Moments from an autumn evening in Shinsaibashi, Osaka.
This one goes out to all the street photographers who document daily life and the moments around us. It seems like a pretty easy pursuit, right? Taking pictures of the things and people around you? Only, it isn’t. Really good street photography takes time and effort, and while I am always learning new things when it comes to street photography, here are a few tips that I’ve found to be useful in finding moments that capture the essence of a place:
1. Isolate your subjects using lighting
Subjects in street photography are the secret sauce of a photo. The centre of attention, the point to which your eyes are drawn. To really make your subjects stand out, use lighting or composition to draw attention to them.
2. Get close but be respectful and discreet
There’s this prevailing style of street photography over the past couple of years where photographers use mid to telephoto lenses which absolve them from getting closer to their subjects. This isn’t right or wrong, but I do find that more effective compositions often come from getting closer. (Ironically, all the photos here were shot with a mid-telephoto lens – an 85mm equivalent – which makes me just as guilty.)
3. Work the angles, and work the scene
Oftentimes you’ll hear street photographers talk about ‘working a scene’. This isn’t to say you should loiter about on the same corner for an hour, but rather analyze the activity and see if there’s anything that could be of interest before moving on.
1. Isolate your subjects using lighting
Subjects in street photography are the secret sauce of a photo. The centre of attention, the point to which your eyes are drawn. To really make your subjects stand out, use lighting or composition to draw attention to them.
2. Get close but be respectful and discreet
There’s this prevailing style of street photography over the past couple of years where photographers use mid to telephoto lenses which absolve them from getting closer to their subjects. This isn’t right or wrong, but I do find that more effective compositions often come from getting closer. (Ironically, all the photos here were shot with a mid-telephoto lens – an 85mm equivalent – which makes me just as guilty.)
3. Work the angles, and work the scene
Oftentimes you’ll hear street photographers talk about ‘working a scene’. This isn’t to say you should loiter about on the same corner for an hour, but rather analyze the activity and see if there’s anything that could be of interest before moving on.
