What makes a great street photographer? | EyeEm (2024)
We asked the EyeEm Community to share the traits of those who have mastered the craft.
Street photography is perhaps one of the most interesting and varied genres of photography. From high fashion on the streets of Paris to mundane mornings in NYC, street photographers capture the essence, feel and heartbeat of a city and its people.
To better understand what makes a great street photographer, we asked several members of the EyeEm Community to share some traits and characteristics of those who have mastered the craft.
“Go places. It’s crucial to go to the right place at the right time. The magic will emerge from the scene, the light, the atmosphere, the timing and your ability to take a proper shot in sometimes stressful situations. If you never leave your comfort zone you will never capture anything except your own daily life.”
“To me, the most important characteristic is having a sharp eye and being aware of the environment around you. This means looking out for, not just colors, shapes, lights, shadows and so on, but observing people and how they appear and act as well. Knowing the environment will help in preparing for that moment.”
“Shoot before you ask. If you like candid street pics, then don’t ask people to take their photograph. Just shoot it! And if they get angry, talk to them and show some examples of your work.”
“Mingle with people. It’s unpredictable, surprising and incredibly rewarding. They give you important or insignificant, unique or quotidian, cruel or warm moments in time. Think about people as creators.”
“Zero expectations. If you’re doing street photography, you learn quickly to not have any expectations when you go out. Life is happening around you – unplanned life. If you start the day looking for certain shots, you will miss out on many great shots. And that’s disappointing. Expect nothing, and end up finding everything!”
“Being able to compose before you lift up the camera – Street photography is a very time-critical form of photography at times. One second the moment’s there, the next second, it might be gone. There’s a time gap that exists as we lift the camera to our eye when we see a moment. If you’re able to compose during that time gap, you’ll increase your chances of capturing the moment.”
Street photography (also sometimes called candid photography) is photography conducted for art or inquiry that features unmediated chance encounters and random incidents within public places, usually with the aim of capturing images at a decisive or poignant moment by careful framing and timing.
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Street_photography
must love people and the world. You can't see anything if you don't have empathy.” “To me, the most important characteristic is having a sharp eye and being aware of the environment around you.
Yes, you should strive for high image quality when possible. But the most important thing is composition, light, atmosphere, and a compelling story. If your images tell a story, then you're on the path to becoming a renowned street photographer.
These photographers commonly aim to capture spontaneous moments of people in a candid state. Street photography is typically not directed or staged. Rather, it is unmediated and spontaneous as to capture subjects in their most authentic state.
1. Street photography must contain people. Street shots often contain people, and many beginners only raise the camera when a person is nearby. Yet street photography is really about life, and you do not need to smack a person in the middle of a frame to get a beautiful street image.
Public spaces can be crowded, making it difficult for the photographer to move around and find the perfect vantage point. The photographer might have to contend with other people, vehicles, or obstacles in the environment to capture the shot they want.
Taking photographs and video of things that are plainly visible in public spaces is a constitutional right—and that includes transportation facilities, the outside of federal buildings, and police and other government officials carrying out their duties.
Street photography style can include distilling a scene using minimalism or abstraction, making a decision to use color or black and white, or finding scenes to shoot where high contrast is a worthy avenue. Read through these styles and consider when you might use one over the other.
Post your portfolio on your website and share your images on popular photo sharing sites like Flickr, Unsplash and 500px. Be sure to use metadata so that your images can be found more easily. Getting published can not only get your work noticed, but it can also give you credentials that can lead to new opportunities.
Most Street Photographers will fall under that value creation. The two usual suspects are prints and books. There's other stuff you can do too, posters, shirts, stock etc. But the profit margins are low and you need to sell loads of these to live off them.
The big difference between cityscape and street photography composition is just the time that you have to compose. With compositions for cityscapes, you can take your time, while for street photography you have to act so quickly that it becomes almost instinctual over time.
Street Photography is a document of our times, our customs, our fashion, habits and foibles in a set timeframe. We are not documenting a specific story on a long term project, that is documentary photography and it has its own characteristics that distinguish it from Street Photography.
Here are some general guidelines: Use a quick shutter speed to create a freeze frame of the scene. Set your aperture size to medium to focus on your subject but leave the background recognizable. Start at a low ISO setting and push it higher if your photos come out shaky.
Focusing on the study of objects and elements in urban environments, urban photography usually emphasises the surroundings and uses them to make statements about time and place. People are not always included in the images, unlike in street photography.
This requires a camera that is not only fast and responsive but also discreet, allowing the photographer to blend into the crowd and capture authentic moments without disturbing the scene. Another important feature to consider when choosing a camera for street photography is its low-light performance.
Introduction: My name is Lakeisha Bayer VM, I am a brainy, kind, enchanting, healthy, lovely, clean, witty person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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