Street Photography Magazine

Street Photography | Tips for Beginners

The tips and workshop ideas presented on the

following pages will help you to get the most

from your street photography exploits. They

explain how to overcome your own

uncertainty when photographing strangers

and give you hints on how to spot great

photographic opportunities when they arise.

Use the tips listed below while trying out the

ideas described in the workshop sections, or

simply to help you develop your own ideas.

If you are serious about street

photography, you need to give yourself plenty

of time to concentrate on taking photos. This

way, you will achieve much better results than

if you just take the odd snap or two while you

are out and about. The more you practice, the

easier it will become to find and capture great

street photos.

Which of these tips you find most useful is

a matter of personal taste. I have used all the

following ideas with my students, and

everyone ends up developing their own

personal favorite tricks and techniques

anyway. I prefer to use medium focal length

lenses (50-90 mm) and work at a slight

distance. This way, I don’t bother my human

subjects and can include the immediate

surroundings in my compositions.

Always at the Ready

If you stroll down the street with your camera

constantly in its shooting position, no-one will

know when you actually release the shutter.

This helps to dissipate the feeling that

everyone around is a potential ‘target’ for a

photographer they don’t know personally, and

is less obtrusive than if you suddenly raise your

camera in front of someone. Always being at

the ready also gives you a better chance of

capturing exactly the right moment.

‘Submarine’ Tactics

If you plan to photograph a particular person

or have already done so, but you don’t trust

yourself to make eye contact, you can stay on

their trail simply by pretending to be

completely disinterested. Some

photographers consider this type of approach

to be sneaky and inauthentic, but it is

nevertheless a good way to practice. You are

definitely not allowed to publish ‘secret’

images captured this way.

Using Wide-Angle Lenses

Wide-angle lenses capture a relatively broad

section of what is goes on in front of you,

which can be useful if you want to capture

people at the edge of the frame without them

feeling as if they are being photographed.

However, this approach makes it more

difficult to create satisfying compositions.

People at the edge of a wide-angle frame

tend to look slightly ‘lost’ and distances

appear greater than they are in reality,

making background objects appear further

away than they really are. Wide-angle photos

often contain too many details, giving an

image a cluttered look with no obvious main

subject. This a useful technique if you like

wide-angle effects, but it won’t help you get

up close and personal if true portraits are

what you are after.

Events

You are less likely to attract attention and will

be able to move around more freely at events

where others are taking photos too. Street

parties, parades, markets, fairgrounds and

pleasure boats are ideal locations for going

unnoticed while you shoot.

Narrow Streets

If you like to photograph passers-by, position

yourself in places where they have less room

to get out of your way, such as on footbridges

or at subway exits in the rush hour. If you use

this technique, don’t forget to concentrate on

background detail too.

‘Hideaways’

Parked cars or trees and plants in pedestrian

zones make great impromptu screens to hide

behind while you shoot.

Tips and Workshops

Wide-angle lenses can be used to casually

position a subject at the edge of the frame

ISO 800 | 24mm focal length | f10 | 1/250 s

The constant noise and action at an

amusement park will help you to fade into

the background and snap away undisturbed

ISO 400 | 50mm focal length | f6.3 | 1/60 s