The art of street photography can be an extremely rewarding experience for photographers who are looking to capture the current state of the human condition. Candid street photography has allowed artists to capture the nature of the world and reflect on how society truly acts when it does believe it is being watched. If you’ve begun your venture into the world of street photography and already have a good handling of the basics, here are some tips to take your work to the next level.

Disclaimer: Before I begin, I would like to point out that the photographs I am using in this article were shot by myself. I am far from the world’s best street photographer, and my photographs are simply here to illustrate possible points of focus on your next adventure. However, if you do indeed like my imagery, I thank you very much for your kind words. In addition, everyone’s style of capturing art is different, so if you disagree with my tips – that is perfectly okay!

Stop Being Afraid of People

The number one issue that fledgling street photographers have with their craft is that they are afraid to approach people. Due to the idea that street photography is a focus on the humanity around us, this can be quite a significant problem. A good portion of learning to overcome your fear is understanding what exactly you are afraid of when it comes to people – do you think they will yell at you? Do you think they will attack you? In practice, I’ve never had anyone react violently or viciously towards my process, but I’ve also never tried to take photographs of someone I believed might be hostile or whipped my camera out in known crime areas of the city.

There are two methods for snapping a photo of someone; one is to ask their permission, and the other is to not ask their permission. Quiet simple, right? Obviously, asking their permission would kill a candid moment, but you can obtain some excellent portraits from the situation. Just last week, I was in a restaurant with my camera when I saw a gentleman in what could only be described as a ‘dapper suit’. I kindly asked him if I could take his picture and was able to get him to stand exactly where I wanted. That photograph now sits on a roll of film next to me, ready to be developed. The worst that could have happened? He could have given me an odd look and said no, then I would have gone on with my day.

When people see your camera, they want to know why you are taking photographs and that your intentions are pure. If you capture a snapshot of someone and they look at you, simply smile back and bow your head – a simple action like this sends positive signals and helps to comfort people who may be wary. If someone asks why you took their photograph, be honest; tell them you loved their hair, the clothing they were wearing, or the way the light was shining on them. If you decide to approach someone for a photograph, be sure to smile and have an air of excitement to your words. The key is to put people at ease.

Your fear of people will take time to overcome. By simply going out on the street and snapping more photographs, you will find yourself becoming more confident. Just remember to smile and be honest with your subjects; they may be wary of the situation, but your entire demeanor will direct the situation. Also, be sure to carry business cards on you, many people want to see their snapshot once it is developed!

Learn to Look for the Moment

Many photographers don’t know what they should be taking photographs of when they go out street shooting. I can’t tell you what to shoot exactly, but I can tell you what I look for when I am out around town. As I walk, I tend to focus on what people are doing and the expressions on their faces. For me, emotion is a large part of street photography; I am trying to capture the joy and hardships of life with my camera. I keep an observant eye to see what the people around me are feeling. A couple smiling together while at a coffee table, a woman collapsed on her knees in stress, or a man lost deep in thought – all ranges of emotion I aim to capture.

You may find that when street shooting, your own interests weave their way into your photos. I have a great joy in shooting photographs of people reading magazines or books. I cannot tell you why these subjects bring me as much joy as they do, but my mind finds them as points of interest. I also personally love to depict people in suits against contrasting environments – maybe a properly trimmed businessman against the poorly maintained tiles of a subway station.

You must find an interest and photograph it yourself. Just remember that you are capturing life around you and that life is made up of emotion – that is the human element.

Learn to Wait for the Moment

In complete contrast to my last tip, you must learn to also wait for the moment and be patient. Unless you are on the streets of a major metropolis, chances are there won’t be a million opportunities walking around. However, you can create your opportunities.

Find an area where the light or background is perfectly as you like it and then just wait. Chances are that someone will walk by the spot you are waiting, and you can snap a picture of them perfectly setup in your ideal scene. If you lucky enough to be in a busy area, you may be able to wait for exactly the perfect subject.

While I was in New York City recently, I saw a rusty old metal garage door aside the sidewalk. I could see, on my left, a man approaching. I raised my camera and framed the metal door. Within seconds, the man walked into my frame, and I snapped the photograph I wanted.

While the world may be full of moments around you, use your eyes to note spots of interest – strong areas of light or simply interesting backdrops, and then wait for your subject to walk into your frame. As the famous saying goes, “let them come to you”.

Take Closeups of People

The majority of street photography today seems to be taken from quite a considerable distance, whether the photographer is using a telephoto lens or simply taking a wide angle shot, no one wants to get close. However, did you know that you can take close-up photographs of people without them even realizing it?

One possible method is to stand close to someone and take a picture of something above them (it can be a tree leaf – get creative). Then, when you are bringing the camera down, you snap their photo. Many people will think that you had taken a picture of something else and then are reviewing the image. Unaware that you are not chimping, but instead continuing to photograph, you can obtain some stunningly up-close images.

Another option is to pretend you are taking a quick panorama and snapping the photograph as you pass the subject. It is important to note that because of your hand’s movement, you will need a relatively fast shutter speed for this trick.

Lastly, an option I had not even considered, but was introduced to me on a Facebook group, is to make use of your camera’s built-in Wi-Fi capabilities. Simply hang the camera around your neck, initiate remote control from your smartphone, and then snap away without people even realizing what you are doing. I can’t speak for all manufacturers and mobile applications, but the iOS app for theFujifilm X100T allows complete manual control over the unit.

These tips won’t always work, but can be an excellent way to try and get that close-up photograph you want.

Acknowledge that Street Photography is Not Perfect

It is a very natural urge for photographers to document the swirling life around them. We often find ourselves drawn into, as observers, a number of situations and noticing interesting details about other people on the streets. Photographically capturing these moments is a very different thing, however. While landscape photographers will usually find themselves alone and sports photographers are expected to point huge lenses at people, it is a much more self-conscious process to photograph random people in public places. I am sure many of us have regretted leaving our cameras in the bag in the face of interesting everyday situations. In this article, I will provide several street photography tips for beginners. Hopefully, it will help you start using your gear more freely without fear of being confronted by your subjects.

1) What is Street Photography?

In essence, street photography is a type of candid photography done in a public place, be it a street, a restaurant or even public transport. It is similar in approach to photojournalism and mostly involves people (and/or animals) in a populated environment (which provides the context of a story told), such as a city. However, street photographers often focus on everyday lives of strangers rather than some kind of important event photojournalists are more interested in. Usually, street photographers try as much as possible to stay unnoticed when photographing. The goal of street photography is to capture scenes unaffected by the author of the work so as to show a natural story and subject. Story and subject are possibly the most important aspects of a good street shot. Henri Cartier-Bresson, arguably the best street photographer of all times, “the father of photojournalism”, had once said: “Above all, I craved to seize the whole essence, in the confines of one single photograph, of some situation that was in the process of unrolling itself before my eyes.”

Noticing and telling a story through a photograph is one of the most difficult tasks to master when doing street photography. Crucially, it involves the not-so-simple matter of actually taking the shot.

2) Be Daring About It

There’s no point in talking about gear and various street photography tricks unless you actually push yourself to take a picture. Now, it may not seem like such a big deal when reading this article, but once you’re out on the street, things can get a little less comfortable. Sure, every now and then people may smile at you or pay no attention to your camera at all, which is preferable. But at times, you may find yourself in less than friendly situation. See the image above? The two young men on the right started swearing at me while still about a hundred meters away. I didn’t put my camera down, but it wasn’t easy not to do so. They made interesting subjects in the end and I liked the emotional contrast between them and the old lady. Interestingly, it also gave me an idea of bringing a friend along whenever I felt like doing some street photography.

 

Canon EOS 5D Mark III + EF50mm f/1.2L USM @ 50mm, ISO 200, 1/320, f/2.0

Even when not dealing with the aggressive type, it takes a lot of courage to invade someone’s private space by photographing them without permission. Think of your motives. Why are you taking these photographs? Are you actually doing anything wrong in any way? Would you be angry or annoyed if you saw some other photographer taking a picture of you? There’s no reason why anyone should be angry at you for taking their photographs, unless you give them the reason to be angry. It is important to know how to behave in a friendly manner and not make your subjects angry. Getting into a conflict could potentially ruin both your and your subject’s mood for the day. Try to look friendly and interested, smile at people who notice you – being obviously secretive can lead to suspicion. Be sure you are not doing anything illegal. Read up any laws concerning photography in public places (you can start by reading our “Know Your Rights as a Photographer” article). In most countries such photography is permitted. Sometimes you may be approached by authorities when you’re not doing anything wrong – stay confident. However, photographing children, for example, may get you in more trouble. Laws concerning them are often more strict.

Of course, you may want to choose a different approach and actually ask for permission to take an image. While it will disrupt the natural turn of events (mind you, no one can guarantee anything worthy of attention will happen in the first place), some people make interesting subjects even when deliberately posing for your shot. Read more about approaching strangers in our “Are You Afraid to Ask?” article.

 

Canon EOS 5D Mark III + EF50mm f/1.2L USM @ 50mm, ISO 2500, 1/320, f/2.5

If you still feel uneasy, but really want to try your hand at street photography, start with simple situations. Not in all cases you will find your subject facing you. Finally, take up simple measures to draw your own attention away from being self-conscious. Try listening to your favorite music while you’re out, for example. This may help you feel more like an observer of the life surrounding you rather than a participant, and distance you from any unwanted reactions.

3) Alright… But what if I Don’t Want to Be Noticed?

It gets a lot easier to remain hidden once you’ve learned how to react when you’re seen taking the picture. Natural behavior attracts much less attention. First and foremost, learn to anticipate. This will help you keep that camera off your eye for longer, yet allow you to capture that decisive moment. Watch everything around you. Look at what people are doing, where they are going and who are they likely to run into on their way. Notice the surroundings, too. Look for interesting shapes, colors, posters, ads and secondary subjects. Get into a suitable position beforehand. If there isn’t one, keep moving around. Finally, once you can see that story unfold, be quick about taking your photograph. Have the settings right before you even start, and pre-focus to an anticipated distance if you can – it will save you precious seconds. At that point, all that’s left to do is bring that camera to your eye and snap away.

You can also practice a more discreet technique by shooting from your waist with the camera hanging around on the strap. Just stop down your lens, choose a hyperfocal distance to ensure everything within reasonable focus distance is sharp, and shoot away merely by pointing your camera in the right direction. With time, you will find yourself getting to know your lens better. You will then handle composition much more confidently, too.

If, by a probable chance, you do get noticed and don’t feel like smiling in apology, don’t take the camera off your eye after you’ve taken the shot. Just keep photographing things around you, or pretend to do so. Turn off your auto-review function, too – your subject may not even realize you’ve photographed them already. Always remember – those people out on the street are probably just as afraid of talking to you as you are of photographing them. It is likely they will try to pretend they haven’t even seen you.

4) What Gear Should I Use?

Now that you’re ready to storm the streets, it’s time to choose best tools for the job. What sort of camera and lens should you bring? In short – use anything you have. If it’s a big, professional DSLR – good for you. If it’s a point-and-shoot or a budget 5 megapixel smartphone – just as well. It’s best if there’s some manual control available, as in certain cases you may want to choose specific exposure settings. On some occasions, you may also prefer to set focus manually.

Street photography started with Leica. Today, this is where mirrorless system cameras come in their own. High quality, fast, small and quiet, they are likely among the most discreet photographic tools you will find and share many of the properties that made Leica rangefinder cameras so popular decades ago. Mind you, a pink Nikon J2 will get you noticed quickly, but an Olympus OM-D E-M5 should be a cracking camera for the job. Black or metallic colors work best. Still, don’t worry if you don’t own a mirrorless camera. Even with its loud shutter and big size, the more noticeable DSLR can also be great for street photography, as can lightweight, pocket-able point-and-shoot cameras. Remember that due to weight, size and overall presence, DSLR’s will require more skill in handling discreetly.

Lenses make for an interesting debate. There are photographers who believe using longer focal length and thus standing further away helps stay unnoticed and ensures that the subject remains natural. I personally find it to be a slightly creepy approach, never having used a longer than 85mm focal length for street photography (on a FF camera). Imagine a photographer pointing a monstrous 70-200mm lens at you from the other side of the street! I can’t see someone being too happy about it. Lets face it – large gear is scary for the non-photographers. All those huge white and black lenses are intimidating and will hardly leave your subject smiling, not to mention friendly even the slightest bit. This is one of the reasons why many good street photographers prefer small, wide-ish angle prime lenses. Among other things, these lenses also help with discretion. The most important advantage of a wide-angle lens is, however, the sense of presence. A perspective drawn by a wide-angle lens pulls the viewer in, makes him feel as if he’s in the captured image. As if he’s part of the story unfolding. Such a lens also allows for more background, which means more context.

Tele-lenses, on the other hand, compress perspective leaving out more detail that may otherwise be interesting. They make the subject seem more distant. Looking at an image taken with a 200mm lens feels like you’re looking at something that’s very far away. It’s just not as involving to observe. For this reason, I usually choose a wider-angle lens, ranging from 50mm to 24mm or even less. Your preference will vary.

5) The Settings

When doing some street photography, I prefer to rely on manual exposure settings. This is because AE (auto exposure) readjusts shutter speed and/oraperture whenever you change framing. Settings chosen by AE hugely depend on the amount of lights and darks within the frame. So, if I want to photograph a person walking down the street, but frame my shot so that there’s a lot of sky in the picture, AE will underexpose. I find manual exposure to work quicker than AE-Lock, but that’s a matter of taste. I set up and fine-tune my camera exposure whenever I have a free minute. I try to memorize the exposure difference between light and shadowy areas of the scene. On a sunny day, the difference might reach even 3 stops!

Depending on the results you’re after, you will want to choose a decently quick shutter speed to stop movement. During day-time it’s not a problem, but as soon as light levels start to diminish choosing a higher ISO value will become essential. Consider 1/200th of a second to be your approximate minimum. At times, you may want to slow down your shutter speed in order to achieve movement blur around your stationary subject, thus separating it within the frame.

Aperture’s easy – select a value that leaves you with a quick enough shutter speed and also plenty of depth of field for backgrounds and foregrounds.

6) Shallow Depth of Field Doesn’t Matter

Let’s face it – shallow depth of field is often enough to make even the most simple photograph look good. It is only too easy to get caught up in shallow depth of field aesthetics. Point that cheap 50mm f/1.8 lens at an old shoe and done – looks awesome. Even though it’s just a shoe. But we are not fooling anyone in street photography. Here, shallow depth of field is far from being enough to make that picture good. It’s about time we remember our lenses can also be stopped down to actually increase depth of field.

By no means am I saying you can’t do street photography wide-open. As a matter of fact, very rarely do I ever stop down my lens even slightly. But learning how to shoot with most of the frame in sharp focus can be a great experience. Extensive depth of field helps provide more background to the story, literally. Also, it counters any slight focus errors that may happen. Every now and then you may notice you’ve captured more than one interesting subject in the frame. Imagine being surprised at your own image! Whenever you’re out looking for good photographs, make shallow depth of field one of the options rather than default choice.

7) …Nor Does Image Quality

Don’t take my words straight to your heart – you should always stride for high image quality when possible, unless you expect lower quality to add to the mood of your photograph. However, in street photography, this aspect moves down the list of importance. Subject, mood, story, light and composition – all these things are ultimately more important than sharpness and low noise. Getting the mentioned points right will result in a great photograph even if it’s somewhat blurry and noisy. However, even the sharpest image will be worthless if there’s nothing to really look at apart from crisp detail and clean tones.

Capture the moment using whatever settings necessary. As long as you make out faces and shapes, as long as there’s good light, interesting story and well thought-through composition, there’s a large enough probability you’ll be glad you did.

8) Final Words

Look for particularly interesting subjects and focus on the story. Don’t lose your head trying to photograph every stranger you meet. By doing so, you are likely to fail to notice something that’s really worth your attention. Try to separate the more interesting people. Can you see someone eating on the run? Or is someone reading a paper and not looking properly at where they’re going? Is there someone heading for a deserted alley? Try finding a good background for your images, look for interesting light to emphasize your subject, possibly separate him from the rest of the world around.

Most importantly, raise your camera swiftly and without doubt so as to not miss that crucial, “decisive moment”, so craved by Henri Cartier-Bresson.