An introduction to Street Photography

Have you ever tried street photography?

If you haven't, but you're thinking about it, now is a good time to start.

The primary reason for this is the frequent use of smartphones in the street. I'm sure you've had to avoid a few "phone zombies" in your time, and this makes it very easy to discretely take street photographs. People will just assume that you're on your phone.

So what do you need to think about before you get started? You're probably already carrying the ideal camera, in your phone. And that allows you to blend into the general street traffic. But there are a few other things:

• What should you definitely avoid?
• What's the best way to approach someone if you'd like to photograph them?
• Which composition rules apply?
• How should I time my shot?
• What makes a good street photograph?

I've made a few suggestions. See what you think of them!

It's time for another podcast...

Transcript

>> Graham: 0:17

Hello again. So in this podcast I thought I'd talk about street photography because it's one of those things that I really enjoy looking at photographs, taken of people doing their everyday activities, particularly the older ones. So there's something about going back, well these days we can easily go back 100 years or more and just look at people doing their thing, maybe in a familiar environment, it might be in a city or even a road that we know really well. And I find something really engaging about that. And I also do personally like a lot of photographers who do streetike photography. It's not something I do a lot of, but it's something I have done and have an idea for some projects on that as well that I'd really like to do at some point when I get time. So I thought I'd start by talking about what it is and then just a few things to think about. If you haven't tried street photography and maybe if you do a lot of street photography, you're very welcome to comment on the video to drop me a message, give me some feedback. That's all good and very welcome. So street photography is one particular type of photography. It's particular style obviously. And a couple of weeks ago I was talking about macro photography. Three weeks ago, maybe I do wildlife photography. Also their sports photography, landscape, all this kind of thing, portrait. So what makes street photography different? Well I think the key things are, ah, probably first of all that you're most of the time shooting candid and what I mean by that is that your subjects are generally not aware that you're taking their photograph. Now I'm going to come back to this because this can be a little bit sticky, this area, but I'll come back to this. so generally you're just taking photographs in the street and as the name implies and your subjects won't necessarily be aware of what you're doing. Secondly, there's no posing or no set up as such. So obviously if for're doing portrait photography that's extremely posed. Even if you have a style of portrait photography that looks very spontaneous, to get that spontaneity often takes a lot of skill and it's totally set up. So streetgraphy isn't. This is just people doing their natural thing. what else is different about it? Well you're kind of running with what you've got, which is also true for other types of photography. So landscape, sport, wildlife, all those kind of things you're dealing with whatever is going on. So you've got to be ready to grab that photograph. And I think from the photographer's standpoint, there's also that aspect of being ready for anything, but also maybe having ideas about the kind of shots that you would like to get and also being very open and observing what's going on around you. And here, this is where the visual storyteller aspect of photography that I talk about a lot can come in. Because to me, good street photography is not just about people doing their thing, but there can be another layer to it. And you can use suggestion to maybe hint that there's another layer, a, story layer to the image that isn't perhaps immediately apparent if you just casually look at the image. So what am I talking about? There, there might be some sort of a context. So, if you go back in time, it might be, people doing their thing when a big war is coming or something like that. So this could be marking the final few days of a particular way of life for that group, that generation of people. it could be before a huge natural disaster. This is another thing that could be going on. And maybe at the time that the photograph was taken, the photographer, no idea what was just on the horizon or heading their way. But this is where, this is what I mean by that extra layer. And I'm sure if you start thinking about it yourself, you'll come up with your own ideas about what potential stories could be there. Now this doesn't necessarily mean that we know what the story is when we start setting up to take the photograph. But when we take the photograph, we're obviously engaged in that particular time and what's going on. So there will always be some sort of context to what we're shooting based on what's going on in the world or what's going on locally, maybe just in that environment. so this can be another aspect, another layer to the photograph that we are, taking. So these are ah, some of the things that perhaps make street photography a little bit different. Now I'm going to talk about just things to, I guess, really things to think about if you haven't done it before. and I'm going to borrow some ideas I got from another photography. In fact, if you go back, to probably, I think it was December, maybe January 2022, I did have a chat to a photographer who does a lot of street work, although he tends to shoot nudes in the street. So that was a whole other thing. So check, that one out. Okay, so what do you need to think about? Well, first of all, in terms of gear, we actually have a real opportunity today because if you go back 10, 15 years, maybe a little bit longer, but not that much longer, you would really been using, your normal camera. So let's say it was a 35 millimeter DSLR camera, or you might have been using a compact camera. But either way you stand out a little bit because you're walking around and you're quite clearly taking photographs of people with what is obviously a camera. These days, though, with smartphones, we've got a couple of great advancedagesud. One is that lots and lots of people walk around looking at their smartphone with their smartphone out. You've got your smartphone zombies that, you have to dodge from time to time if you're going down the street. And the second thing is that the quality of smartphone cameras is so much better these days that in some regard at least, these cameras are better. Certainly in some situations they give you better results and they're easier to use than you would get with a traditional DSLR and maybe even a mirrorless camera, because there are just even the physical differences between them. So it's really easy today to take candid photographs on the street. And most people won't have a clue what you're doing. They'll just assume you're looking at your people who hold up the camera. They might be yaking on FaceTime or something, zoom, whatever it might be. So it's not unusual to see someone hold, holding, their phone up and, even using the camera. So that means that it's much easier to blend in. And obviously that kind of candid photography, you want to be pretty much invisible. You want people to, ideally not be aware of you and just carry on doing their thing. And the thing that just jumped into my mind there were these very old, you must have, I'm sure you'll have seen them, but these very old movie, reels that a shot of people in the street. And these were shot maybe in the early 1900s, but at a time when few people would have even seen a camera, certainly a movie camera, and people are just stopping and looking at it and staring into the lanes and all that kind of thing. So that's kind of the opposite that most, people are going for when they start doing street photography these days. So in terms of the gear, the chances are you've already got really good gear that's very well suited to that style of Photography. Now just another thing. if you are beginning, one of the things that puts a lot of people off is taking photographs of people. So I'm going to just handle a couple of things there. One is you need to understand what is legal where you live. So generally. But don't hold me to this because you need to check what is both morally and legally acceptable in the place where you're planning to take your photographs. Generally if people are in the street they're kind of fair game. there are rules about invasion of privacy, but on the whole just taking a photograph in the street, you don't have to run around every other, every person that you see there and get them sign a model release form or that sort of thing. It is acceptable to take photographs in the street to some extent. And that extent is defined by law. people are kind of fair game. If you're walking in the street, you're in a public environment and there's generally not a problem with re taking pictures of people. some people might object, in which case I would definitely suggest just respecting their wishes. If they don't want to be photographed, I would just delete the photograph frankly and even show them if someone comes up to you and is not happy that you've been taking their photograph. you also need to be aware that certain things cannot be photographed now. so the obvious ones are things like military bases, government buildings, that sort of thing in certain countries. So you need to check what the rules are for that. But also there are certain iconic buildings and the Sydney Opera House is one, I think the Eiffel Tower is another and they have basically a copyright on them. So if you are taking photographs of these buildings and you plan to use those images for commercial purposes, you'll find that you could be prosecuted for breach of copyright because the actual buildings themselves are copyrighted. So the only way you can use those images commercially, legally at least, is to get permission from whoever holds the copyright to that building. So it might sound like a really odd thing, but particularly if you're doing stock photography and this is where I found this out through doing stopock photography, there is a list of buildings. I can't remember where you find it, but it's going to be hard to Google. but there is a list of buildings that you can't use in a commercial photograph without a, ah, release form from the owner of the copyright. So just be aware of that and as I say, just check out what the rules are where you're going. obviously, some countries are pretty laid back about what you can photograph, but definitely anything military. You do need to be very careful. And there may also be situations where you don't want to be, logging your GPS coordinates. So some cameras in the metadata, will hold GPS coordinates. Now I throw that in because it's relevant to, I've seen it somewhere in relation to government buildings. It's also something I'm very conscious of, if I'm photographing in endangered animals. So rhinos are a good one because if you're not careful about what metadata, is on the photograph that you share to social media, there are unscrupulous people who are able to pull that GPS location data out of the metadata, and therefore they know exactly, where and from the other metadata when you took the photograph. And that can be used to, aid poachers, no sorts of people. So you just need to be conscious, and this is a general thing. If you're publishing information on anything that's remotely sensitive about what information is being published with your image and how might that be used in? well, certainly in a way that's not very helpful to anyone. So, that's an important thing to think about. The other thing is if you see someone, you'd like to photograph them. And I really got this from, somebody I met a few years ago. Now, he does a lot of street photography and he just basically goes up and ask people and he'll say, look, I'm a photographer. If you've got a card or a website or something, you can give that to them. M. So they know who you are, they can check you out so that you're totally legitimate, you really are a photographer. and just say, look, I just saw you walking down there. I just loved how you sat with the environment. And would it be okay if I took your photograph? And look, if I take your photograph, I'll certainly show it to you and I'm happy to send you a copy. And that more or less was the kind of approach he would use. And I, think he very rarely got to know most people. If you think about, it. Most people are quite flattered if you come up to them in the street and you ask to take the photograph. So if you're are in that situation, you're not sure what to do, that would be my recommendation. Always go up and ask and do it in a way where they definitely get a copy of any photograph to take of them. And make sure that you do that. Give them your contact details as well. And I, always find that seizure, particularly, being an older guy, if I'm talking to a woman or younger woman particularly, it's far easier, I think, to give my card and then it's up to her whether or not she gets in touch. But I'll show what I've shot and then the ball's in her call. But she knows who I am, so there's no funny business going on of any description there. So that's my suggestion for approaching people in terms of common challenges that you might get. Look, lighting can be an issue, and not just lighting due to weather, but just lighting in certain places. So it might be a bright day, but you're shooting down an alleyway or something like that. so it's kind of normal stuff that you need to contend with when you're doing any kind of photography, really. You just got to. Again, it comes back to knowing your camera, the equipment that you're using, knowing what the limitations are, knowing how to adjust it. So, for example, on a smartphone, knowing how to just change the exposure. most phones work the same. You touch and the way you do that, if you don't know, in most of them that I'm aware of, hold your camera up, hold the phone up. So you've got, the image on the screen and, just tap the screen and what you'll see is a little bar comes up and it normally has a brightness symbol against it. And then you just slide it up and down and that will change the exposure. So just little things like that. Make sure you know how to do that on your, camera. Obviously with, if you're using a dslr, then you'll know how to do that. And that's pretty much the kind of stuff to think about. In terms of composition, you've got the normal composition. The normal composition rules apply. Unlike macro, which I spoke about a few weeks ago, where it's completely different, because mostly you're dealing with a very narrow depth of field, extremely narrow. So you're very likely to have boky in the background, totally out of focus background. So make use of that. So in exactly the same way with the street photography, look at what you've got and make use of it. What's the subject? So again, with any composition, the questions to ask yourself are, what is it I'm shooting? What is it about this scene that I want people to see? And how do I guide their eye through the image towards My subject, whatever that might be, if it's person or it doesn't have to be a person, it could be something else, could be a building, could be something that's going on. So it could be a street market with fruit or fish or I don't know what there, but have a think about that. Do be conscious about what it is you want people to look at. What is it for you that's getting you to take that photograph? And that's what you're kind of offering for people to see when you share that photograph. However you do that. Now always bear in mind, and this is something I always say, this is in my opinion where photography becomes, art. Other people looking at the image will look at it through the lens of their life experience. So there is definitely a chance that they will see something that you don't see and it will mean something very different to them. So we don't know. But as photographers, as artists, if you like, we can approach a subject with what it means to us and then photograph accordingly. So I'm going to remind you, if you've heard it before, if you haven't, then it's new. but one of the best definitions I've heard of what makes good photograph is the longer someone spends looking at it, the more engaged they are with it, the better the photograph. So think of how you can use different composition elements to take them on a journey through the photograph. Maybe how you're using the foreground, maybe using how you re using the background, how you use. Where are you putting the subject? Is it dead cent centre? Hopefully not. You've got rule of thirds, which is a really good place to start if you're thinking about where to place your subject. have a think about it, apply a little bit of creativity to how you're photographing that everyday scene. And another thing I guess to remind you of, it's another thing that I feel is very important for photographers to beary in mind. if you're taking a photograph of something, or particularly in a place where a lot of people go, try and find angles or subjects or viewpoints that they won't normally see and that perhaps gets them to view that place in a different way, maybe think about it differently because you've been able to show them a perspective that they wouldn't normally have. So this I think is one of the exciting things about street photography. Not only catching people doing their thing, you might get really interesteding looks, but you can show a familiar place in a way in A context that people who know it and maybe walk there every day haven't seen before. And that to me is really powerful. Now another thing I like, and I'll share this from a photo walk, Cat. It's a few years ago in Sydney. It doesn't have to be technically correct. Okay. So yeah, you know, we'd think about shutter speed, depth of field, light, all that kind of stuff. But I think what is more important is what are you taking the photograph of? And what I'm thinking of is I was with a group, we were having a photo walk and we had taken them, myself and Colin Seaton, who I did a talk with a few weeks ago. we've taken them along a place called the Carl Expressway in central Sydney. So if you know Sydney, you may know it. but basically it's a, ah, roadway that takes you over the top more or less of circular key. And circular key is where you'll find the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. So it's a great place to go for photographs of those places. And that's what we've been up to. And it was getting dusk and there was a running group, you know, group people having, going out for a run. And we all went, stood to one side to let them go past. And somebody. Now this wasn't me, but they showed it to me afterwards and I thought it was really good. they'd just been watching them through the camera as they'd run by and as they were running away from us. So you've got the backs of everybody. One person had turned around as they were running to take a look at it. So you've got this shot and it does stand out for me, which is why I'm talking about it. But you just got this one face looking back in a group that's slightly out of focus because they're all moving. the shutter speed was relatively slow, because it was getting darker. So in order to have a crack at getting the right exposure, the shutter speed was lower than you'd normally shoot it if you wanted to freeze the action. So there was movement in it, lots of blurriness. But this one face just standing out of that crowd, to me made a great photograph. Now you could argue that technically things are blurry. They shouldn't be. It should have been a higher shutter speed, maybe change the ISO to support the shutter speed, all that kind of stuff. But this is where definitely taking a good technical photograph is important. But I think the more important thing is that sort of arty side of it. How do you connect with the subject when you look at the subject? And how will somebody else connect with the subject? So that, to me is one of the things that makes a good, street photograph. What is it for you, if you're thinking about doing street photography? What is it you want to come away with? What's driving you? What's your interest? Have you been inspired by somebody in their photography? It might be someone who's famous. it could be, someone you found on Instagram. there are lots and lots of really good photographers out there. And we are again very lucky in the times we live in because within five minutes we can look at a huge volume of work from different people and there's a huge amount to get inspired by. So again, as with any photography, I think it's really important that you're clear about what a good photograph means to you and have that as one option when you go out and start doing photography. But also be ready for the unexpected, be ready for what comes up. So know your equipment, know how to change shutter speed, change exposure, those kind of things with whatever it is you're using Now. I don't use my smartphone very often when I'm doing my wildlife photography. I do actually use it, but most of time I'm shooting with my DSLRs. But with the smartphone, I'll tend to use that if I want to do a panorama or I want to shoot movies. So I know how to use it, I know how to get photographs out of it. And you might be in that situation too, maybe that most of your work is done on a DSLR or a mirrorless camera. But again, bear in mind what I've said about using smartphones these days. It's a way of being almost invisible as a photographer. And I think that's much, much better. because people won't take any notice of you. It means that you can get them in a very, behaving in a very natural way. And to me that is one of the essences of street photography. It's also, I think it straddles that line between documentary, which is the kind of thing I was talking about earlier when we're looking at photographs that might have been taken a century ago. That to me is more of a documentary type photograph. But also you can add your own flair to it, your own interpretation. Do the blurry, out of focus stuff that I was talking about with these joggers. this jogging group that were running past us and you've got something that is different and can inspire people. So those, I think, really the main things that I wanted to talk about when it comes to street photography. so in terms of what it is you're obviously you're shooting in the street, the things to be aware of legally, are you allowed to shoot, be aware of what's in the frame, what's in the background, Are you recording GPS data? so really all of this comes down to what are the rules that you need to obey in the area that you're in, the place that you're in. When, it comes to shooting, people always ask them if you do take a portrait of somebody, if you use that approach, that I described earlier and you take a photograph of somebody and you want to use it commercially, I would always get a model release form. And if you don't know what one of those is, you can Google it or drop me a line and I'll send you an example. But I would always use that. And if the person'willing again as I say, I'll always give my card with my contact details on so they know who I am. But if they're willing to give their email address then you can email that to them, the model release form and then you're okay to use it for commercial work. So I've got say I don't do a lot of street, but I've got ah, more portrait work. But there are one or two people I've shot and I didn't do that. So as much as I love the photographs, I can't use them commercially. And also somebody who I did a shoot with who decided they didn't want me to use their images, so basically I just deleted them. And again, I really like the images but you've got to respect people's their feelings, their rights and be ethical in what you're doing. So that's it. In terms of composition. Again, as with any photograph, think about what's the story, what journey do you want to take somebody on as they move through the photograph? what about the lighting? That's going to vary quite a lot. You're outside, I assume given that it's street photography, so you've got the usual problems of shooting outside, in terms of the timing. It's about being ready. It's like any kind of photography where you've got things going on and you're not controlling them. They're not scripted, they're just happening. You've got to be ready if something does occur to just grab that photograph, just grab that moment and yeah, you have it there to use in whatever way you, ah, plan to. So I think that's it. Again, if you've got questions or, would like any more information, please let me know. If you would like me to cover any other aspects of photography, please drop me a line. And thank you to everybody who has been in touch this year because I'm shooting this, sort of halfway through shooting it and recording it halfway through December, 2024. So the end of year is coming up pretty fast now. And, would like to just thank everybody. So I will thank you everybody who's been in contact, give me feedback, made suggestions. It is really, really helpful. otherwise I just feel like a lot of the time I'm here talking to my microphone. And, it's a nice microphone, but, not the best company. So it's always good to get that feedback. So, thank you again for your time and I'll speak to you on the next podcast. Bye for now. Well, we're getting close to the end of another year, so 2024 is starting to come, to an end as I record this. So I hope it's been a good year for you and I hope you get a bit of a break over the coming weeks. Maybe have a cool yul or whatever it is you celebrate, if you celebrate. I particularly just wanted to record this to thank everybody for their support. the podcast is really growing and, obviously that's down to people listening and hopefully sharing. so I do thank you for that. I particularly want to thank my Patreon supporters because they, contribute to, what I'm doing financially, which is great because that helps me to keep going. And if you haven't contributed or if you're thinking about it, don't be shy, that you can. It doesn't have to be a permanent subscription. You can also just buy me a coffee if you've enjoyed the podcast. But everything is appreciated. And I also wanted to remind you that the 2025 calendar, my wildlife calendar, is still available, so you can order those online on the website. so if you go to www.ge.photography, you'll find, the calendars there. so whether they're for you or if you just want to give one to somebody as a present, I think calendars are, a pretty good present to go for. And of course there's also the fine art print and my online training courses. Now if you are serious about photography and you're not ready to commit to a course and I am giving 100% money back guarantee on those as well so I'm taking all of the risk on the courses. but there's also challenges you can do for free like the 14 day challenge that's there. There's also a PDF you can download that gives you 10 tips to just help your photography. So whatever you're doing over the next few weeks, I hope you enjoy it. And I'll be looking at my plans for 2025 which at this stage I'm hoping to get to Zimbabwe. So I'll keep you informed on that. But whatever you do I hope you have a great time and thanks again for your support throughout 2024. So hope bye for now.