In this lesson: Learn how to map out your day for street photography success

Street photography is all about getting out of your comfort zone and into daily life. Once there, you have access to the daily theater that takes place as everyday scenes unfold.

Not everyone is comfortable taking their camera and heading to a public place to photograph strangers. On the one hand, it’s understandable because on some level, it almost feels voyeuristic, or as though we’re invading someone else’s personal space.

Yet, on the other hand, street photography might be the ultimate photographic challenge because it’s your job to document everyday scenes in a way that is visually interesting. Combined with the fact that sometimes you’ll need to work relatively covertly if you’re going to get genuine images, you’ll also need to learn how to equip yourself, move through crowds, and compose images on the fly to maximize the impact of the images you create.

For example, looking at the street scene of the market, though there are dozens of people in the frame, none are aware that they are being photographed. The result is an image that looks more natural, more real. For the viewers, it’s as if the image is a little window into life in this particular market in a particular area of a particular city.

What helps is that the photographer took a position right in the middle of the street scene. When composing street images, it’s necessary to get right into the action without fear. Otherwise, the image will not be as powerful.

To become part of the scene without being noticed takes a few steps. First, you’ll need to wear clothing that doesn’t stand out – no vibrant colors or wild patterns. Just wear normal clothing for the area in which you’re shooting so you can blend in.

Second, you’ll need to be discreet with your camera. Don’t bring a full frame body with a telephoto lens. Instead, a crop sensor or mirrorless camera or even a point-and-shoot with RAW capabilities is a good idea. Use a small lens (say, 50mm or less) so that you can more covertly frame your photos.

Lastly, you’ll need to practice composing and taking images without bringing your camera to your eye. Shooting from the hip might get you more interesting photos and will certainly be less noticeable than if you stand in the street taking photos with the camera at your eye.

Challenge Activity

Find opportunities to take photos in spaces where people are too busy to be concerned with your business. The skilled street photographer can sense when a moment will exceed their own presence and strike when the capture is ripe. It is recommended that you first walk in areas to study the activity and gauge if/when you can capture images discreetly.

Step 1: Survey your scene in advance. Find opportunities to be discreet. Look for vantage points that give you that discretion, or look for people who are so engaged in what they are doing that you can snap their photo without them noticing, like in the sample images throughout this lesson.

Step 2: Set a low aperture number and a fast shutter speed. For example, you might use f/2.8 to let in lots of light and to give you a shallow depth of field while shooting at 1/250 seconds to freeze any movement in the scene.

Step 3: Make a series of images. Strive to capture people interacting naturally with one another. Shoot from the hip if necessary, and, when you feel you can get away with it, take a few images with the camera to your eye. When choosing which images to work on in post-processing, select only the images in which people were unaware they were being photographed.

Step 4: Be smart. Photographing children in a park, for example, might not be advisable. Likewise, if someone confronts you about taking their picture, be nice, make eye contact, smile, and if they insist that you stop photographing them, oblige. In most cases, your presence will go unnoticed, but be prepared to work with people who aren’t too excited about you taking their photo.