How Street Photography Reminded Me Why I Love Being a Photographer

Street photography is intimidating. This is because you’re taking a photo of someone, unknown to them, and if they catch you they most likely will confront you. Remember, not everyone likes their picture taken and that’s okay. However, in the event someone does catch you snapping their photo and they aren’t very happy about it, just open your ears, listen to them, and then extend an olive branch.

I hand them a simple black and white business card with only this email on it, “fotografo@streetzingaro.com” and then tell them to email me and I will send them copies they can use on Facebook or Instagram and ask them if they’d like me to snap a few extra pics for family or friends. If this doesn’t work, I smile, offer them a good day and move on down the road. Typically being heckled. 

Choosing the right camera 

For street photography the right size camera is important because you don’t want to make yourself too visible as a photographer. This means a large camera like a DSLR, as well as long lenses, may not be the best gear to use. Try something small at first like a Nikon or Canon point-n-shoot. These are inexpensive to find on ebay. If it turns out street photography isn’t your thing then you haven’t lost much other than your time. 

Take your camera everywhere 

Street photography is all about spontaneously capturing a moment in time; be ready. This is another reason I love my Ricoh GR II. There isn’t anywhere I can’t easily conceal this camera: the front-pocket of my Levi’s 504s, the side-pocket of my cargo shorts, a pocket in my streetzingaro hoodie, a fanny-pack if that’s your thing still, purse or shoulder sling. I have no excuse not to have my camera on me. 

Learn to shoot from the hip 

Shooting fast and furious is all about the camera settings: set auto-power-off for as long as possible this way your camera is ready, use Aperture mode with Auto ISO most of the time, snap-focus (another great reason to buy the Ricoh GR II) so you don’t have to wait for auto-focus. Also you need to learn your camera with enough confidence to be comfortable pointing it towards a subject without viewing the LCD. This takes practice and a small element of luck most of the time. 

It’s not about the perfect shot 

In street photography you don’t have the luxury of spending 5 minutes to set up a shot. You have about 5/10 of a second. This means 99% of the time you are not going get an all around sharp-as-tack photo nor at the distance you intended. In fact, the crop tool will become a valuable tool during post-processing. Remember, this genre of photography is all about emotion and sometimes the softness, blur, deep contrast or noise of the photo adds to the voice of the moment you are preserving in time. 

Now go take a walk and find the moment.