Street photography has been experiencing a revival in recent times, especially in London, which has recently seen a London Street Photography Exhibition at the Museum Of London and the inaugural Street Photography Festival at sites around London. Even with overzealous security guards and police officers wrongly throwing around anti terrorism laws at unsuspecting photographers (you’d think terrorism was something new in the UK) it seems more and more people are taking an interest in street photography. So I thought it would be good to pass on some of my experience in the form of ten street photography tips for beginners.

1: Nerves Are Normal

Almost everyone gets nervous and self conscious when they begin doing street photography, I bet even Bruce Gilden did. However, this is normal when you start photographing people on the street you don’t know and is just the adrenaline pumping away. Adrenaline does get addictive, that’s why so many of us keep going back to street photography.

2: You Don’t Need Expensive Photography Equipment

After reading about street photography on the internet you’d think you need to spend thousands on a Leica rangefinder, top of the range digital SLR or even a Rolliflex. Whilst these cameras are nice and I’d love to use a Leica for my street photography they are not necessary. What is very helpful for street photography is a camera that doesn’t have shutter lag, is easy and fast to focus, and can get a reasonably fast shutter speed. My “other” street photography camera, when I don’t want to walk around the streets with my Canon 5D mkii, is a Ricoh 500G rangefinder 35mm film camera I picked up off eBay for £5! The most important thing is you feel comfortable with whatever camera you decide to use.

3: Stand Still

This relates to the nerves mentioned in tip number 1, but when you push the shutter, stand still! I see so many people try to shoot street photography whilst on the move and they must get home with so many blurred pictures, especially if using a shallow depth of field. Many won’t even realise they’re doing it at the time so it’s just something to keep in mind. You can kind of shoot whilst moving with a flash, but I wouldn’t recommend this for someone new to street photography.

4: Composition Is King.

The rules of good composition still apply even to street photography so if you haven’t nailed how to take good pictures of people you know or stationary subjects get out and practice before hitting the street. it sounds obvious but is probably one of the most important in this list of street photography tips for beginners.

5: Talk To people

If you talk to hardcore street photography purists they’ll tell you street photography is about unplanned scenes that have not been set up by the photographer. For the most part I absolutely agree as it is part of the challenge. However that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t ask for people to pose for you or to talk to people you have photographed. It’s a great way to build confidence and who knows who you’ll meet.

6: Avoid Conflict

Most people that ask me for street photography advice are really apprehensive about being confronted by someone they have photographed. Again this is a natural way to feel, for the most part (in London anyway) you’ll most likely not get a reaction or if you do it is from people saying they’re sorry for getting in the way of your shot. However you can often tell when not to shoot someone (the photo at the start of this article is a good example), seasoned street photographers will still shoot them, but as a beginner the last thing you need is a huge confidence bashing. If you are confronted just stay cool and don’t get too defencive.

7: Busy Is Better

Street photography is much easier in a busy environment like the west end in London for example. You have many more people and a better chance of them doing the strange things that make street photography intriguing than somewhere with a couple of people milling about. Also with the large number of tourists photographing left right and centre you blend in more and don’t stand out so much with your camera.

8: Go Wide Not Long

It sounds counterintuitive but if possible use a wide angle lens. You can actually get really close to your subjects without them realising they’re in your shot. On the flip side, try to avoid using a telephoto lens for street photography. A 70-200mm 2.8 lens for example is huge so you stand out like a sore thumb, also you’ll get lots of pretty pictures of random people on the street but that isn’t exactly what street photography is about (it’s easy too, which is no fun). Hiding in the bushes, well that’s just odd and could get you arrested as people will think you’re weirder than you actually are.

9: Look At Your Environment

Most successful street photography involves the interaction between people and their environment or clever juxtaposition. So look around, if you see an advertising board for example, position yourself ready to capture your victim subject and wait. Slowing yourself down and being patient really does pay off. As the Guinness advert says, “good things come to those who wait” and that is particularly true of street photography.

10: Hip Replacement

I save what I guess some people will really argue with for last. Avoid shooting street photography from the hip! It renders all my other advice above pretty pointless but for me if you are not involved in making the shot it is no longer photography, but just a random game of chance. Now I know Joe Wigfall, someone I really like, respect and recommend beginners to street photography check out, wrote an excellent article with the opposite view, but I remain stubborn. Forgetting all the is it isn’t it photography debate there are more importantly for me two things shooting from the hip lacks, firstly you don’t get that addictive hit of adrenaline and secondly I use street photography as practice for my documentary, reportage and events work, which you really can’t shoot from the hip.

Final note:

You can make up your own mind about tip number 10 but I hope this 10 Street Photography Tips For Beginners article has been useful. If you have any other tips for aspiring street photographers, think what I’ve written is a load of old nonsense or just want to say hello please add a comment below.

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