Street Photography Tips I Learned From The Pros
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Street Photography is a category of photography that is really dear to my heart. It's the first category I tried to learn and master, and over the many years I've built up many different skills and spoke to many pro photographers about how to progress in the craft of Street Photography.
In this video, I go through 5 street photography tips and techniques that I've worked on, and feel that all pros will end up knowing or using at some stage.
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0:00 Intro
0:49 Street Photography Tip 1
4:48 Street Photography Tip 2
6:32 Street Photography Tip 3
9:02 Street Photography Tip 4
10:01 Street Photography Tip 5
11:02 Outro
I've started using my 70-350mm for street photography, it gives me that anonymous feeling so I feel less scared taking people and it also nicely compresses backgrounds
if you're shooting street at 350mm sounds more like outdoor portrait photography?
i prefer 55-250mm on crop Canon 80D for similar; otherwise nifty 50 or 30mm Sigma Art. lighter is better though. lookin' at Ricoh GRX, maybe.
I choice is right before where yours begins. I prefer using a 24-70mm. I use same focal lengths on 2 different cameras and find that it works for me.
@@dank4195I use a Nikon 800mm on a Leica M240 with an adapter for Street-Photography
Hello, I was recently in NY City. There I noticed the difference Doing street photography in a small town in Germany (160,000 people) or meeting in NY. Everyone in New York is so relaxed and no one gets upset about it. And in Germany, most people look strange or ask straight away whether they have just been photographed...so I love New York. Greetings from Germany...great video!
Great tips as always Pat. I particularly liked what you said about imperfect settings being okay if the story is there. I’m willing to bet that no-one has ever looked at a photo and thought “oh my god! Those settings are amazing!”. People notice the story in a photo above all else. If they’re noticing the settings first then either the settings are way off or the story isn’t engaging enough. Story first, always.
that’s it man! it’s always about the story and other aspects before it is about the technical
The part that hit me the most is accepting an imperfection in a shot because it ended up adding to the story I wanted to tell and sometimes telling a different story. This video was great! Thank you!
Hi Pat, a lot of thanks to your videos, they always encourage me to go out and try more new things, and also give me lots of inspirations.
Awesome! These tips will sure come in handy now that im starting my street photography series! Thank you so much ⚡
One of my favorite Chanel that talking about skill,techniques and knowledge about photography that can improve Ability into another level .Thank you for sharing bless you
Always learn something new from your vid. Thank you Pat.
Another great video, Pat. Thanks for all these street shooting insights!
I'm about 2 years into my journey in photography. I found your channel recently and it's been really helpful! Thank you for what you're doing Pat :)
Great tips! Thanks for sharing! I believe my personal favourite is "accept mistakes". I believe it's part of any process, but it's always great to keep that in mind when going outside and taking photos
Super valuable video, as always, I learn a lot thanks to you. Feeling highly grateful for your work, thanks for being that generous with us.
Love street Photography!! Thks this video worth a lot !
Great examples!
This is some fantastic work and info!
Thank you so much for your videos Pat. You've helped me so much in my Photography journey.
Cool video, thank you for sharing!
Cool advices, that make fotographers life much easier. Thank you.
Very inspiring. Thank you.
Thanks so much for this. You are right about experimenting often because maybe an imperfection would enhance that photo. Plus, this video is quite helpful with the tips you have. Awesome stuff!
Very good info Pat.
Thank you for another great video!
Super practical tutorial mate. Your videos are always just spot on- the info is succinct and the videos are always just so watch able. Cheers for sharing!
Helpful video, nicely presented. Thanks.
Best video explanation I have seen! Thank you
Street photography is what got me into photography! Great tips. Just earned a new sub!
Enjoyed it very much - thank you
Very well-presented and great information. Thanks for sharing!
1) Accept imperfections 2) Story always matters most Thats golden to justify my crappy settings
of course you want to aim for all 3! but definitely, that order is great 😊
Great video! Thanks for sharing 🥰 My favourite part was that "The story always matters most"
Nice video. I am new to photography as a past time, and appreciate your experience and candid thoughts.
Lovely, helpful, and practical video as always-thank you! I’d love to see a video from you on the ethics of street photography and how you navigate the space between where laws end and where good taste end.
it’s an idea that’s already on my list of vids! look out for it sometime in the future 😊
Pat Kay back with a banger. I really love to see it.
thanks for watching man!
Great video. Thanks
You are a very 11:24 good teacher! It’s obvious you have a lot of knowledge which you present so clearly. I think street photography is my favorite genre, your images really motivated me to get back out there. I agree with what you said about spending time in a place, I think it was Minor White who said something to the effect of “I’m always mentally photographing everything I see as practice” I often like to just sit quietly and watch before I start shooting. It helps me notice the beauty in the environment, then when I pick up the camera I am very inspired and excited about what I see.
Pat ur really the guy tht inspired with to pursue my career and dreams. Love ur content as always. It would be grateful to learn something in real life with you. Hope that the pandemic gets better. Stay safe pat.
i’m glad to be that for you! thanks for watching ☺️
Another thing that will help (apologies if someone already mentioned this) is to use auto ISO. Same concept with wildlife photography as your subject is always moving and if you’re facing one direction you wanna be able to do a quick 180 to a new subject without having to worry about changing ISO since most of the time it’ll happen so quick we won’t be able to do it manually
Nothing like a new video from Pat with my morning coffee :D
hope it made your morning better vish!
Great video Pat. Thank you for your insights and advice.
thanks for watching!
I think all of them did the trick and I can't wait to get my gears and get out there so such experiences Thanks Pat
You are so humble and professional , keep inspiring people. I am sure one day you will be more!
thanks!
Thank you!
Thanks lot Pat ❤️❤️
thanks for watching!
I struggle with juxtapositions when am doing street... Btw, love your videos. Informative, crisp, and non-sense proof! Keep inspiring us Pat!
Really enjoyed this video and especially the strong logical and pragmatic bent that runs through all your tutorials. Something I struggle with is getting the balance between fast enough shutter speed and managing the iso on night street shots. Often I’m finding that I’m rarely below 800 iso and often at 1600 iso. I’ve learned that I can shoot 2-3 stops below the ‘optimum centre point’ on the light setting, but still would like to find out how best to get the higher iso settings at bay. (Shooting manual).
Thank you for sharing your experiences as it's been helpful, and we are fortunate. I'd personally appreciate if you could have the books you've read for leaning photography to share when you have time.
my pleasure! thanks for watching!
L
This is great! Super helpful!
glad you dig it!
Excellent
I subbed... Your voice and Face is Pleasing ....The way you explain stuff works for me. THANK YOU
Thank you
I just want to say thank you so much for free lessons is my favourite person I like to watching
thanks for watching!
Super helpful and practical! I would say one of the biggest hurdles I have with street photography, and really most, is the planning aspect. I'd love to see a video of some essential skills or ways early photographers can be thinking proactively in this aspect. I still am very much a "show up and get inspired" shooter, which although not bad, won't develop the necessary skills to get THE shot. Thanks as always!
Same, but lately i have been watching a lot of movies to find inspirations and get that sense of what i will have to look for when going out and doing street.
@@miniro9159 which movies?
So good
YEAAAAAA PATTKAYYYYY I LOOOOOVEEEEEE UUUUUR VIDEOSSSSSSSS I LITERALLY SCREAMED WHEN I SAW THE NOTIFICATION Love from Korea!
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Thanks for the video, always a pleasure ! I’m constantly struggling on Lr post-processing, feeling I’m losing all balance and references, I end up wondering what is beautiful or ugly, what works or is to avoid, .. it’s a weird feeling of no longer seeing the right way once I’m working on Lr settings, although I know perfectly what each setting brings
yeah it can get a bit like that in your journey for sure. you’ll get through it! having someone that inspires you as a reference might help
Personnaly sometimes I forget to fix the shutter speed, working the scene.. Well every detail you've mentionned in this video helps a lot !! Much thanks i'd love to visit Japan for photography !!! I'm also a Budoka so it'd be great to enjoy training as well as photography !! :) Greetings from Morocco
I guess being able to quickly change settings would be a good reason to upgrade my camera. I have a Rebel t6 and I have to get out of live mode to change settings, and fiddle around with the menu. It's really time consuming. Maybe there's some shortcuts I'm missing, though.
Pretty solid video. I enjoy that some of your technical descriptions really strip out the esoteric and just be matter of fact. My only thought is that I would consider 'capturing the human condition' to be a bit narrow in scope for street. See EyeExplore's video on UnStreet photography. Given the impact humans have naturally and obviously had on urban environments, I'd argue it's not strictly necessary to even have a single human in a photo to classify as Street photography, depending on how comfortable you are with blurring the line between Street and Urban photography.
i am also in trouble when choosing what to use if its Aperture Priority, Manual, or P in streey photography. Just like what you said, you need to capture right away and you dont want to loose that moment while you are still twicking the settings.
As always, actionable information that can easily be incorporated on my next venture out. In response to your question... I, like many of my fellow subscribers here have an issue with being comfortable with the uncertainty of the human element. The shot at 10:45 was amazingly captured, and the main reason why I'm responding. I would love to have the experience to confidently capture that shot with just some rando on the street. But soon as they see the camera, they'll either clam up, put on a show, or confront(stare). Which is okay but that initial moment has passed. I guess my question would be, how do you get your subjects/people to look natural?
What do you cover the Sony logo with? Also, what have you used for the red shutter button
The definition of street photography really hit me squarely. The tip of observing a scene and waiting for the right subject was my favorite. Please, how do you handle lights from signs not getting overexposed while also keeping your subject exposed properly and in focus?
I'm pretty new to this myself, but the only way I go about that is by using flash. I understand if you don't want your main subject illuminated so brightly then it might not work for what you're going for. Maybe someone else has another tip we could use.
Great video! I will love to watch and hear about how to make street photography in boring places. Because we always listen to "Make boring spaces and situations interesting" but is kinda difficult to make when we really have a boring city and we see every single day the same visual. Thanks ^^
a tricky thing, to be sure. but, noted! i’ll add it to the list 😬
Exactly. Cuz everyone is doing it . Nothing new
Another great video Pat. Any tips on shooting night street photography? I often don't use a tripod so I can stay mobile for capturing random scenes, but find I get a bit of noise in my photos bc I only have an f4. I guess I overcompensate with ISO if I'm not using a tripod.
too many tips to do justice in a comment! maybe i’ll do a vid on it one day!
Beautiful and helpful content✨. Could anyone recommend me not much expensive lenses for Nikon d750 dslr FF suitable for portraits and street ph. I have only 50 mm 1.8g. Do you think 85 mm 1.8 g will be suitable choice or any vario? Thnks.
Hi may I have your advise on my sony a 6400 when taking walking video... it is really jittering
I'd love a video on white balance - there are loads of videos the exposure triangle but I always struggle to capture colours from red lights etc
noted! thanks!
An amazing and helpful video as always Pat! So I tried doing street photography once and I got a lot of people staring at me and were uncomfortable with me taking pictures of them which led to them confronting me. What do I do to get through this? Thank you.
Whenever people are looking at me strangely, I just try to move to another angle or just try to act like I belong there. Sometimes it just takes time to get used to these types of things
I know this is going to sound odd but this is no different than any other skill & time is the key. The more you do it, the better you get at it & that includes being in uncomfortable situations & conflict resolution. I’m not suggesting that you go out & intentionally create conflict & confrontation but the more often you’re in those situations, the easier it becomes to diffuse them. Over time you start to learn what’s affective & what’s not & then you can adjust how you approach it that fits into your style & comfort zone. Whether that’s learning to be more discreet with your shooting or even learning how to project more confidence. The worst thing to do is to let it discourage you from trying.
I found zone focusing useful when shooting 35mm or wider. Just set it and forget about it - one less thing to think about so you can concentrate more on the image.
At what distance do you set your focus?
notification gang checking in
ayee i see you
The thing i struggle mostly with is location. I live in a place where i dont feel like the location is as aesthetically pleasing so I find myself really trying to go above and beyond to find a composition that works. A lot of the styles i like arent available in my city. There are other cities that i can drive to but its very difficult to drive for hours and try to find a location that works and then drive back. Any help on that and lenses that tell better stories are appreciated.
Find shooting people is boring and oversaturated.
Interesting since most pros suggest to use zone focusing instead of any kind of auto focus.
Great video Pat. My question would be do you ever approach people on the street for portrait? There seems to be a trend that street photographers are shooting more at the 85mm range and not the more “traditional” 28 to 50mm focal range, is this something you would agree with and do you prefer to shoot street at a longer focal range. As a shy photographer I find myself moving more to longer focal ranges for this type of work
i personally don’t enjoy that style, and am definitely more of a scene shooter than an up close one. i shoot a lot of street on 85 not because of the distance or approach, but because i like using f1.4 and shallow depth of field to make my images a little bit different!
A struggle in big American cities at night is safety. You don’t want to attract too much attention waving a camera. Wearing darker clothes and being attentive to where you are and who is around you is important. Unfortunate but that is what we got.
totally agree. great tip there!
Is boring and oversaturated..rather shoot the pyramid or some jungle animal lol Or some weird shit
how is that your image is still bright even if it is 1/1000? when i set my shutter speed too 1/500 i cant see a thing and i dont want to raise my iso that much
Aperture
@ me next time jk lol Great video, man!
haha thanks dude!
How is street photography profitable? Obviously, it doesn't have to be, and that's a separate discussion, but do people hang street photography prints at home or office? Is street photography sustainable by selling collections in books? Or is it simply to drum up business to other streams like KZhead?
Probably in gallery
Great video! same for Facebook?
Is it considered street photography if there are no people in the image?
Ok u in the street. What u think ? Obviously not landscape lol damn don't you people have any common sense ??
🙄
Annoying soundtrack, there is no need for music when I am here to listen to you!🍻
Yea, I have no idea why people do that ? Like I don't understand the logic behind it
Got any tips for shooting street in Sydney? haha
Do you have to get any permission from people in your photos or you are shooting in public, you do not need it? I have been curious about this.
Anything public is legal . Private building is not, unless u ask permission.
Google photography laws in your country ..research man
Ask any accomplished and respected street photographer, and they'll tell you they shoot zone-focus 90% of the time.
how iso was AUTO?
I been doing Landscape and Sunset then Birds. I try street but it feels so noisy . Edges bug me. But i will not give up . Cause i like it and the one guy that Only takes One Photo.
I've found that using f4 is just perfect for street photography.
Heard f8
Street Photography Tip #1: Be in Japan
I will lol best place to be
A lot of people get trapped in this style of IG "street" photography. The composition/exposure/subject(s) is nailed and a "moody" tone preset makes it cool but that's it. I would recommend photo books to understand the essence of street photography, not what u see is cool on IG. Just my 2 cents.
Isn't illegal to picture people without consent?
Not if it’s in public.
Afraid of people I think
If I may advise you a little with my humble self about video filming. You are recording material and I see a microphone in the foreground instead of you. You are the leader of the subject the microphone is just a tool. So in my opinion you should be in the foreground. Hide the microphone on top so the viewers can't see it. Of course sound is very important so set it up very well. Experiment with this and believe me your videos will look more interesting because you will be in the foreground, not the microphone. Remember also that there is such a thing as body language. It says a lot about a person. Gestures, facial expressions, gestures, emotions - this is how the viewer perceives the presenter... Good luck.
Pat, just found your channel and it’s got some great content. I have just started to get serious about street photography and I’m now shooting on a Sony A7RIVa. Which G Master lenses would you recommend for the most versatile rotation for street? Subbed.
My mistakes end up being my best photos.
There u go tom. Pat yourself in the back
I always enjoy your post. Thanks for sharing. sam.and.street on insta
Another great video, Pat. Thanks for all these street shooting insights!
no worries! thanks for watching!
I'm about 2 years into my journey in photography. I found your channel recently and it's been really helpful! Thank you for what you're doing Pat :)
keep shooting! thats the best advice
Really enjoyed this video and especially the strong logical and pragmatic bent that runs through all your tutorials. Something I struggle with is getting the balance between fast enough shutter speed and managing the iso on night street shots. Often I’m finding that I’m rarely below 800 iso and often at 1600 iso. I’ve learned that I can shoot 2-3 stops below the ‘optimum centre point’ on the light setting, but still would like to find out how best to get the higher iso settings at bay. (Shooting manual).