Technique
6
“Abig part of street photography is spotting and capturing themoment ”
BE PREPARED 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 so you need to be alert and in the zone, and your whole shootingmodus operandi must be geared towards reacting instantly. 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 guidelines to help ensure you get the shot. l Always have your camera on and the lens cap off. l Have everything pre-set so that your camera operates like a point- and-shoot. l Keep your finger on the button . l Use a wrist strap so that your camera is in your hand and ready to go – never walk around with your camera in the bag. l Use a prime lens – zooming wastes precious milliseconds. l 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 LOOK FOR THE UNUSUAL IN THE USUAL Street photography is often thought of as being witty, playful or even mischievous so we must become adept 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, that ‘x factor’. But you need to look for it. When you’re on the streets you need to keep your eyes open for things that are out of place 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: l Sequences or series of things where you would normally find only one of them. l Odd gestures or bodymovements. l Juxtapositions , where one thing is placed in front of, behind or beside the other, creating a witty situation. l Big contrasts: thick/thin, modern/ traditional, blue/yellow etc. l People doing things which make them look awkward – such as carrying unusually big or heavy loads. 8 WAIT FOR IT There’s a luck involved in street photography, being in the right place at the right time, but you can often make your own luck. Sure, much of it is about ‘the decisivemoment’ but there’s another, less reactive side to street photography: it’s known as the ‘fishing’ technique. Waiting is a big part of street photography. Henri Cartier-Bresson, despite being known as the originator of the ‘decisivemoment’, would often see a suitable background and thenwait – for as long as it took – for the right element to come into the frame tomake the scene complete. Think of it as fishing: you bait the hook, cast your line and wait for the fish to bite. So, when you are scanning the streets looking for material, always be on the lookout for an interesting background. It could be a brightly colouredwall, an elegant staircase or a humorous billboard but you’ll almost certainly need another element tomake the backgroundwork. Whatever that element is – amanwith a dog, perhaps, or a woman in a yellow coat – you need to find the best viewpoint andwait.
Issue 75 | Photography News 31
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