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Bridging Tech and Creative Photography
Bridging Tech and Creative Photography
Bridging Tech and Creative Photography
Features

Shoot and Share: The New Street Photographer

Chris Gampat
No Comments
03/20/2015
4 Mins read

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In no time in history so far has it been easier for you, yes you, to make it as a street photographer. The format started with the inception of the 35mm format and became more well known with the fathers of photojournalism. And back then, you had to shoot, write letters, mail negatives or prints, and develop relationships. Some of that has changed, but some of it is still core. Today, you not only have the internet, but you’ve got more ways to actually become noticed and to differentiate yourself from all the other photographers out there in every photo community out there.

Want to make money from your passion? It’s possible.

Want fame and to be in galleries? Yes, you too can be one of those photographers.

The Use of Communities

Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Zeiss 35mm f2 Loxia review photos (10 of 20)ISO 4001-25 sec at f - 4.0

There are loads of photography communities out there but some stand out more than others. Amongst the biggest with the deepest conversations are 500px and Flickr. These communities foster conversations much more than many of the others–and it works in many ways. Yes, you get some back and forth banter and constructive critique, but these are also where the trolls dwell–waiting patiently to take your self-esteem.

But while these communities are popular, they’re not the only places that you can check out. Sure, EyeEm and Instagram both don’t have groups or foster conversations like the others do, but the chances of you being discovered on these platforms is much easier. Why? Because of the mobile interface and ease of search. It’s much easier for someone to find you and more about your work on Instagram or EyeEm than it is on Flickr or 500px when it comes to filtering through groups and members.

Even cooler though is Photoshelter’s new community: Lattice. The most serious of photographers we feel are there. But if you really, really like mobile photography then give Oggl a look.

Most importantly, you need to use these communities. Not just one, or two, but all of them. And you need to find a way to tailor your work specifically for each one. What works in Flickr won’t work on Instagram or EyeEm and what works on 500px for you won’t necessarily be the best thing for Lattice.

Essentially, what we’re saying here is that you can’t be lazy.

Immediate Sharing

julius motal the phoblographer manual ios image-1

Yes, we named Instagram and EyeEm as communities that every street photographer should be on. While many photographers may gawk at these platforms, we have a question for you: why?

Further, why do you choose to hate some of the biggest platforms out there for sharing images when so many cameras are connected these days?

Do you hate mobile photography? That’s cool–so don’t use your phone. Hook up an EyeFi card to your camera or use the Wifi transfer feature and edit the JPEG. It’s more than simple enough and when your viewers are looking at your images on a little screen, no one cares if your images are 100% sharp. Indeed, no one cared about any of that when photography was first started.

There is no need for you to hate the work of someone because they shot a photo with a phone; especially when thousands of others may love the image. Can you shoot an image that looks just like theirs? Maybe. But did you? No.

By immediately sharing images, you can also get them out there sooner than later and get them noticed by more people.

Networking

Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Instagram for the iPad (1 of 1)ISO 2001-20 sec at f - 4.0

Lastly, we need to hit home on the biggest aspect of not only street photography, but photography overall.

No one is going to know that you exist unless you get out there and try to make a name for yourself by working with other people. Not a single photographer became famous by becoming a hermit. So you need to apply the real life networking skills that you have in real life to the online world. With that, you need to find a way to give value to people’s feeds. Think about this: why should someone follow you?

Back up, let’s make this a bit more concrete. Why do you come to this site? For information, our reviews, news, etc. Now why would someone want to view your street photos? Are you adept at capturing beauty in the mundane? If not, can you edit the images to look incredible? What about you makes you a great street photographer? Why would Nike want to use you to shoot their Instagram campaign of runners? Why would a bike company or a fashion company want to see the work that you can do on the streets?

Always remember that everyone is trying to find out what you can do for them rather than what they can do for you. When you’ve got that in mind, then you’ll figure out how to make yourself a better sell.

500px camera community eyeem flickr instagram lattice sharing street photographer wifi
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Written by

Chris Gampat

Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
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