Technique
9
“You can excel at street photographywith the rightmindset andan eye for themoment”
what it believes to be a perfectly exposed image; at night, this can mean overexposure. You need deep shadows and areas which are almost too dark to comprehend. If in doubt, look at your histogram and if it’s significantly to the left, you’re probably in a good place. 10 DON’T OBSESS ABOUT GEAR Street photography is a simple pleasure and you need little in the way of gear to become a skilled street shooter. Look at the work of some of the greats such as WilliamKlein, GarryWinogrand and Robert Frank: they produced stunning images using basic filmcameras with none of the bells andwhistles we have today. Whether it’s an old filmSLR or the latest mirrorless, you can excel at street photography with the right mindset and an eye for themoment. Let’s face it, it’s a great feeling to have the latest gear, and perhaps we gain an element of confidence from it, but does it reallymake us a better photographer? Probably not. Instead invest in photo books, travel, book on a workshop and study the work of the great photographers. All of this will make you a better street photographer.
TRY SHOOTING AT NIGHT
Some of your best street photographs can be done during the hours of darkness and night shooting is something everyone should try; it’s almost a rite of passage. Think neon lights, shopwindows, reflections, car lights, bars, restaurants, people having fun, street lighting... there’smasses of material. There’s no reason that shooting in the dark should be anymore difficult than daylight shooting but there are different technical and practical considerations to take into account. Here aremy top tips for shooting street at night. l Find good sources of light. The light cast by streetlamps, car headlights, shopwindows, mobile phones - anything which illuminates your subject. l Shoot high ISO. Most modern cameras handle high ISO very well. I’m often shooting at ISO 6400 or 12,800 withmy Fujifilmgear so don’t be afraid of whacking up that ISO dial. l Focus manually. Nomatter how good your AF is, manual is best. Use focus peaking for fast and accurate focus. Create mood and atmosphere with dark images. Your camera will probably try to produce
30 Photography News | Issue 75
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