Street Photography, People
July 19, 2010

My favorite Street Photography Tip, Broadway and Broome

http://www.jamesmaherphotography.com/images/0000/1545/fashion_broadway_and_broom.jpg

Street photography is not something that is inherently easy to do.  We can go into the broad ideas about the definition of street photography another time, but to me, one of the most important aspects of it is that the photographer doesn't inject their presence into a situation.  You want to catch the person as they are in real life, and the moment they notice the camera in their face then that goes out the window.

So then how do you take a photo of an interesting person, or scene, with a fairly obtrusive SLR, close to them and in good lighting conditions, without that person noticing?  Besides just being fast and sneaky, there is one great street photography trick that I have rarely seen written about.

This trick, which I often employ, is about letting the subject come to you.  Go to an area where there is a good chance of finding interesting people and good lighting, and pick an unobtrusive spot to hunker down.  Set your camera on manual, pick the correct exposure settings, and then wait.

Look far down the street so that you will notice way in advance when the right person is about to walk into your scene and then move slowly to exactly the right place that you want to intersect them.  Then just pretend that you are taking a photograph of the background, stay low so that they don't notice you, look through the viewfinder so that you don't make accidental eye contact, and don't make any sudden movements to catch their attention

The person will often see you, but since you will just look like an every day tourist that is photographing something random, they won't think twice nor get self conscious.  Then snap!

I'm not sure that the person above even noticed me in the slightest despite looking directly at me.


*If you like the photos in this post please help me spread the word by sharing. Thanks.



4 Comments for "My favorite Street Photography Tip, Broadway and Broome"
Andoman says:
July 19, 2010 16:52
Can you explain the logic behind 'settings the camera on manual'?
James Maher says:
July 19, 2010 18:56
Yeah, I just find that aperture or shutter value isn't always perfect. I do use it sometimes for sure, but it makes more sense to figure out the exact exposure you want in manual so that you know every shot will come out perfect and the same. Then I'll just tweak the settings accordingly as the light changes.
Chris Klug says:
July 20, 2010 13:38
First of all, what a GREAT corner, amen. Second, have you heard the quote from Jay Meisel who said during a critique of someone's street style "you're walking too much"? (I may have the quote wrong, but the idea supports your 'stay in one place' idea). I, too, zone focus and manually expose, so I can control the f-stop and the shutter speed. No surprises. And you get good at estimating how far someone is from you and when they are in focus. Is this shot a 35mm?
James Maher says:
July 20, 2010 13:51
I haven't heard of that quote, but it's perfect! Yeah this is shot in 35mm digital.