Tips on street photography?

Celestia

Celestia

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I'm starting work soon on a website all about my local area, and of course along with all sorts of useful info about the area I'm going to need some nice images to brighten the site up and show the character of the place.

Unfortunately at the moment my cameras are sitting unused and neglected in my camera bag as I've been laid low by a severe attack of vertigo, but even if I can't stand up straight, let alone keep a camera steady I can at least do some planning for the new site. :lol:

So, my question is, any tips and useful stuff to know about doing street photography and what should I keep in mind?

So far my list is:
- pick a nice sunny day (though I'm wondering eventually if I could change the site's imagery depending on the season)
- Saturday morning possibly the best time for getting a bustling atmosphere
- don't forget to get the local park in too for a bit of greenery
- the site's going to be about my local village which is a suburb of the town now rather than a separate village, and there's a main road that runs infront of the shopping area so to get the main row of shops would mean shooting from across the road so I'm going to have to work between passing cars

I suppose a mix of a sort of general overview of the place and some close-ups (what of I'm not quite sure yet - not got quite that far in the planning) would be ideal.

Basically, this sort of thing is new to me and I'd appreciate any tips or ideas for things I could use to bring the place alive.

TIA
 
I'm not sure if street photography is really what you're looking for. Maybe I've misunderstood but I think you need more of a 'taste of derbyshire' sort of thing.

If that's the case then you need to find and decide on what's important to the local area, landmarks, churches, pubs, restaurants, views any spots of beauty, local food, that sort of thing. All the above should be good places to start.

Don't discount shooting at night or in less than pleasant weather. Pubs and restaurants can look good at night viewed from outside, especially if they have big glass windows. Rain can create interesting reflections on the floor etc. Maybe take a shot inside a pub to show the bustling social life. Early morning if you want no folks and late afternoon if you want nice warm stonework etc in your shots of buildings.....



Just some thoughts to be going on with!
 
Gandhi said:
I'm not sure if street photography is really what you're looking for. Maybe I've misunderstood but I think you need more of a 'taste of derbyshire' sort of thing.
Click to expand...

Hmmmmm...yep, I think you're probably right. I think step 1's probably just to go and have a wander and see what I can see....without a shopping list or dashing for a bus. I suppose what I need to do really's look at it as though I've never been there before and see what jumps out at me.
 
Just get out there & act like you have every right to be there (which you do!) Act professional & just use common sense about the subject you are photographing - I always ask permission first if there are kids involved in the shot but if it is just adults then I always just go for it. I find that most people are more than willing to smile for the camera (which is a pain if you are trying to get natural candid shots - there's no satisfying some photographers is there :lol:) You'll be fine & street photography is very enjoyable.

P.S. It helps to be really really cheeky if you can manage it (am sure you can do it if you put your mind to it :lol:)
Good luck, really looking forward to some pics :thumbs:
 
Gandhi said:
I'm not sure if street photography is really what you're looking for. Maybe I've misunderstood but I think you need more of a 'taste of derbyshire' sort of thing.
Click to expand...

I agree - Take a look here:
http://www.durhamtownship.com/portfolio/index.php

Kathleen documents life in her rural community. The smart things that she does is (a) Make sure that the photo is interesting as an image, not just because it's local or of someone you know. (b) Shoot at different times - A lot of Kath's stuff is shot early morning or during the last rays of daylight. Not only does this make for nice lighting but you can shoot the location with less or no people.
 
Thanks guys - some great links there - I'll check them out properly later.
 
Of course don't forget to turn it into a sales pitch - a t-shirt with "Will flash for money" printed on the back should bring in the punters :)
 
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