“Focus on content inside our photograph”
While it is sound so obvious, but I feel that many people out there (and I’m included) still got distracted by various external factors like GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) or other people’s opinion, that might affect our way of create content in street photography.
Therefore, lately I feel that I want to more and more focus about content inside my photograph instead of worry about these external factors:
Camera brands
Do not let anyone fool you that a certain camera brand will make your street photograph become better. Photography is all about vision and skill of the photographer, camera is only a tool to record light. While it is true on technical spec on paper or when you see image in 200% zoom there would be difference in picture quality, I believe the essence of photography itself is how your photo able to create strong visual perception to audience. Great image is a great image, it does not matter if it captured by vintage film camera or the most hi-tech digital camera in today’s market.
There is no bad modern digital camera. It is just whether a certain camera brand will suit our artistic taste or not. If we look closer to all digital camera brands out there, each of them always has their own “special character” in their image result. Could be in term of colours, white balance, sharpness, bokeh and how they render highlight/shadow elements.
Choose the one that have as closest as possible with your artistic preference, so you do not need to do exhausting post process or even simply use JPEG straight from camera for your street work. Less time for post process, more time to productively create art.
More important than image quality: Our user experience when use a camera for “real life” shooting on the street. The more we feel enjoy and easy to use it, the bigger chance we can do quicker reaction to catch decisive moment, and the more we want to carry our camera everyday. Read here about Bring Your Camera Everyday. A big and heavy camera will not suit my shooting style on the street (and I will not buy it), even if this camera produce the best image quality on the market.
Want to improve photography result? Read more about photography article, not camera review. Anyway, even if you had read 100 review articles about a camera, you would not got 100% accurate information about how your user experience with that camera in real life shooting. Learn other street photographer’s tips, trick, and their philosophy is always a better way to improve content quality in our photography result.
Related article:
How to choose camera for street photography
People’s opinion: Camera setting
When people see a good image, none of them will ask the photographer whether he/she captured it in full manual or full auto mode (in term of Focus, ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed control). While it is still important to understand how triangle exposure work, only use camera setting that you feel most comfortable with. Do not feel intimidate by other people, or feel bad about yourself, only because you keep using full auto mode. Most important part is you able to create image that please your artistic mind with camera setting that you preferred.
Related article: Auto setting better than manual setting?
People’s opinion: Street photography style
Generally, I divide street photography in two styles: Documenting Human Life and Visual Art. They are different and none of them is a better than the other.
Visual art will focus more on composition, such as geometry, line, dynamic gesture, silhouette, shadow, and reflection. Abstraction is acceptable, and deep story line is not always required. It is more about create visual impact with artistic form (imagine abstract painting) instead of story line.
Documenting human life will focus more on story line about main subject inside photo. Pay more attention to face expression, human interaction, and their unique behaviour.
It is totally fine if we want to do either visual art or documenting human life only (not both). Do not let anyone “force” you to do something that you do not like. Do not “force” someone to do street photograph style that he/she does not like.
Never stop learning, it is great to listen from a person’s experience when they share why a certain style suit them the most. We do not have to do what they did, but we may learn one or two things from their experience so far when doing street photography in that style.
People’s opinion: Shoot street photography in close distance
Only because someone can shoot a person from close distance, does not mean he is a better street photographer than the one who photograph people from a bit far, but deeply think about layer composition in order to create beautiful visual art. And vice versa.
Do not limit our imagination by follow stereotype that we always need to shoot people right in front of their face to create street photography. Create art in street photography as what our artistic mind tell us.
Social media’s acceptance
While social media is great for source of inspiration, it also could have bad effect. We may start think to judge our image based on how many likes we got in our social media. More likes do not always means better content quality. Street photography is about photographer’s personal vision and imagination. It could be affected by their life experience, which may totally differ from one person to another. Street photography is very very subjective.
Stay true to ourself, and produce art that able to please our artistic mind first, before think about how many likes we will get in social media. Do not let number of likes control your photography content.
That is all about some external factors that may distract us from creating photography content that reflect our artistic mind. Always be honest to ourself, keep producing art, and try as hardest as possible to keep away from GAS. (I agree that GAS is so fun to do though! 😛 )
Keep shooting everyday,
Nico Harold