If you’re new to street photography, you might feel intimidated on where and how to start. I didn’t really have any experience in other types of photography before I picked up a camera and started doing street photography in Downtown Los Angeles.
Over the years, I have made plenty of mistakes and have learned a lot just by going out and taking photos. You don’t need formal training to get started in street photography. The best way to learn is to practice taking photos in your spare time and develop your own style.
I don’t think there’s a right or wrong way to approach street photography, but I do think that practicing and learning new tips can help someone become more intentional with the photos they take. I’m going to cover 5 street photography tips that have helped me grow as a street photographer, and I hope they will help you, as well.
TAKE PHOTOS FROM DIFFERENT ANGLES
Street photography is a creative medium that shouldn’t hinder you from experimenting with different camera angles. Rather than taking all of your photos at eye-level, you can take photos lower to the ground with your camera pointed upwards to make your surroundings seem larger and more grandiose than they might actually be. Usually for this kind of photo, you’re better off using a wider focal length like a 24mm (more on that later). In the photo below, I used my 24-70mm f/2.8 zoom lens to get a wide angle view of the Yodobashi building in the Shinjuku ward in Tokyo, Japan.
You can also try to find a bridge/elevated surface and take a photo pointing downwards. Whether you want to focus on the people or the rooftops of buildings that you might not be able to see on ground level is up to your creative eye.
USE AVAILABLE LIGHT SOURCES
This is a tip probably more prevalent for night street photography, but try to find and utilize available light sources from shops and storefronts to your advantage. One of my favorite things to do at night as a street photographer is to use the lights from storefronts to cast a silhouette on a person walking by.
Instead of bumping up the ISO from your camera or slowing down the shutter speed for the purpose of increasing exposure, try to find creative ways to light (or darken) a subject based on lights that are available.
In addition to the interior lights of stores, you can use lit-up neon signs or buildings with TV screens as a light source.
EXPERIMENT WITH FOCAL LENGTHS
When I first started street photography, I would always use my 24-70mm f/2.8 G-Master lens from Sony. Although I usually kept the focal length at a wide 24mm, it was important for me to have the flexibility to try different focal lengths.
Now I usually alternate between my two prime lenses (35mm and 85mm ART lenses from Sigma) for most of my street photography. Trying out multiple focal lengths in the same spot can yield different results than you might expect. These lenses have also been useful when doing most of my lifestyle photography for products and brands.
You can learn more about how I use prime lenses in my travel photography work in this blog post.
Street Photography at different times
As I mentioned in the beginning of this post, one of the best ways to improve your street photography is to consistently practice. Even if you specialize in night street photography or if you prefer to take photos during the rain, it’s important to try and go out to shoot at different times of the day and under different weather conditions (if possible).
You might visit the same location and notice that there are more people out during a certain time of the day that you’re not used to. Conversely, maybe there’s an interesting spot where you always see a bunch of people walking by, but you want to get a photo with just one person in the frame. Showing up in the morning when there are less people out can help you achieve the photo you’re looking for (or you can take the time to remove all of them in post).
At the end of the day, you shouldn’t let weather conditions or certain lighting hinder your ability to go out and take photos.
Photograph in DIFFERENT orientatioNS
With the popularity of social media platforms like Instagram, you might feel inclined to only take photos in a specific orientation optimized for that platform. When I wanted to start posting my street photography on Instagram, I became focused on only shooting in portrait mode because it looks best on the platform.
I think it’s more important to get a diverse amount of shots in one session rather than trying to take a photo that you think will look best on any online platform.
While this is a tip that I would give for any kind of photography, I think this point is even more relevant in a genre like street photography because each photo you capture is unplanned and out of your control.
Final Words
To this day, street photography is still my favorite genre of photography. If you’re just starting off in street photography or if you’re looking for a new approach, I hope these tips will be helpful and encourage you to go out and try new ideas.
As I mentioned in the beginning of this post, the best way to improve as a street photographer is to go out and practice.
