Photography News Issue 59

Photography News | Issue 59 | photographynews.co.uk

Technique

Be prepared

Look for the unusual in the usual

6 A big part of street photography is spotting and capturing ‘the moment’. You have an incredibly short window in which everything is just right for the perfect shot – but how many times do you miss the opportunity? Not only do you need to be alert and in the zone but your whole shooting modus operandi must be geared towards reacting instantly to events on the streets. As you walk around, continually make compositions in your mind so that when you see the right shot, all you need to do is raise your camera and press the button. If you restrict yourself to only ever using one camera/one lens for street photography, you’ll find this process becomes instinctive.

Follow these simple guidelines to help ensure you get the shot: • Always have your camera on and with the lens cap off • Have everything pre-set so that your camera operates like a point-and- shoot model Always have your finger ready on the button Use a wrist strap so that your camera is in your hand and ready to go – and never walk around with your camera in the bag. Use a prime lens – zooming wastes precious milliseconds. Never, ever, hesitate: as soon as you spot the opportunity for a shot, take it and worry about it later. The chances are you’ll never get the same opportunity again. • • • •

7 A group of six people simply walking down the street doesn’t necessarily make for an interesting image. But if five of them were wearing red coats and one was wearing a yellow coat, then you may have something. Street photography is often thought of as being witty, playful or even mischievous while we, as street photographers, are good at spotting the odd, the absurd, the peculiar, the unusual. And, the great thing is, the more time you spend on the streets, the more you spot this stuff. But you need to really look for it. When you’re on the streets you must keep your eyes open for things that are out of place

Above Juxtaposing two completely different elements can create a mischievous third

or simply odd. We humans sometimes do peculiar things and, if you’re in the right place at the right time and are quick enough, you’ll be there to record them. Look out for: • Sequences or series of things where you would normally find only one of them. Odd gestures or unusual body movements. Juxtapositions, where one thing is placed in front of or behind the other, creating a witty situation. (thick/thin, modern/traditional, yellow/ bl and so on). People doing things which make them look awkward – such as carrying unusually big or heavy loads. • • • Big contrasts •

– in the form of a Chaplinesque moustache.

Above Be camera-ready for the moment so you don’t miss it.

Wait for it

8 There’s a lot of luck involved in street photography – being in the right place at the right time – but you can make your own luck. Much of it is about the moment but there’s another, less reactive side. Waiting is a big part of street photography. Henri Cartier-Bresson, despite being known as the originator of the ‘decisive moment’, would often see a suitable background and then wait for as long as it took for the right element to come into the frame to complete the scene. Think of it as fishing: you set the bait, cast your line and wait for the fish to bite. So, when you are scanning the streets looking for material,

Left: Pick your spot and wait for the picture to come to you. This scene was captured at 1/420sec, f/8 and ISO 200.

always be on the lookout for an interesting background. It doesn’t matter toomuchwhat it is – a brightly coloured wall, an elegant staircase, a humorous billboard – but you’ll almost certainly need another element to make the background work. Whatever that element is – a man with a dog, perhaps, or a woman in a red coat – you need to find the best position for your composition, set your camera up and wait. As you’re walking the streets, look at everything around you and assess its potential. Is the light superb? Can you make a witty composition out of it? Would it make a good abstract? Some of the best shots come from the most unlikely of backgrounds.