10 Tips for Street Photographers

By Kyle Hepp

9 August 2007

1. Be discreet. If you are trying to capture the moment without your subject's active participation in the photo try to not to make a big deal about taking your camera out or changing your lens. You want to blend in with your surroundings, not scream to the world, "I'm a tourist, I'm a tourist!" I'm a blonde girl living in a city (Santiago) full of dark haired vixens. I wear a hat and dark, nondescript clothes to try to blend in because if I don't, too many people approach me to try and practice their English and they distract me from the shots I want to take.

2. If you can't be discreet, ask permission. I once picked up my lens to shoot a street vendor selling peanuts and as I looked through the viewfinder, I realized he was staring right at me and scowling. I was pretty far away from where he was standing but he had noticed that I wanted to take his picture. As soon as I pointed at my camera, pointed at him, and made shrugging gestures indicating I wanted to photograph him, he nodded, immediately relaxed and I got a fantastic shot.

3. Street photography is often described as "gritty," so try to capture the grit! There's no sense in only photographing the beautiful part of a city. I'm not saying you need to go someplace dangerous but I am saying that you should get out of your comfort zone. I have learned that shooting in places that I'm not familiar with is the best way to get good shots. If you are in a place that has been photographed by many other people it's too easy to take a cliché photo that has been done a thousand times before.

4. Pay close attention to the details around you. Some of my best photos have been when I've really paid attention to the minutia of a city, such as it's graffiti, trash, street signs or the way people walk. Include these things in your composition and you can make the photo much more interesting. I have learned to love photographs of feet that show the rhythms and movement of a city. One of my favorite photographs I shot of nothing more than the patterns of the sidewalk.

5. Don't be afraid to try photography techniques that are out of the ordinary. I took a shot of a kid sitting in front of a wall covered in graffiti and put him in the left third of the photo following the rule of thirds. The shot was boring. When I centered him, the image was transformed into something much more powerful and direct. Sure, it's not a composition from the text books, but I think the picture turned out so much better that way.

6. Be aware of your surroundings. So many photographers completely lose themselves in the moment when they get behind the camera. This isn't safe. Either go out shooting with a partner, someone who will have your back the whole time you're not paying attention because you're shooting (and vice versa), or put down the camera every 30 seconds and take stock of what, and who is near you. Trust me. I know from sad experience that it takes less than 5 seconds for someone to cut your camera strap and dash away with your most prized possession.

7. Know your rights. In the country you're in are you allowed to shoot in public places? If so, then shoot away and if anyone tries to tell you that you can't, simply state that you are acting within the boundaries of the law and they cannot stop you. Once, a policeman was trying to get me to stop photographing a car crash. He screamed and yelled and tried to intimidate me, but as soon as I mentioned that I was well aware that what I was doing was lawful and that he wasn't legally able to stop me, he shut right up and let me continue shooting.

8. Don't discard a photo because it doesn't meet your normal criteria. Criteria for street photography should be different than the standards you normally hold yourself to for studio photography, or posed portraits, for example. I once almost discarded a photo because instead of getting the focus right on the subject, I had focused on a tool in his hands. When a friend looking at the photo said, "It's so awesome that you are focusing on his work to show that it defines him," I knew that my accidental focus made the shot interesting. I'm not saying you should lower your standards and take poor quality photos. The point I'm trying to get across is that when you are taking street photos, you have less time and the conditions are often less than adequate. Those little "mistakes," you make, like an odd focal point, low lighting and too much grain, or a strange perspective, are what can make a street photo a thousand times more intriguing than a perfectly posed and lighted studio shot.

9. Define what you are trying to capture: person, place or thing. Are you trying to portray the seediness of a nightclub? That's a place, so stay right near the night club and photograph the area from a thousand different perspectives until you get perfectly capture the mood. Or are you trying to perfectly capture an animal subject? Then follow it. I have seen a thousand photos of a dog lying in the streets, or in doorways. But, the most interesting set of pictures of a canine that I ever saw were from a photographer who trailed a dog for a half day taking pictures of the dog's life scrounging for food, flirting with girl dogs, marking his territory, and fighting with other street dogs. He got down and shot from the dog's perspective too, and the end result was fascinating. Animals can be so one-dimensional if you only shoot them in one setting doing one thing. The same goes for people. If you have decided the focus of your street photography is a person, I would try to capture them interacting with their environment in as many different ways as possible, and showing multiple emotions so you can portray them in a multi-dimensional way. Just a word of caution, always ask before you start following a person around or they may think you're a stalker!

10. Lighten up. The people you are taking pictures of aren't paid clients. They aren't going to freak out if you don't photograph them from their best angle. Relax, go out and enjoy the experience. Don't put pressure on yourself to come back with a million awesome photos. Since you can't control lighting, posing, crowds, or a million other factors, you need to be able to go with the flow. I have a handful of about 10 great street photos that are the result of more than 10 trips into the city. Getting that perfect shot is not easy, so don't stress!

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