Today I’m going to take you through some of the advice given to me by UK wedding photographer Kevin Mullins. Kevin’s approach to candid wedding photography translates precisely into his street photography style.
What makes a good “street” shot?
The three key factors that make a good street image are;
- good light
- good composition
- interesting subject
Get all three and you have a great shot. Two of them can result in a good shot. If you can only have one, make sure it’s the interesting subject
Assignment 1 – Shoot with a theme
Start by simply shooting how you want, but with a theme. Try the theme “angles”. When I took this shot below, it was a nice sunny-but-cool day in Cambridge so there were plenty of things to choose from. Look for good light, some sort of interesting subject, and carefully consider the complete composition.
Assignment 2 – Frame your subject
Try to use people to frame shots of other people. Pair up with another photographer and go hunting interesting shots together. Use your partner to help provide a frame for the shot. The theme of “angles” was dropped but otherwise everything applied; light, composition, something of interest that tells a story.
Assignment 3 – Spot Metering
The next thing to try is pre-focusing and spot metering. Put your cameras into spot metering and manual focus mode and stand facing a place where people would “break the light”. In other words, pedestrians and cyclists would travel from the bright sunshine, into the shade, or vice-versa. Use the “AF-L” button to pre-focus on the ground where we wanted them to be when we shot and then simply time them right to shoot them just as they cross from the light into the shadow. The camera will adjust for the exposure according to light on the subject, rather than the total light in the scene.
On the X100T, X-T1, X-T10 and X-Pro2 there is a setting that allows you to link the spot metering with the AF box. Activating this allows you to choose the point in your composition to expose for. On cameras without this function the spot metering will only occur in the middle of the frame so you may be slightly limited in your composition.
Assignment 4 – Zone focusing
Get close to your ‘subjects’. Getting close obviously means more chance of affecting the resulting image so it’s key to try to appear like you are not taking photographs. The main reason people need to really see what they are shooting is to make sure you are focusing on the right thing.
Keep your camera in Manual Focus mode, select a nice small (big number) aperture value and then used the focus distance indicator on the screen of the camera to understand where the range of acceptable focus would be.
Focus on the ground a few metres in front of you. Your next challenge is to get in close to people and inconspicuously shoot them getting on with their life. Continuous shooting is also very handy here as it allows you to shoot a few frames, especially good if your subject is moving through your zone focus area.
Assignment 5 – Turn invisible
There is now no need to hold the camera up to your eye so all of your shooting can be at waist level, looking down onto the tilting LCD screen (if your camera has one) to check the overall composition. After a while you will be able to simply look around and be confident that you’re going to capture the interesting subject without them knowing, therefore not influencing or changing the subject, but merely documenting what is going on around you.
Summary
- The three keys to a good street image are; good light, good composition, interesting subject. All three of these results in a great shot. Two of them can result in a good shot. If you can only have one, it has to be the interesting subject
- Shoot with a theme. This will make you consider your shot more carefully and not just fill your card.
- Try to frame your subjects with parts of the background, or even make your own frame by using other photographers
- Setting your camera on full auto with Spot metering allows you to ignore the exposure settings and let you worry about looking for a good shot
- Zone focusing allows you to not worry about accurate focus, but rather understand that if a subject is within a certain “zone” in front of your lens, it’ll be sharp and in focus
- Tiltable LCD screens allow you to shoot at waist level and still see the frame. The camera remote app takes this one step further and you look like you are just using your phone while actually shooting people with the camera hanging around your neck.
Keep practicing, hope for something interesting to unfold in front of your eyes and be ready with your camera when it does. Hopefully these techniques will help you get a great shot without anyone even knowing you were there!
Thanks for sharing, very interesting reading.
Reblogged this on Raw Streets and commented:
Interesting reading.
“For now I’ll just keep practicing and hope for something interesting to unfold in front of my eyes. Hopefully these techniques will help me get a great shot without anyone even knowing I was there!”
…………………let me know when you get one.
Very impressive. A great blog.
Marc:
I don’t do much street photography, but I might work up to it one of these days. I did find the article interesting and always learn from comments about why a photo works or doesn’t work. I just want to talk about the one photo with the fellow in the NY Yankee baseball jacket. You indicated that you didn’t think it worked, but I give you more credit for that shot.
Doesn’t the bicycle complete the “circle of interest” and lead the viewer back into the group of three men? It seems to me that it is framed by that juxtaposition. I wonder if it would even be a bit better if a small crop on the bottom was made; just my opinion. Thank you for sharing your insights with the photographic community.
[ J. Ross ]
Thank you Kevin, really good blog and tips. It seems that there is always something new to learn. Can’t wait and put your tips into practice. many thanks Ed.