Have you recently begun street photography and are wondering how you can enhance your snaps? There are numerous tips and techniques out there, but starting simple may be best. In the video above, Pierre Lambert shares five must-know tips that he believes can transform your street photography.
Get to know the film first, then return for our digest below.
Just shoot! No fuss with settings
Instead of fiddling around with camera settings and worrying about them all the time, focus on what it is you want to capture instead. Otherwise, you could end up missing many great opportunities!
How can you ensure you’re always using the ideal settings? Shoot in Aperture Priority mode; that way you only have to set your aperture, giving you full control of depth-of-field and which objects appear sharp in your images.
Pierre also suggests setting your camera to minimum shutter speed if possible to help avoid blurry shots due to slow shutter speeds. Doing this will prevent blurry photos being captured due to slow shutter speeds.
Opting for prime lenses over zoom lenses will force you to think differently when photographing. Because these lenses have fixed focal lengths, you’ll be forced to move with your feet instead of pulling your lens in or out. As a result, this may encourage more interaction with subjects as they come closer and perhaps reveal new stories!
Take Time to Notice and Document
Before diving in with shooting, spend some time simply exploring and observing your surroundings – either with or without your camera – taking note of anything that catches your eye that might make an interesting story for viewers to follow. Your goal should be to show how YOU see the world, rather than simply recreate something you’ve already seen elsewhere.
Shoot in All Weather Conditions
Photographing under different weather conditions adds diversity and richness to your work and visual stories that you are trying to tell. Cities often appear different depending on the time of year and temperature change – having a weatherproof camera already puts you ahead in this department!
Crop Your Images
Contrary to what some photographers might say, it’s perfectly acceptable for photographers to crop images to remove elements that don’t add anything significant to the story being told in your photographs. When shooting street photography quickly there may be unwanted elements lingering in shots that hinder narrative and may look better cropped out; so give it a go if it helps improve your shots!
Bonus Tip: Don’t Just Watch YouTube
Otherwise, nothing will happen! Sure, watching other photographers’ street photography tutorials might provide some guidance and inspiration, but without doing actual photography yourself and practicing what you learn there’s no chance you will improve or find your voice as an artist.
Liked these quick tips? Make sure to visit Pierre Lambert’s YouTube channel for even more street photography tips and tricks!