Street photography

• Wear muted, boring, slightly shabby clothes so people won't notice you.
• Keep still so people don't notice your motion.
• Keep your elbows in.
• Use a small camera, such as a compact, so you are less likely to be noticed.
• On a small camera, f8 is more like f22 on an SLR.
• For prime lenses, 28mm or 50mm are good. 90mm too.
• Use an SLR with a long lens when your subjects are far away.
• Turn off all beeps. Set camera to silent mode if possible.
• Use speed priority, 1/250 second or so to get sharp pictures.
• Use aperture priority, under f11, to defocus background.
• Use program mode if you're not sure.
• Expose for the highlights. Don't worry about blacks (they give
• Know your depth of field. Calibrate beforehand. Zoom in to see this.
• Don't worry about high ISO when grot is good.
• Street photography usually means taking pictures of people without their knowledge.
• Always take a camera, wherever you go. Ensure you can get it out quickly and surreptitiously.
• Learn to 'smell the streets', being streetsmart and aware.
• Be aware of risks. Avoid really dodgy areas. As appropriate, know your escape route.
• One approach is to take photos from car while someone else drives.
• Always be ready to grab a quick shot. Impact can be more important than quality.
• Act casual. Avoid nervousness.
• Do some grab shots and some more thoughtful composed.
• You can lose a photo if you fiddle with the camera. This also gets you noticed. Set, forget and snap.
• Take lots of photos.
• Be aware of the background as well as the foreground.
• Look for a good background, set up and wait for passers-by.
• Good backgrounds: 'borrowed art' of graffiti, mannequins, grot, hoardings.
• Dark edge in background can hold things in, like a tree or dark cloud in landscape.
• Look beyond the subject, as if you are photographing something behind them.
• Frame wide and focus, bring camera off eye but hold in same direction. Press shutter while not lookng at subject.
• Look for text that can be a subtle comment on people and things. Cropped, part-words too.
• Look for incongruity, humour.
• Watch the lights and shadows. Use them to create mood and impact. Get to a place where light helps you.
• Try diagonal and odd angle shots.
• Get as close as you can to your subjects. It can be less obvious than when you are standing back.
• Close and wide aperture softens the background nicely.
• Take photos from waist-level if this works (tilt live-view screen upwards), but sometimes eye level (or ground or high) is better.
• Some people take only in monochrome for the atmosphere, but it's not essential.
• Some like to use a 16:9 aspect ratio, to give a cinematic feel.
• Turn camera sideways to capture people without facing them.
• When you are to the side or behind people, they won't see you. When in front, they may.
• People chatting, on phone, dozing or otherwise distracted are less likely to notice you.
• Capture interesting body language, people doing things.
• Watch for how and where people are looking. Toward one another, away, same direction, at something.
• Take people with bright clothes against muted backgrounds and vice versa.
• Don't be afraid of cutting of heads, limbs and torso. Heads especially attract attention.
• Sit at a cafe table with camera on table, and casually take pictures.
• Find the stage. Wait for the actors. See the story.
• Shots through windows can be good. In to out and out to in. eg. people drinking coffee.
• Fish where the fish are. Go to stations, events, markets. Join weird groups on Facebook and get invited to events.
• Find places that give good opportunities and keep going back.
• Night-time is a great time to photograph on the streets. Turn the ISO up for this.
• Be creative. Be open to unusual shots and situations. Look for the story (or even make it).
• Don't give the photo viewer all the story. Sustain tension.
• Eye contact can make a great photograph. It also means you've been noticed.
• When people notice you, engage with them. Chat and ask if you can photograph them.
• Avoid photographing people who seem angry. Adrenaline can make them aggressive with you.
• If people see you photographing them, smile! Show you're not a threat.
• When you smile at people, they often smile back. Which can make a good photo.
• Don't let worry hold you back. Be brave (but not foolhardy).
• Don't delete willy nilly. Come back time and again to photos. Let them sink in.
• In editing, use it or lose it. If it's not a useful part of the image, crop it.
• Going monochrome, ensure full tonal range. Do this in editing if needed.
• Use lots of darks and shadows for moodiness.
• Watch for directional lighting, especially for monochrome.
• 1/3 to 1/5 second to blur people and keep them anonymous.
• Get motion using flash, second curtain sync, low power (like 1/16), low ISO (to force speed down) and even ND filter for the same.

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