Following on from earlier blogs, I would now like to talk a little more about the first of my three categories of street photography – “life” (the other two categories being ‘portraits’ and ‘environment’)
“Life” is probably the category most of us think about when discussing street photography – candid images of people going about their everyday activities, but hopefully an image with a certain x-factor that lifts the shot to make it more than a random snap.
That x-factor could be any one of several things, some examples are;
· Direct eye contact. This engages us with the subject, we feel a personal connection
· An expression. Shock, amusement, fear – an element of humanity to which we can relate, a capture of emotion
· Documentary. The definition here can get deep, but basically an image that captures daily life or a significant event in a straightforward way. Images recording important events, such as historical or political, can be thought of as “documentary”. However, images capturing the everyday lives of people would also be included here.
When I’m shooting this kind of image, I try to look for something of interest and here’s where you need to use your powers of observation, imagination and patience.
· Observation – look for a potentially interesting person, a scene about to happen or perhaps something to do with the local environment – a poster of colours, perhaps
· Imagination – approaching a scene from different perspectives/angles or waiting for a “decisive moment” – get the old grey matter working!
· Patience – you may find a great location or an area with great light – but need to wait for some human interaction for that 5-star image
Now, this category of street image has challenges and it is perfectly understandable to have concerns around invasion of privacy or fear of being challenged. It can take time to build confidence in street photography and I would in no way portray myself as an overly confident street photographer. Someone like Bruce Gilden has a confidence that reaches into aggression – that’s not me and I believe most of us are not in that mould.
Bruce Gilden (Photofile) is a worthwhile library addition for anyone interested in Gilden’s work.
Even without Gilden’s style, there are ways to get effective and compelling street images – here are just a few tips
· Use a small camera, not a hefty DSLR – that will only attract attention. In a similar vein, try to blend in – clothing, behaviour, don’t jump about like a madman. Be natural.
· Be ready to shoot quickly. I tend to shoot on aperture priority, usually f8 for street (“f8 and be there”, as the old saying goes), set an ISO (high) then let the camera decide the shutter speed. But be prepared to alter the ISO if the shutter speed is too slow and results in blurred images. In addition, I tend to “zone focus”, unless I am comfortable that autofocus will work in the circumstances.
· “Shoot from the hip”. In practice this means not holding your camera up to your face and using other options – i.e. literally “shooting from hip level” or perhaps holding your camera to the side of your face. Now, the real goal isn’t to avoid detection/confrontation – it’s more about being able to capture a genuine candid moment. Plus, in some circumstances, the hip option helps from a level perspective – an example is below. The downside is that this style makes images harder to compose, but that will improve with practice.
· Choose a spot, wait for something to happen. If you find a potentially interesting scene – wait. An example may be an interesting location – a poster, mural, whatever. Wait. Wait until there’s some element of interesting interaction then – shoot! An image taken this way is posted below, with notes.
In summary, street photography takes practice and results will improve over time. Confidence levels will increase. Powers of observation and imagination will increase. So – get your camera ready, hit the street and get snapping!
This shot is an example of finding a location and waiting - a striking mural with strong colours. I waited a while until this lady came along, with the green of her clothing complimenting the green face. Ideally, I should have snapped a second later to have a gap between the woman and the hand - and for her to be in a more direct eye line from the mural. A lesson for me there - perhaps shooting in continuous, or burst, mode would have helped me nail the shot. But you get the idea, hopefully. This is probably also an example of both observation and patience.
Here we have an image “shot from the hip”. This wasn’t due to lack of confidence or fear of confrontation, merely that the shot works better taken from hip level. I composed as best I could, using the LCD screen, set the camera to f8 at a distance of 3 metres(zone focusing) and shot on aperture priority. Reasonably happy with the result.