Street photography and reporting. Recommendations. Street photography – notes on street photography and simple tips The best street photographers

Street photography opens up an interesting and vibrant world of everyday life for photographers. Street and reportage photographers capture the most vivid and emotional moments of our lives, they shoot on the streets and in shops, in the subway and public transport, these photographers, putting their safety at risk, depict everyday life as it is. Our article will discuss how to take original reportage photographs and interest viewers in your work.

Wide angle lens

For street photography, it is common to use shorter lenses. A street photographer with a long telescopic lens will attract the attention of passersby, and people will resist taking the photo. A small, standard lens that offers a focal length somewhere between 24-50mm won't be too noticeable, and you'll be able to take beautiful wide-angle photos with it.

Camera settings

You shouldn’t look through the viewfinder all the time and try to photograph everyone you meet, otherwise you will not only be conspicuous, but you may miss all the most interesting scenes. Some masters are even capable of doing interesting photos. You can hold the camera in your hands and take photos discreetly. Set to continuous shooting mode, the aperture should not be too large, otherwise in case of focus error the photo will be blurred, set it to f/8 or so.

Best Places for Street Photography

Look for the perfect shapes

If you shoot in the city where you live, you probably know places with interesting compositional forms. Perfectly straight lines and shapes look beautiful in the frame. Find such a place and wait for people to pass by. Note the staircases, gratings and beautiful bridges. You can photograph shadows on the wall, they can serve as a strong visual addition.

Shooting from the hip

Practice shooting at hip level without looking through the viewfinder. We already said that this is practiced by experienced street photographers, and it really works. This way you will be completely invisible, people passing by you will not even suspect that you are photographing them. The photos will be unsuccessful at first, but practice will lead to amazing results.

When you notice an interesting person or an interesting subject to photograph, follow him. We are not talking about following someone, disturbing or bothering passers-by. This will not end well, but be careful, try not to lose sight of interesting images. You may be interested in unusual passers-by, people walking a dog, lovers, etc.

Creative moment

Look for ways to show interesting comparisons, combinations and associative stories. Don’t shoot with templates, look for interesting shapes and take shots that make your viewers’ imagination work. You can look for stories where billboard interacts interestingly with a passerby, or how statues and architectural compositions combine with people.

Paparazzi

This type of shooting is one of the most difficult for beginning photographers. Paparazzi are not always liked by passers-by, since few of them like unexpected photographs. Typically, paparazzi choose a large telescopic lens; with its help, experts can get as close to a person as necessary. Remember that with a large lens you will attract attention, but usually the paparazzi won't be bothered by this. If a person enjoys taking photographs, then show him the resulting photographs and send them by email.

Blurred people in the crowd

Use a slow shutter speed when shooting on the street to help take blurry photos of crowds. It is advisable to focus on one person or interesting object - he will be clear, and all other people in motion will be blurred. When shooting with long exposures, you will need a tripod, as without it, the photos will be blurry. If you don't have a tripod, you can mount the camera on a stable support. Successful exposure can only be determined experimentally. Start with 1/4 sec., see what happens and, depending on the result, change the shutter speed value.

Bright accents in street photography

City streets are filled with gray shades and gloomy scenes; finding bright accents and beautiful colors here is not easy, especially if we're talking about about industrial or residential areas. Try to find something expressive, beautiful, catchy, but not vulgar - it could be a beautiful car, or vehicle, a well-groomed flowerbed or a themed restaurant. Include such elements in your photos, so they will look more interesting and attractive. You can try shooting in black and white, or by making a photo in black and white, use software, leave one bright object. In some compact cameras Partial black-and-white shooting is provided, when one element retains color and the rest of the frame is black and white.

The art of photographing people in their familiar environment, in the places where you and I “live”: streets, parks, squares, avenues, alleys. There are a lot of different articles about this genre of photography, about what, where and how to shoot. In this article, we do not set ourselves the task of talking about the principles of street photography, but invite you to get acquainted with the best photographers representatives of this type of shooting. A variety of cultures, people, objects - all this is combined in our articles, enjoy your viewing.

Eric Kim

Eric Kim became a street photographer by accident. His heartfelt portraits are full of drama and expressiveness. While working as a Sociologist at UCLA, Eric continues to experiment on the streets. The theme of his work is the study of human behavior, he strives to get people to overcome their fear on the streets.

Claude Renault

If you have ever dreamed of visiting India or if you are interested in the culture of this country, then you definitely need to get acquainted with the works of Claude Renault. He is one of those wonderful street photographers who does not focus on certain people, his photographs are moments, simple truth life.

Markus Hartel

Street Photography combined with art. Special distinguishing feature his creativity is the use of dark tones and the transmission of the true emotions of the characters in creating the composition of the photograph. An unusual look at the embodiment of abstract street compositions. Marcus's secret is simple, it reflects the reality that surrounds us every day.

Thomas Leuthard

Thomas Leuthard, street photographer, perfectionist. For him, street photography is about adventure and shooting. The composition of his photographs is the view of a traveler, a stranger, on the character.

Boogie

Don't miss out on informal street photography. He created his collection of street photographs in many places from Cuba to New York. His paintings are compelling and understandable without much explanation.

Sha Ribeiro

Sha Ribeiro is a photographer from Milan. His photographs are different from others. They are calm and seem to be at peace. Looking at them and listening to slow, beautiful music, you will definitely feel peace of mind.

Matt Stuart

Matt is a street photographer based in London. His colossal fourteen years of photography experience is easily visible in the photographs. A variety of colors combined with expressive characters. Matt shoots with a Leica and never leaves his house without his camera.

Maciej Dakowicz

Maciej Dakowicz photographs the streets, trying to depict the comical nature of situations in his works. Professionalism and a sense of humor permeate his photographs. Brilliant use of colors throughout to bring us all the beauty of the streets.

Jurgen Burgin

A little about natural light in street photography. Jürgen Burgin is an extremely talented person with a special eye for composition. Born in Germany, Jurgen believes that his photography is a combination of street, architecture and portrait photography.

Greg Schmigel

Greg Smigel, the dynamism of his irresistible photographs makes you wonder about the history of the creation of each image. He is possibly the first person to create photographs using Cell phones. Greg believes that 90% of a great photograph comes from the photographer, and the rest is from the technique.

Kevin Wy Lee

Kevin W. Lee, founder of the society of so-called invisible street photographers, where people study the art of this genre. His photographs are prime examples of street photography with a creative approach. Compositions, objects, characters can serve as excellent research material for beginners.

Robert M Johnson

Robert M Johnson, his photographs are the reason why you should love this genre of art. His subjects are so simple and his exceptional angles make the viewer admire the photo. Inspiring and charming American street photography at its best.

Matt Weber

His paintings of the streets of New York make us understand what street photography is. The daily life of ordinary people just like us, in the form of photography.

Guido Steenkamp

If you like street photography in the Black&White style, then it is simply impossible to ignore the work of Guido Steenkamp. Incredible play of light and shadow, stunning compositions and enormous experience in photography for 13 years.

Chris Sorensen

The simple compositions of the photographs attract the viewer with their sincerity, play of color and the emotional state of the characters.

Danny Santos

Unusual fantastic paintings. Danny Santos brings us wonderful items on the Garden Road streets. His portraits of strangers and street portraits will give everyone real aesthetic and visual pleasure from the process of communicating with the art of photography. He really tells us the story behind his portraits.

Richard Sandler

After viewing the first three photographs, you can plunge into unconsciousness in his gallery and not notice how time has passed while you were studying the gallery of his works, trying to find and grasp that very captivating secret of his work.

Dairou Koga

Dairo Kozha is a photographer from Tokyo, Japan. As a bookseller, he photographs portraits, trying to convey all the emotional characteristics of each character.

David Jakelic

Silence is the meaning of his photographs of the painting. Empty streets with a magnificent play of lights and shadows, geometric shapes and objects. Everyone begins to wonder where they are seeing David's work.

Often, photographers looking for interesting subjects become perfectionists. They immediately want to take the perfect photo, without unnecessary details or a cluttered horizon.

Yes, these technical issues (usually quite fixable) will be important at the stage of selecting the best personnel. But when you go on a photo hunt, it is better to free your brain from unnecessary thoughts that can kill your ability to notice and quickly capture interesting scenes.

The advice is simple: enjoy. Be spontaneous, trust your instincts. The less you worry about the quality of the photo, the more good shots you will do it. In the photographs of many famous street photographers there are cropped legs and a littered horizon, but this does not spoil their work at all.

In search of interesting subjects, photographers sometimes walk several kilometers, hoping to find that magical place where they will take a masterpiece photo. But the thing about street photography is that good photo can be done anywhere.

Ask yourself, while running across a boring square or street, why you think there are no interesting stories here. Instead of wasting energy walking, slow down and look around.

3. Don't be afraid to take bad photos.

Even the most successful people have bad shots. It is important to accept such pictures, and not to be upset because of supposedly crooked hands and lack of skill. Bad photos will help set off good shots. Take this as practice for capturing truly rare and valuable moments for photographic masterpieces.

4. Pay attention to the light

If you follow the advice to avoid street marathons, you will be able to better understand how to work with light. Pay attention to its sources, how objects are illuminated, where contrasting areas are located. It is the light that will tell you how best to frame the frame.

5. Notice people who are far away from you

Observe passers-by and evaluate them appearance and emotions. You can spot a bright, interesting character from afar through the viewfinder (especially if you have a lens with a good zoom). In this case, you can prepare to take an interesting photo in advance, before the person comes closer to you. Experiment, create your own scenarios and stories.

6. Think about the future

An important strategic point: try not to take what is happening around you for granted. Think about how your photos will be perceived in 50 years. What will go out of fashion, what will seem strange? Would a person sitting on a bench with a tablet be interesting?

Mark key milestones, signs of the times. This will give your photos more story value.

7. Be consistent

Street photography, despite its apparent simplicity, is a rather difficult genre. In order to improve your skills, you must act consistently and have a shooting schedule.

Maybe you'll devote half a day once a week to street photography, or 30 minutes a day during your lunch break, or time after work. Perhaps you will shoot non-stop, stopping only for lunch.

In any case, by doing this constantly, you can do more than just improve your photos. Over time, you will develop your own style, and interesting stories will find you on their own.

8. Use your camera as a key

A huge plus of the camera is that it is the key to gaining new experiences. The desire to take a good picture forces you to go out when everyone is watching popular programs on TV, to take photographs at night, in the rain and snowstorm. You will be able to visit places you have never been before.

In addition, you will definitely make new friends. A camera helps break the ice in a relationship, and the portrait you take will reveal a person from a different, unknown side.

9. Catch gestures and emotions

The photographer's task is to evoke the viewer who will look at the photograph. Try to determine what meaning your photo carries, whether it will please you or make you empathize. Think about what emotion is evoked by the gesture or look of the person you photographed. You must make sure that the viewer himself receives answers to all questions.

10. Study books about photography

Look for new sources of inspiration. Take photos during the day, at night, study books famous photographers, preferably working in different styles. You will learn great amount ideas that will help you rise to the next level.

• Anton Vershovsky, “Street Photography. Opening the plane." A book by a St. Petersburg photographer who started shooting at the age of 7.
• Brian Peterson, How to Shoot Masterpieces with Any Camera. The Power of Exposure" and "In Search of the Frame. Idea, color and composition in photography." A photography teacher talks about the basics of using a camera.
• Lee Frost, Black and White Photography. Simple ways to take artistic photographs”, “Night and evening photography”. Practical advice famous English photographer.

Street photography has always been and will be the most accessible genre. Actually, creativity in this case requires the photographer’s keen interest in the world around him and compact photographic equipment. Where to look for stories? How to catch sincere emotions and remain invisible? What weather is good for a street photographer? Read the answers to these and many other questions in our material. An example will be the photographs of the leading Russian street photographer Dmitry Zverev.​

1. Use a discreet small camera

The legendary, great master of street photography and the father of reportage photography spoke about this. The French photographer was known for covering the shiny parts of his Leica with dark tape to remain invisible in crowds.

“People around us react much more calmly to a mirrorless camera, and it also allows you to shoot from the waist up without aiming directly at a person. People don't feel your attention - you never know what you're looking at down there - and some don't even suspect that they're being photographed. At the same time, the rotating touch screen is capable of instantly pointing your finger at any object in the frame, while simultaneously releasing the shutter. A qualitatively different principle of street photography has emerged.”

2. Dress so that your appearance does not cause undue attention from others

If you don't want to attract the attention of the entire street, don't dress too brightly. It's better if you blend in with the crowd. As for girls, a miniskirt and high heels will certainly attract the attention of the opposite sex, which will prevent you from fully concentrating on the shooting process.

3. Shoot with a silent shutter

Continuing the theme of stealth, it is ideal if your camera has a silent shooting mode. Passersby are likely to notice the loud click of the shutter, especially if you use continuous shooting. Thus, you may miss that moment or plot that is important to sneak up on so as not to scare you away.

4. Choose lightweight equipment

Weight is a very important parameter for shooting, because you may have to walk around looking for a shot for a very long time. It's best if your camera with a couple of additional lenses can fit into an ordinary backpack or handbag. Firstly, thanks to this, you, again, will not stand out among passers-by, and secondly, with a light, compact set of photographic equipment you will not get tired and will be able to walk much longer.

Dmitry Zverev, Russian photographer:

“I learned about OLYMPUS technology a long time ago, back when there was a film OM System. I was shooting with an OM-1n camera then. Since December 2013, I have been working only with cameras from the OM-D line. Along with excellent quality, the camera provides greater efficiency and comfort when working in most genres compared to DSLRs. Its main advantages are compactness and light weight, very developed functionality, and a rotating screen. I often use fixed focal lenses: 17 mm/1.8, 12 mm/2.0, 45 mm/1.8. They are very tiny, weighing just over 100 g, but they are bright and fast. Zooms, even the most budget ones, are also suitable for long exposures. I am ready to wait until my joints ache if, for example, I am forced to guard the frame in an uncomfortable position. Mode burst shooting mandatory, especially when the course of the plot is unpredictable, but more often I bet not on a fast series (H), but with a speed limit (L). The OLYMPUS E-M1 shutter is capable of shooting 10 frames per second, and then the buffer fills up quickly even with high-speed flash drives. The most versatile of the lenses is 12-40/2.8. Its contrast and sharpness are exceptional even wide open, and the aperture is sufficient for handheld photography even in the evening.”

5. Look for unusual angles

Imagine: beautiful evening light flooded the street, but... you don’t see the frame. Think about how to show the light beautifully? Try to walk around the building, see how the composition is built in this case? Maybe the frame will become more interesting if you select the lower shooting point? Use a camera with a folding screen - “inconvenient” shooting points will simply disappear for you!

6. Pay attention to reflective surfaces

Shop windows, bus stops, car hoods, banal puddles and even wall tiles of new metro stations - anything that can reflect can make your shot interesting and unusual. Using a camera with a flip screen, you can easily shoot from the ground or from glass walls. You will see how a person “enters” his own reflection, you will be able to divide the frame into two equal parts, capture someone jumping through a puddle, naturally, remembering Bresson, or get a mystical photo where parallel realities are completely intertwined.

7. Use burst shooting

If you're watching a specific character, action, or waiting for the climax of a story, choose burst mode. With a shooting speed of 9 frames per second, you are guaranteed to capture what you wanted, and only then, when viewing, calmly leave the most successful option.

8. Experiment with long shutter speeds

The street is an environment where movement does not stop for a second. Cars, pedestrians, cyclists, and against their background - a majestic temple or the silhouette of a motionless stranger talking on the phone. Having shot footage on long exposure, you will be able to convey the dynamics of the urban rhythm or focus on a stationary object, which will give the frame ambiguity.

Dmitry Zverev, Russian photographer:

“The metro as a subject of photography is always, one might say, at hand. The subway has quite tolerable filming conditions: dry, warm, light all year round from 5:30 in the morning until 1:30 at night. A great alternative to shooting outside if it's rainy or dark! The metro is a very interesting social environment. You see hundreds of people, interesting individually, in groups, and in crowds that generally behave in their own way; dozens of scenes unfold in front of you. You can't take pictures in the subway with a tripod. I work by hand or use some kind of support nearby. Instead of a tripod, I can put a bag of cereal on which the camera is well fixed.”

9. Alternate color and black and white modes

The debate about color and black and white will exist as long as photography lasts. Therefore, now we will not divide the plots into color and monochrome, but will simply advise bringing more variety into creativity. When going for a walk, for example, make a point to notice only objects in orange tones or combine shades of a certain color in the frame.

Or vice versa - concentrate on a monochrome light and shadow drawing, look at black and white works of classics and try to choose similar subjects.

10. Use cameras with electronic viewfinders

They will allow you to see the picture immediately in color or black and white. Don't rely on post-processing. By switching the shooting mode directly to black and white, you will begin to see differently, and even ordinary scenes in your execution will become more interesting.

11. Use different lenses

This advice will be relevant not only for beginning street photographers who are just trying out lenses with different focal lengths and looking for “their one,” but also for professionals who want to bring something new to their creativity. He shoots only with 20 mm, Cartier-Bresson was faithful to 35 mm, and gets very interesting angles by shooting with 75 mm primes. Using different optics will train the eye and expand vision.

12. Shoot not only during “regime” time

A rule that requires strict compliance, for example, in landscape photography, namely, taking photographs at dawn (before about 11 o’clock) or sunset (after 17 o’clock), loses its relevance in street photography. Snow, blizzard, rain, fog? It's time to shoot! Look how boldly the recognized masters of street photography or the same Bruce Gilden, who takes pictures during the day with a flash, violate it! Hard light also looks interesting in this genre. Don't set limits for yourself, and very soon you will find your own style!

13. Don’t neglect the non-tourist areas of the city

Filming in the historical center of the city is not always comfortable due to the dense human traffic and the abundance of tourists. To catch an interesting story and emotions, you don’t have to go to your favorite center. Sometimes it’s enough just to step outside your apartment. Children laughingly swinging on a swing, or a grandmother feeding pigeons in the backlight of a setting day are wonderful subjects for photographs that capture ordinary and sincere moments from the life of the city.

Dmitry Zverev, Russian photographer:

“What I like most about street photography is its unpredictability. A documentary photographer never knows what kind of images providence will put in his “basket”. It adds excitement to the work. Shooting a real street (that is, on regular streets, where there are traffic lights, cars, shops, stalls) is very difficult, because the picture, as a rule, is very overloaded with details, and no scenes really emerge. I resort to cunning. My street is an urban environment, but not the streets themselves. I'm looking for places that are more stingy with details..."

13. Always carry a spare battery with you

Weather conditions, namely frost, or luck with subjects for serial shooting can play an unpleasant joke on you: the battery will not be enough for the entire walk. To prevent the camera from turning off at the most inopportune moment when you finally see that very shot, take a spare battery with you.

15. Choose a camera withWi-Fi

16. Be patient

Not every walk will be crowned with masterpieces. It depends not only on luck, but also on your mood at the time of shooting and a number of other external circumstances of city life. Treat the shooting process calmly: your goal is not to make amazing shots, it is much more important to learn to feel the life around you and capture moments.

Street photography today has become a full-fledged genre of photography, and maybe even art. You can argue with the last statement, but you will agree that this is precisely an art - to be able to get a frame that will appeal not only to the author of the photograph, but also to tens, or even thousands of people.

So hundreds of people wander around cities and countries, armed with cameras of varying degrees of sophistication. Some people have an ordinary point-and-shoot camera, while others carry a camera with them, the cost of which is comparable to a quite good car. They resemble hunters stalking their prey. The booty of a street photographer is a still image of your life, your emotions, an important or not so important event. It is possible that those whom the photographer photographed will forget about the fleeting fact in his life in minutes, but everything will remain in the photograph.

Tip one: Street photography is democratic and absolutely undemanding in terms of technology. It doesn't matter what kind of camera you have. The main thing is what and how you shoot. You can practice street photography without having a camera at all. Modern smartphones allow you to take good pictures.

What does a street photographer shoot and what is the genre of street photography about?

Without talking too much, street photography is about the lives of people and the people themselves, with their joys and sorrows, with their thoughts and experiences. These are streets, but the streets are not empty, but filled with people and movement. About movement - when we say the word “movement,” we most often imagine someone walking or something riding or flying. In fact, movement is a broader concept. Thought is also movement. Only inanimate objects are static in themselves. Like death, it is also static.

In the last century there was such a fashion - to photograph deceased relatives, giving them lively poses. Such photographs look creepy - this is an imitation of life and it is unnatural. Death does not move - it is the end, a complete stop. Any life is dynamic. Any living object is in dynamics, even if it just stands and smokes:

Sometimes street photography refers to any photographs of a city. This is wrong. There is a very clear division between urban landscape and street photography. The city landscape, which I will talk about in the next article, is a separate genre of photography, where the hero is the city itself, its architecture, and landscape. Street photography is, first and foremost, about people. It doesn’t matter whether a person is walking, riding a bicycle or driving a car, or just standing there, thinking – the person is the main character of street photography. There is a difference, as you can see. In one case, the main plot is the creation of man, in the other - man himself.

The main feature of street photography

Street photography is a complete lack of staging. You don’t prepare the stage, you don’t force your models to stand there, take such and such a pose, smile or cry. You don't even know who will be your model or what he or she will do in a second. Maybe he will cry, or maybe he will laugh, or maybe he will notice you and tell you to go to hell, and even chase you with very bad desires.

Tip two: When shooting outdoors, use telephoto lenses or compact cameras with high magnification. The main thing in street photography is naturalness, and what naturalness is when you know that you are being photographed. You're always waiting for the bird to fly out. This is at best, and at worst, people may be categorically against being filmed. Therefore, it is better to shoot from afar, armed with good optics.

Who to shoot and what events to capture

Whom to shoot? A complex and at the same time simple question that can be answered with a clear answer – people. People, person, woman or man, children or one child. It doesn't matter who. What matters is how and at what moment. Here we come to the most important thing - the moment of shooting. When to press the button and when not to. The issue here is not only about shooting technique, but there are also aesthetic and ethical aspects. There are a lot of questions, and most of them do not have a clear answer. Each photographer decides for himself. Whether to film people at a funeral, grief-stricken or not, whether to film expressions of love, rage, aggression or not. What all street photographers agree on is that you can capture moments of joy and happiness. Is it worth filming the joy of an alcoholic who has bought a bottle or has just gotten drunk, or the satisfaction from a job well done by a housewife who has just killed a chicken for dinner? Difficult. I repeat once again - each photographer decides for himself what is acceptable and what is not.

Tip three: If you want to get a strong shot, it is best to shoot at holidays or other events. People at such moments are more emotional and restrain themselves less. Watch people at street parties - they are relaxed, they think less about how they look. More emotions - better photography.

When to shoot

Any time of the day. You are limited only by the technical parameters of your equipment. You can shoot during the day, morning or night. It doesn't matter. The main thing is that you can see what you wanted to shoot. But in general, it’s better when there is good lighting - it could be the sun, street lights. Otherwise, noise may ruin your photo. Although, sometimes noise is added on purpose. But it’s still worth remembering that the less light, the longer your shutter speed and the higher your ISO. And also remember that the less light, the noisier or blurrier your picture will be, and maybe both will turn the picture into an incomprehensible mess. You can, of course, later say that this is such an idea, and that this is how I see the world. But we are not talking about painting, but about photography, which records an event. An event, not your state of mind.

Color or black and white photography – which is better?

Different photographers have very different ideas about color. Some people believe that street photography should only be in black and white, while others admit that street photography can be in color. Actually, the color doesn't matter. Color is not an end in itself and not a canon. What matters is the plot and what you want to emphasize. Let's think about what color is. Color is our subjective perception of the reflection of light from objects. There are no identical colors for a person - everyone perceives colors differently. Pink or red is understandable, but there are details. Are the details important or not? The devil knows. There are only two colors that we perceive equally - black and white. Even colorblind people do not confuse these colors. That is, if you want all people to see the same picture in color, then black and white photography is preferable. But the point is not even in how we perceive color, but in the plot and what we want to convey. Let me give you an example. We film the weightlifter while pushing or holding the weight. The veins tense, the face turns red, the eyes pop out of their sockets, the whole face is tense. What do you want to convey? If there is only emotional stress, then the black and white version is better. The viewer's eye will not be distracted by the color of the athlete's face or hands. And if you want to convey physical tension, then a color picture will be more appropriate - color perfectly conveys our physical state.

I noticed that strong open emotions are better conveyed by color photography. A black and white photo reveals what people sometimes want to hide. It is possible that this is a mistaken impression, but there is something in it, in my opinion.

Tip four: Shoot in color. Then, when processing the photo, you will figure out what is better. When you take pictures on the street, you won’t be able to immediately understand what you took. But when processing a photograph, there is already time to consider and think.

About composition in street photography

When we shoot in a studio or take a family photograph, we create, construct a reality and push people into it. That is, we create reality according to our ideas of how it should look. Street photography is different. We do not create the world around us, but we only observe it and record events in the real environment, independent of our idea of ​​it. A street photographer is not a builder, he is an observer. Attentive, imaginative, but an observer. Let me note that when conceiving a plot, we can choose a place, a shooting point, adjust the focus - sit in ambush.

There are two categories of photographers. Some can be compared to an ordinary hunter who wanders through the forest and looks out for game on the branches. It is possible that he will only come across a couple of crows, or he may also come across a valuable fur-bearing animal. The main thing is that it’s not an arctic fox. Others are snipers, carefully choosing the location from which to shoot. In the first case, a successful composition is a matter of chance; in the second, sooner or later someone will fall into the chosen frame.

What is better - wandering around the city in search of a plot or choosing a place and time, and waiting? Hard to tell. Everything depends on what is happening around. Let me explain. You have decided to add photographs of newlyweds to your portfolio, but no one invites you to the wedding. Great. We think, where are these newlyweds? There are several places in Moscow where you will definitely catch a couple of weddings on the weekend - the Patriarchal Bridge and the Cathedral of Christ the Savior itself, Tsaritsino, Kolomenskoye, GUM. Now we decide what kind of surroundings we need. Then it’s a matter of technique - we arrive at the place and choose a shooting point - sooner or later, the young people will come into our frame. The photographer will only have to press the button when a couple of newlyweds or the entire merry wedding approaches the point we have chosen for shooting.

What is better for shooting - an open space, a highway or brick walls around. It doesn't matter at all.

Some people believe that street photography means zero processing and no cropping. In my opinion, this is wrong. It is possible, and sometimes necessary, to crop a photograph. Good street photography has a story. It may not be invented or directed, but the plot is still there. Life itself provides subjects for our photographs. And there’s nothing wrong with cutting off unnecessary things that don’t fit into our plot. The main thing is not to cut off something important, which will emasculate our photograph and make it faceless.

That's all for today. The thoughts are over. But this is not the end, but only the beginning and to be continued.

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