Street photography
Street photography captures everyday life as it happens, without setting up or directing anything. It doesn't depend on gear but on attention: looking, anticipating what's about to happen and being ready when it does. In the simulator the camera is already set up: wait for the cyclist to reach the right spot.
Set up your camera before you go out
On the street there's no time to adjust anything. Many photographers use zone focusing: they set f/8, focus manually at about 10 feet (3 m) and, with a 28 or 35 mm wide-angle, everything that happens roughly between 6 and 20 feet (2 and 6 m) stays sharp. With auto ISO and a minimum shutter speed of 1/250, all that's left is to frame and shoot.
A 28 or 35 mm forces you to get close and puts you inside the scene; a telephoto, on the other hand, turns you into a distant observer and flattens the relationship between people.
Set up your camera at home; on the street, just look.
The decisive moment
Henri Cartier-Bresson popularized the phrase decisive moment to describe the instant when the elements of a scene fall into place on their own: a step in mid-air, a crossing glance, a shadow clicking into position. That instant lasts a fraction of a second.
You don't get it by chasing, but by anticipating. A classic technique is to find a good stage (a wall with raking light, a puddle with reflections, a strong shadow) and wait for someone to walk into it. Our reaction time is around a tenth of a second: you have to shoot just before it happens.
The same scene half a second apart.
Shutter speed: freeze or convey
To freeze pedestrians, 1/250 is enough; for someone running or cycling, 1/500 or faster. But you don't always have to freeze: between 1/15 and 1/30, pedestrians become streaks and convey the rhythm of the city. If you also follow the subject with the camera during the exposure, a technique called panning, you'll keep them relatively sharp against a background turned into lines.
Ethics and the law
In the United States and the United Kingdom, photographing people in public places is generally legal, because there's no reasonable expectation of privacy on the street. What's restricted is the use: putting a recognizable person in an advertisement or commercial work usually requires a signed model release. Laws vary by country and some places, like France or Spain, protect people's image much more strictly. With children, take extra care: don't publish photos of them without their parents' or guardians' permission.
Beyond the law there's respect. If someone asks you to delete a photo, do it. Acting naturally, smiling, not hiding the camera and being willing to show the picture avoids most conflicts and often opens the door to better photos.
Photograph others the way you'd like to be photographed.
Your turn: an hour on the street
Pick a lively place: a square, a market, a station.
- Set up your camera at home: f/8, auto ISO, 1/250 and manual focus at 10 feet (3 m). On a phone, press and hold to lock focus and exposure.
- Find a stage with good light or an interesting background and wait for someone to walk into the frame.
- Take at least 50 photos without judging them in the moment.
- At home, keep only three and explain what each one has that the others don't.