that it would not only make me feel tired, but also lose many wonderful moments because I kept walking. It is recommended to lock a small area. The advantage of street photography is that even the same point will have unlimited possibilities because of constant changes. You never know what will happen in the same place the next second.

9. Choose an interesting topic

Look for interesting people, and then follow them for a short time. Don't be a stalker. Although it's a bit like a stalker, it will also give you a chance to take great photos. Street photographer Nick Turpin once saw two bald office workers wearing the same suit in the street, but they didn't make him think they could buy great photos, so he followed them for a short time. As a result, two workers wearing the same helmet came face to face, and the photographer pressed the shutter at the moment when the four people passed by, forming a large misplaced photo (the second photo at the top of this article). When walking in the street, you often see something interesting at the next corner. All you have to do is find the best angle, or wait and press the shutter when you feel the best.

David solomons.

10. The camera never leaves.

Street photography always finds its theme in daily life, not at weddings or after trips. Usually I would advise friends who like street shooting to bring their cameras and be ready to shoot at any time. For example, I can't take a big chip with me to work, I can take a small camera with me, and I can even take pictures with my mobile phone. If you think the resolution of the mobile phone is not good, use it as an observation exercise, which will improve your observation and maybe take great photos.

1 1. Learn how to be more efficient.

Or practice your intuition. I often don't have time to "think" why I took that photo just now after lifting the camera and pressing the shutter. Street shooting is mostly based on feelings. Seeing some scenes or characters on the road makes you feel, even if this feeling is very weak, usually you can prepare for shooting at that time and often get unexpected surprises.

12. The best time for street photography

Light will definitely affect the atmosphere. Street photography relies on natural light most of the time. I think the sunshine at noon is too strong. The best shooting time is in the morning and afternoon, especially from 3 pm to 5 pm. At this time, the side light is easy to form a dramatic atmosphere, with a lot of light and shadow, resulting in a long shadow, and it is easy to take a silhouette against the light.

Where can I shoot street shots?

Walk into the crowd, move quickly, use a smaller camera, and put it down when you are finished. The camera is too big or standing still in the middle of the road will only make you more obvious.

14. Try to shoot.

If you see a great scene, don't just take a photo, take a photo, wait a minute and see what has changed in that scene. The next second may be better.

15. Shooting in crowded places

Street photography doesn't have to have people in it, but almost 99% of the photos will have people in it. Man is the soul of street photography, representing the interaction of contemporary society, culture and environment. If you want to take a good street photo, you can put yourself in a crowded place, and the chances of taking a good photo will be greatly improved. But it doesn't mean that you can take good photos in all crowded places. Some places are crowded, but there won't be too many new things. You can practice visiting more crowded places, and you will know whether you will take good photos there. Anyway, don't let the plan of street shooting that day turn into pure shopping.

16. There are always enough memory cards, or negatives, and fully charged batteries.

There are too many possibilities to miss the photo opportunity, but there are several common ones. There is no camera, the camera is broken, there is no electricity, there is no time to take it out of the bag, and the memory card is running out. Among them, the camera is dead, and running out of memory cards during street shooting can make you most angry, because you are not going to travel for two months, just one day, and it is easy to prepare memory cards and batteries in advance. Remember, there are enough memory cards and more than two batteries.

17. Focus selection of street photography

The smaller the camera, the better. The shorter the lens, the better. Street photography should be as low-key as possible. Although walking along Huangjing Street with a robot mirror has a fitness function besides taking pictures, I still suggest taking a lighter camera and taking pictures while walking.

Nick Turpin

18. How to avoid conflicts with passers-by when taking photos on the street?

Keep a low profile and be confident. I didn't mean to put on a "I'm not easy to mess with" face, but when you finished filming quickly and confidently, you had finished filming before others could react, as if nothing had happened. But if you sneak around and look nervous, it will make people suspicious. You should also observe the subject when shooting. If the other person feels uncomfortable, or if two people are quarreling or even fighting, it is best not to shoot. Although taking pictures in public is everyone's right, please don't be blind.

19. Camera settings for street photography

Many times, it is recommended to use automatic mode, so that you can concentrate on shooting without worrying about camera settings. However, automatic mode sometimes leads to metering confusion under certain lighting conditions. I personally prefer manual mode. In the past, the aperture setting was based on "A", which was no problem during the day and the shutter was too slow when it was dark. Later, I used the shutter with "S" as a prerequisite, because I wanted to make sure that the shutter was fast enough in blind shot or when it was dark, but sometimes the aperture was too dark.

20. The choice of lens in street photography

I have seen people in new york use 70-200 white (or Guo Xuwei? ) and so on, so that you will look like a paparazzi and your chances of getting 50 shoulders will increase. The lens is recommended to focus. In addition to being light, you don't have to be busy adjusting the focus when you see the picture you want to shoot. Hold up the camera and you can shoot. Practice getting used to the distance of the fixed-focus lens, and let the shooting become your reflex action, and blind shot will also make progress. Street photography is often a close observation, with many details and subtle interactions. Using a telephoto lens will make you miss many interesting small changes in the street. 35mm or 50mm is a good choice.

2 1. Rapid reaction time

There are several ways to speed up the reaction time and take more photos in street shooting. I'm used to holding my camera in my hand instead of hanging it around my neck, so I can shoot faster. Second, at a corner that you find interesting or crowded, put the camera in front of you and wait for a few seconds. It doesn't matter if there's nothing to shoot. Putting the camera in your eyes for a few seconds is a bit like waiting for a rabbit, but it improves your chances of taking a surprise photo. The third method is to predict, observe a person, predict his next move, practice this prediction more, and the next time you see the situation, you will automatically react, raise the camera and press the shutter. Practice blind shot, be familiar with the lens distance, focus well in advance, and don't look at the viewing window when shooting. The last method is "Don't hesitate".