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Cheat Sheet Education

Photography Cheat Sheet: For Someone New to Street Photography

Chris Gampat
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05/28/2020
3 Mins read
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If you’re new to street photography, then check out this list.

When you’re brand new to street photography, there’s a lot of toxicity out there that doesn’t really help to create better street photographers. A whole lot of it is around pleasing the Instagram algorithm or learning from the classic masters. The classic masters are a fantastic way to enrich your passion, but the truth is that times have changed. And so you need to adapt. In fact, there isn’t a whole lot out there that talks about the ethics of street photography. So we’ve created a cheat sheet for you in a straightforward guide.

The List

This list is going to help answer pretty much everything at the surface level very quickly. It tackles some of the most common questions that we’ve seen around the web that are asked by beginners. Of course, for many of us that have been shooting for years, these seem rudimentary. But we must try to help future generations and work to make the community a better and healthier place. Start with this list.

Don’t Get Caught Up on Gear

“There seem to be many schools of thought on what does and does not constitute street photography.”

10 Basic Tips for Better Street Photography

The biggest thing is to not get caught up on gear. You can do street photography with pretty much anything out there. In fact, you can use it to be your own interpretation. Just as long as the image is of something happening in public and documenting daily life, you’re pretty much set. Some may say that you’re trying to capture the decisive moment, but that can be said about a whole lot of things. Here are a few extra tips:

  • Use your phone to be a bit more candid. Try using the telephoto lens or just getting up close to something or someone to shoot. Phones are generally less intimidating, but they can also be very annoying to people. It’s all in your approach.
  • Using a point and shoot? Shoot in continuous autofocus.
  • Using an interchangeable lens camera? Try zone focusing. We’ve got a great video on how to do this below.

Be Present

Now here’s the biggest thing: be present. With that, don’t be in your own mind. Instead, be in your emotions with what’s around you. Be vulnerable. Let things happen. As soon as something elicits emotion from you, photograph it. It takes time to build up that trigger, but once you do, you’ll have images and stories to tell about so many different moments. Lots of folks use street photography as a way to escape from the stresses of their own lives. It’s, of course, very therapeutic. If you’re standing on a busy street or some sort, just start out by people watching. Observe folks as they go by and be receptive to three things that happen. Once you’re emotionally incited three times, then start shooting. Think of it as starting a motor, you need to get into the mindset and know that you’re paying attention.

“Things work a little differently when you’re on private property, where the property owner can dictate whether or not photography is permitted.”

The Most Basic Thing You Need to Know About Street Photography

After this, set your camera up, and either wait for moments or walk around and shoot. It’s easy to do. In a way, you’re still in your own mind. But more than that, you’re in your own emotions. There’s nothing wrong with doing things like shooting in continuous shooting modes to get the shot. Give it a chance!

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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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