Urban/street photography

GinnyR

Hi,

I'm pretty new to photography. Self taught & learning as I go. I'm very keen to get into street life photography but what advice can you give?

I'm really enjoying looking at the type of things @TheBaz does but tbh I'm slightly concerned about a) how to get a decent spontaneous shot whilst maintaining people's rights etc and b) the safety of wandering around with my camera & kit (I'm pretty streetwise but still).

Thanks.

thebaz

I'm a great believer in shooting what you are comfortable with - develop your own style , finding it is the hard part , enjoying Eamon Doyles Dublin work , cause it is his own unique take, and different to most others . As regards values , don't shoot with zoom , get into the action , engage with your subjects , that way you can explain what you do , rather than running off with a bunch of probably bad pics you can never use . Robert Cappa said if your pics are good eneogh your not close eneogh , or something like that, and that is a bit of a mantra to me - yesterday from Balinasloe is an example of getting into the action :-



it may not be perfect , but street photography is about trying to capture emotions or feeling with a whiff of the street , or something like that - hope this rant helps some.

fret_wimp2

Baz is right, find whats comfortable with you and go from there.
Generally though, street is about getting in close, as the old saying goes "if your photos are not good enough, you're not close enough".

Id recommend starting by:

1. Check out other peoples work
Looking in some of the many street photography groups on Flickr. Check out other peoples work, take inspiration and get a feel for the genre.
Some groups are better than others, I just list 3 below but there are many more, have a look for yourself:

-HCSP
-SCNP
-DSP

2. Eric Kim - Start Here page
Check out Eric Kim's "getting started" blog post. Eric is a prolific street photographer and blogger. He blogs regularly and despite what you think of his work, his start here page is awesome. It gives a list of great photographers, what you can learn from them, how to get close, dealing with people, conflict, composition and a ton of other information. You could spend weeks here. At the very least read the following articles, but you should really read as much as you can, there is some great info here:
-What HCB has thought me

-How to become fearless.

-how to become invisible.

3. Get involved in the Facebook groups.
There are a number of facebook groups for street photography:

-Irish Street Photography
Regular theme's to encourage people to get out and get creative.
This one is quite selective about what gets published and what simply wont appear. The logic is the admins want to keep the pool of photos at a high level and so wont just publish anything. Although ruthless, it does keep a ceratain standard and thats defo a good thing. All posts have to be approved by admins also. They are good guys, so if your picture doesnt get published, dont worry, just keep trying and enjoy the other images. and remember, your taking images for yourself, not people on facebook!

-Street Photography Ireland
Lots of good stuff here also. Regular themes aswell. A lot more forgiving about what gets posted and there is no post approval process. This means there are some photos that may not be amazing on here, but hey, so what, its all subjective anyway!

-Streettogs Academy
Pretty sure this is set up by Eric Kim and friends. Free to upload any street photos, but they also have monthly themed competitions. Prize is pride and honour!

-Streettogs critique
Good group for getting feedback on your images. Be prepared for some harsh critique, but its generally honest, meant in good spirit, to help you improve. Note you must critique 3 images before you upload your own for critique. This is to enforce participation.

4. Get out there
With all this reading, dont forget to just get out and take photos. There is no better way to learn than to practice. I make a point of getting out for my lunch hour at least 3 times during the week & for 2-4 hours on a saturday and sunday, just walking around looking for good photo op's. Some days you get a decent haul, other days you get nothing, thats how the game works!
Push yourself to get closer, not to use telephoto or zoom. get in as close as you dare, push your boundaries. Ive found my boundaries are usually far away from the line where people get upset with me. Honestly, most people dont care and wont give you a second glance when taking their photo. Worst case scenario, someone gets a bit annoyed and you delete the image. This is all easier said than done, but you wont get anywhere with it unless you practice.

Keep an eye out for public events and make a point of attending. Things like protests in particular are great, as people want to be photographed so its a great way to help build up your confidence, get in close and learn that you wont die!

5. My Blog!
Finally, check out my blog! Its not a patch on Eric Kim's, but its an honest (and often very flawed) documentary of my journey at becomming a better street photography, and also a place where i share some useful information i have learned.

GinnyR

Thanks a mil both. There's some great links there.