3 Mistakes that Keep you From Getting the Street Photos you Want

Do you ever feel like you aren’t getting the shots you would like as a street photographer?

This week’s YouTube video shares 3 mistakes or things you can do differently to prevent you missing the photos you want.

1. Walking too Fast - things happen in front of you, behind you, all around you when you are looking for a photograph. When you walk too fast you run the risk of missing out on something.

2. Not Staying Long enough in one spot - be patient, wait for things to develop. Even though you may have taken some photos in a spot, pay attention because if you linger a bit, something better may just materialize.

3. Don’t wear headphones - I love music and wearing headphones while I walk, but when I’m walking the streets with a [photography] purpose I don’t want to miss anything. A sound can tip you off to something happening around you that you can’t see. If the music prevents you from hearing, you may miss something good!

Definitely take a watch - and let me know what you think!

Street Photography Tip: Don’t be Nervous

Creating a YouTube channel for my street photography tips has been something I have wanted to do for awhile. It took me a awhile to get it started but - le voici. Here it is.

One of the most common questions I hear is about how to not be nervous when taking street photos. This is something that I think the newer street photographers struggle with and even us seasoned photographers occasionally get a little shy from time to time. This video is a short overview of what my take on this is: Don’t be Nervous.

Thanks for taking a look. I plan on releasing at least a couple a week discussing common questions I get asked. So if there is something you would love to hear more about, send me a DM on instagram. And while you are at it, please subscribe to my channel and watch a few of the videos. Appreciate it.

Composition: The Definition con’t

[question I get asked alot: What software do I use to edit my photos?] I’ll start with a few that are well known and can be checked with Lightroom or Capture One Pro. I use capture One Pro for almost all of my work but Lightroom is a wonderful program and has more composition overlays so it’s a better option for compositional aid flexibility.

Let's start with the rule of thirds. It’s one of the easiest to learn and apply. It’s built into the display of most digital cameras and phone cams. It presents itself as a grid that annoys people that don’t know what it is. It lays across your image as a grid with two vertical and two horizontal lines. These section the image into thirds, going up and across.

The main idea is to place your points of interest on any of those lines and avoid the very center for placement of the main subject. Placement on the intersecting points is kind of extra credit. The idea behind this (and pretty much all the rules) is to give the brain a little workout.

The brain likes things to be easy. Once it’s figured out what’s going on it wants to move on to the next thing. Continuously looking at something when the brain is tapping its foot and wanting to move on is boring. With that in mind, the brain directs the eyes to certain points in any scene first. If it finds what it’s looking for there then it self satisfying wants to get on to the next thing. The points it sends the eyes to first are the center, and then to what is different. The center is obvious and what most of this is about but the concept of difference is interesting. If the image is predominantly dark then you will look at the lightest area first. Same in the opposite direction. Apply that to all sorts of things like color, quantity, focus etc. It’s built into us, don’t bother trying to change it. Understand and use it.

As for placement, when what’s most interesting isn’t in the center, your eyes start to wander. There are certain points in an image that seem to offer more visual tension and work the brain a bit harder (without it knowing it’s getting a workout) and that’s where the various placement guides come in.

You’ll eventually start to see the relationship in real time and place your subjects according to what you become most comfortable with. I started with the rule of thirds and then moved onto the golden ratio and finally to the golden spiral (also known as the Fibonacci Spiral). The golden ratio is basically the rule of thirds without dividing the image equally.

The Fibonacci Spiral seems impossible at first but with practice it becomes extremely useful. A quick story on the spiral. In the 80’s (when I was a kid) I saw a story about a cover of Sports Illustrated of “The Catch” . It was considered one of the best sports photos ever.

The question of course was why? It was a really good photo and it was hard to quickly look away from but again, why? The answer was Fibonacci. I had never heard of it or really cared since at the time I had zero idea that I would become a photographer. When the spiral was laid over the image, it was amazing.

Everything followed along the lines as if it were a painting and the photographer had time to place each element exactly in the perfect place. It was a single play in an NFC Championship game and of course the photographer (Walter Iooss, Jr.) reacted extremely quickly. He framed the shot as best he could given the speed it was happening.

Luckily as best he could turned out to be perfect in that instance. It could have turned out a lot differently and still have been a good shot but instead of good it was great. That is the importance of understanding composition. It can make good better and better great. You are still responsible for choosing the subject matter that gets composed. A bad subject with perfect everything else still won’t work of course. What is a good and bad subject is wildly subjective of course. That has no rules.

This article (or post if you prefer) isn’t intended to teach you how as much as why (with a little how sprinkled in). Why is always the most important question.

There is so much more to composition when you are interested and ready. It goes well beyond the simple guides I’ve mentioned, which are of great importance still. Let’s finish with a little assignment.

Put your favorite images into lightroom (since it has more options for composition tools) and cycle through the options. Don’t forget to invert them too since that is an option as well.

See if they line up with any of the tools, either perfectly or close (perfect isn't worth holding out for). Don’t stop thee. Crop into the image and see if you can get any of the other overlays to work.

You may find an image within the image you already like that is different and maybe even better. Once you get comfortable with the images you like (which may change in time btw) try images you thought didn’t make the cut.

Something in them made you take notice in the first place. It seriously is frequently in our subconscious. I reexamine images all the time and find relationships I didn't see at first. Cropping is our friend, embrace it.

The editors of Sports Illustrated did with “The Catch” and so have countless photographers and editors to refine amazing images over the years from good to great and great to legendary.

Composition: The Definition

What is composition in terms of photography?

For that matter, what is it at all?

Firstly I believe it is the word that turns off a lot of young and inexperienced photographers.

It sounds boring, technical and just plain “not fun”.  All of that can be true.

The argumentative rule breakers will say that it’s not necessary to know because we’ve all heard that rules are meant to be broken so why not just proceed from there?

It seems logical enough until you start getting into it. You may have a natural eye for design and create a lot of images that you and others love. Cool.

Like in music. You listen and then play without knowing anything about music theory. It sounds good therefore it is good. If it looks good, it is good.

While true, it misses the point that you are still applying the rules of your art.

Once you get to a point where you care and start to notice the patterns of your work you’ll start to notice those same patterns in the work of many others that you didn’t think had any relation to you.

Now you are starting to understand there are forces at work that you can’t ignore forever.

There are reasons that go beyond the scope of this post that people like things. Whether art or other things, the composition of the thing in question will attract some, go unnoticed by some and even repel others.

Once you’ve figured out what those things are then you are closer to being able to consciously expand your repertoire.

The first definition (of many) I ran across online from the Oxford English Dictionary states that “it is  the nature of something's ingredients or constituents; the way in which a whole or mixture is made up”.

In photography, whether street or otherwise, the placement of the objects in your photo in relation to each other and their location within the frame is what we are talking about.

There are time tested “rules” governing everything from color relationships, luminance values and object placement that have made photographs and paintings before them compelling to look at.

It’s not random even if it seems so. If you are feeling a bit “cheeky” you can go and look at a lot of your favorite photos (paintings are relevant too) and see if you can notice what makes them similar even in seemingly dissimilar images.

If you are doing this I would strongly suggest you compare similar subject matter to begin with. It’s not very straightforward at first.

There are alot of things that can go into the composition of an image and I am not going to address all of it here. I will get you started and add more in another post.

Don’t worry though, you don’t have to cram them all into every image.

For what it’s worth, I have never seen an image in any medium that contained (or could contain) all the rules at once.

to be continued….

Street Photo Tip: Work the Scene

In general street photography happens fast.

You see something that triggers a response, you raise your camera to your eye, (extremely) quickly compose, release the shutter and move on because that moment is gone forever.

The sequence is obviously slightly but inconsequentially different for hip shooters. With that in mind, let's think about what we would do if instead of seeing a moment unfold on the fly, we find an object that is drawing our attention. Something odd or at least noteworthy and it is stationary. You have more time to be careful in your composition.

Same with scenes where you have the frame precomposed but wait on various people (or animals) to walk into and complete the scene. If this is the case, one and done should not be your operating method.

Work the scene. Change angles. Walk around. Wait for various elements to change places and fill spaces. Create choices for yourself later when editing.

If you are not in a hurry and you walk off from something that caught your attention, wasn’t leaving anytime soon and didn’t care that you were photographing it without taking the time to try a few different things then you’ll be extra frustrated when editing and finding that a better image would have been made if you had only done.

A famous example is Jeff Mermelstein’s photo of burning shoe. If you don’t know it then it’s worth looking at and remembering what I just typed. You can also watch his segment in the documentary “Everybody Street”. Totally worth watching if you haven’t already (the whole thing, not just Jeff’s part).

Better than 95% of everything I photograph (street photography wise) is on the move and I get between 1-3 frames (more often than not it’s 1-2) and I'm on to the next moment. I have successfully photographed still objects in very few frames and unsuccessfully in many.

Given the choice, I still think it’s better to give yourself options than move on quickly if you don’t have to. Keep this in mind when you see that next object or scene that captures your attention.

Street Photo Tip: Icebreaker for Street Portraits

Here's a quick tip that I think would benefit all street photographers to some degree but would be particularly helpful to those that engage their subjects more, like doing street portraits.

Make a business card for yourself.

Include a sentence saying that if they contact you you’ll send them a digital copy of the image/s. Include your contact info and your social media profile/s. I have all this laid over an image that has a lot of dead space but still represents what I do.

When I approach a person, I either already have it out or I reach for it shortly after I begin talking to them. It’s a gesture that gains trust but allows for them to get something back for the time they gave you. Make sure of course to respond and fulfill your promise to get an image back to them.

Luckily, you can get inexpensive business cards easily.

Upon moving to France, I had a stack made in French so I didn’t have to rely on relaying all the correct information in a language that I still haven’t mastered or asking them to understand english.

Keep a few in your wallet at all time and look forward to having to restock them. This of course helps build followers to your socials too. It’s an inexpensive win in every direction.

Street photo tip: Don’t stand out.

Street photo tip: Don’t stand out.

I know that it goes against everything we’re told as people and artists and pretty much every endeavor. We should aim high as possible and stand out from the crowd. That’s still true but from a results standpoint. Street photographers are observers. We are not participants. We don’t aim to change the world but to document it. 

Through documentation change can be made but not directly. It’s similar, but without being creepy to a spy. It should be obvious that spy’s (with the exception of James Bond) are discreet. They observe and collect data while drawing as little attention as possible. Attention changes the dynamic.  Luckily, if we get caught doing our thing there are no major repercussions therefore this is where our spy analogy ends.

When you are gearing up for your walkabout, whether in a new location or the one you frequent most, don’t dress to impress. Don’t stand out. Be comfortable and mobile. Don’t wear what you might on a day or at a time when you are looking to attract the attention of those around you. Even if you choose to make street photography social, don’t tip your hand until you are ready. You don’t carry a sign that says “Hello, I am a street photographer, don’t mind me, just go on about your business”. If you dress in a way that draws attention to you and the camera in your hand then you may as well have the sign and take the guesswork away.

[Tip] look at as much street photography as you can handle.

 Absorb a lot of street photography.

 I can handle a lot and so, I am sure, can you. It’s not just fun and inspiring but it starts to inform how you see. Not just from one perspective but many. It doesn’t make you any of the people whose work you observe but it starts to help you align the elements of what you see in ways you may not have otherwise thought of. 

Look at all the work you can. Your tastes in the subject will undoubtedly transform and the work you wished you could produce may no longer speak as loudly as that of one that you didn’t formerly understand. It’s all good. You’ll see things you want to do done by some and things you’ll want to avoid done by others. With repeated and varied viewing you will incorporate a great many things without even noticing (for a while at least). 

Don’t worry about copying. You can't copy street photography. 

Each image and each moment are unique. They only happen just like that - one time ever. 

You can copy a technique but when, where and how you apply it are yours. Add all the influences together with a healthy dose of you and your backstory - and the mix you get will be uniquely you. 

It takes a while until it is more easily recognised as you but it most certainly is. 

I look at street photography all the time (as well as many other genres that I like) and I know I have been heavily influenced. 

My preferred viewing is of the classics. I hesitate to say masters due to the fact that there are some great photographers today that have mastered their subject. Classics are of course masters but you know they are older and have stood the passage of time.

As for copying, don’t worry. You can only really be inspired by the work of another street photographer as I mentioned earlier.

Each of the people you are inspired by was in turn inspired by someone else. Even at the beginning of the photographic age, photographers were inspired by painters and even, I imagine, writers. 

Many if not all of the greats acknowledge their inspirations. 

Having said all that, there is no substitute for practice. You have to create an awful lot of images to get to the point where you aren’t thinking but doing. 

One day someone will ask how you know what to photograph, where to place the subject(s) and many other things and they’ll want to know how you do it so quickly and effortlessly. 

When that happens remember to tell the truth, you were inspired by many and you walked a lot (usually with a camera).