How to never miss a moment in street photography
In street photography it's all about capturing that decisive moment when light, composition and subject come together. Here are my tips how to seize these moments the best you can.
Always have your camera ready. That means bring your camera everywhere you go and have it in your hand instead of the bag or backpack. Decisive moments happen really fast and often you have only few seconds to react. Be prepared instead of having to look for the camera.
Know the camera settings. Don't use manual settings unless you are sitting at the same spot for a while waiting for the right subject to come in and you have enough time to play with settings. It comes with practice but you should always know how your settings should look like for a particular scene depending on the light available. For example, I always set my aperture manually, leave the ISO on auto and play around with shutter speed. At night, I set the aperture to minimum f/2, auto ISO with the max value of 6400 and shutter speed between 1/250 and 1/60. The point is not to bother with the camera too much when you need to take action.
Be in the moment. Don't listen to music, think about stuff that's bothering you etc. Try to be aware of everything that's going on around you. Good street photo can be a simple hand gesture, interaction between people or someone noticing you taking their photo. The more you practice street "mindfulness", the more you'll be able to anticipate these moments by learning how people behave.
Don't hesitate. Taking photos of random people on the street can be intimidating. I know it's easier said than done, but you should always strive to go for the shot, especially when you don't feel like taking action. It builds confidence. Also, don't reveal your intention before it's necessary. People will politely wait or walk around you not to ruin the shot if they see the camera aiming at a particular spot.
Hope these tips help if you try them out. And of course, when you do miss a good moment don't beat yourself up. Instead try even harder next time. The more you practice it, the luckier you get. :)
All photos taken in February this year with Fuji X100F.
As always, great photos. Thanks for the useful tips. I would like to try it like you :)
Thanks, @magnata! Good luck if you try them out.
Cool photos. Thank you for your advice.
Thank you!
These tips are super helpful and your pictures are proof that they work!
I'm happy to hear that. :) Thanks, Eve!
These pictures are great and the advice is good too.
Your pictures are a lot sharper and more professional than mine. I just keep my cell-phone camera close to my chest, glancing occasionally at it like I'm using it to check a map, when really I'm taking 400 pictures an hour. I set my shutter speed to 1/200th of a second if the light is dim, and let it figure out the rest. On brighter days, it seems to know best what to do on its own.
A few of the pictures come out okay.
That's similar to what I did in the beginning. The more you practice it, you'll start paying more attention to little details, composition, where's the best light etc. You can always act like a tourist going around and "making movie" while actually taking photos of what you see interesting. :)
Phone cameras, no more how helpful at times, have its limitations.
Одлични савети, савршено илустровани, @alcibiades. Браво :)
Hvala, @lighteye! Drago mi je da su bili korisni. :)