The Realities of Street Photography - tips to help you on your journey as a street photographer

Welcome back! This video looks at some of the realities - and the myths - of street photography with lots of tips to help you on your journey.

***Apologies for the sound glitch towards the end of the video - I’m out of practice!

I'm the Founder and Course Leader at StreetSnappers, an organisation which provides street photography workshops and courses in London and across the UK, Venice, Lisbon and Prague.

Please subscribe to receive news of new videos about street photography. You'll find tips & techniques, gear reviews, critique sessions, information about locations for street photography and lots of news, insights, ideas and developments from the world of street photography.

THE STREET PHOTOGRAPHY CLUB:
Facebook: @thestreetphotographyclub
Instagram: @thestreetphotographyclub

#streetphotography #streetphotographer #streetsnappers #streetphotographyworkshop #leica #leicastreetphotography

[lasouteavoile]

Great video, full of wisdom. I would add to "b&w doesn't make a bad picture good" "film/analog doesn't make a random scene great". You've got a new suscriber

[TL-xwfh]

Great episode Brian. I do street photography simply for myself. I do not have a Facebook, Instagram or TikTok account at all. I just share it with my friends and family and I am happy with what I do. The images may be rubbish, but at least I get to enjoy myself, get out and about instead of being a couch potato, continue to develop and refine my style and improve incrementally. It helps to keep my fitness and mental health in check too.
My main street photography camera is an Olympus E-M5ii with a 14mm/2.5 Panasonic lens or a 19mm/2.8 Sigma lens. They are great for street, and split roughly 45%/55%. The key to using any lens is to get into the groove of seeing the scene with the appropriate angle of view. It takes a while, but when I get it, it becomes intuitive.

[ratgirl]

Thanks for the great tips Brian—I enjoy your videos.❤

[chrisbrown]

Thanks for this. I have just started following you. I find your words very wise. I like the comment about gear does not matter. I have a lot of choices with the cameras and lenses I own. And they do nit include Fujifilm of Leica or Ricoh GR3.

[iaincphotography]

Good to see you back Brian. I was a tad upset about the switch of Fuji ambassadors more so when you look at the work from the replacements, maybe they have linked up with Urth filters, but the pics you see on their sight are a little odd and I wonder who they are trying to impress? Very good filters though. So the genre of street, hence why I shoot Streetish, a bit of everything. Like you I do it for me and have nothing to do with instaforgotten, the two second mini gallery. The quote at the end, I can live with that lol. Arcadia in the USA do mono chrome versions of the X Pro series!

[warrenbush]

Welcome back. Thank you for passing along what I consider to be invaluable information to those of us, such as myself, who aspire to one day be successful photographers. Your channel has become one of my favorites. You have a gift. Thank you for sharing that gift with every single one of us.

[TheLoneRangefinder]

Nice video Brian. Some interesting points there (love the comment on what “bangers” are lol). Felt like I was back on one of your workshops : )

[ihlavanda]

Thanks! Finally, somebody talks photography and not gear. I feel Years of real street experience out of Your each sentence. Looking forward to be member of this Club.

[umareta]

Oh finally you’re back!! :)
Looking forward to the new format! :)

[johnhaynes]

Stumbled across this channel by accident. I don't do "street photography" but living by the sea and going for a bike ride every morning, I take a lot of photographs every week. Leaving aside the word "street", pretty much everything said here applies to all photography, excellent chat :)

[ramprasadsambara]

Just loved it Sir. I am new to this genre and you have answered many of the thoughts that are passing through my mind. Looking forward to learn from you and practice it in the field

[aljoschawolff]

Enjoy your new freedom for using other exiting gear aswell. I like your honesty and your view on photography. A new member in your club ;-)

[trevorbrooks]

Terrific revised video format Brian. When I shot a lot of street in London back in the late 60's, early 70's my lens of choice was the 28mm. I occasionally jumped up to 50mm but always landed back on the 28, it just totally involved me in the scene rather than left me as an outsider. Thanks for posting.

[Gravitys-NOT-a-force]

I enjoyed your video. I enjoyed your photos. I think you should show more of YOUR work. When you're listening to another photographer talk about 'street photography, ' until you see examples of his work, you're always skeptical. Too often when I'm watching videos of other street photographers' work I'm thinking to myself, "What were you thinking when you took that photo?!"

[giorgos]

I will tell you that I really love this lens, the 28mm. It suits me!
It is really very flexible!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us

[lorenschwiderski]

You covered a lot of ground in this video. Good points -- thank you. In regard to the 28mm width, it is wonderful when it works. The issues are when the subject is a distance beyond where you are at the time the moment happens. When up closer, there is more chance of bruising the scene, as you become more a part of that scene. The camera, when tilted, unlike 50mm view, as you know can really go wonky, whereas the geometry and framing is easier for 50mm. I wonder if Henri Cartier-Bresson liked the 50mm due to the frame and good geometry without distortions? I like subjects near the edge and have to rethink just how far to go with 28mm, as not to distort too much. I do love just how much the width covers, and that deep look. The only prime I have in 28mm FF, is the Lumix 14mm f2.5 lens. MFT is a very forgiving camera format to use, as no matter how fast you choose when opening up, unless you go crazy, you taken in the background with ease. I have shot with 35mm on FF, and it is interesting, and seems wide to me. I am thinking only because I am so use the 50mm, that I see 35mm and 28mm as interesting, yet more of a challenge. I do love to mix things up now and then, and even go 90mm, which is great, unless the close shots get away --- life is that way. I enjoy the wide lenses, and some close work, but seem to gravitate back to 50mm. Maybe I see that section of a scene as the most relevant? At times I want for the wide or a zoom, as to take-in a broad scene, like the string of buildings. Mostly it is about the more immediate and trying not to bruise the scene in the process. I shoot in smaller cities, so having a camera with me, people think I am a tourist or professional, I am thinking. Maybe just a crazy old man? It is laughable that people are concerned about someone with a camera, when all people with phones have a camera, and could be sending off photos in seconds. I would be more concerned about big brother government or technocrats wishing to photograph my every move. This is the year 2023 and people worry about someone with a camera? I just smile, and most times, it is all A-OK. Take care, Loren Schwiderski, in California

[DebiSenGupta]

I am an accountant and don't often get a chance to talk to photographers. Listening to conversations like yours, really helps me to think. Thank you

[brendanbouffler]

Thank you. Listening to folks who do this well is worth gold to me as I start out.

[rolfen]

One of my best experience was when my brother offered me a Canon AE1 and I decided to try it out, so I loaded a film and I went to a neighbourhood where I like to shoot. I had a great day shooting. The next day, I tried to rewind the film and remove it to have it developed and realised that it was never loaded properly and no exposures were made. I felt a bit bad and a bit sad, that's all, still great memories, and I realised that I do this for the experience, not for the result.

BTW I usually shoot 35mm. It's like a compromise between 50 and 28. I'm aware that watered down compromises are usually bad in photography. However I often don't have the time or will to swap lenses - 35 is pretty general purpose.

[simonmcqueen]

Agree with your view on 28mm. I started my street photography journey with 50 and 135mm because I didn't want to get too close, but as people are the key focus of my work it didn't satisfy or give me what I was really after. I moved on to 35mm but eventually bought a 28mm full frame equivalent lens and it changed everything. It takes me way out of my comfort zone because of being in such close proximity to my subjects, but (my opinion) my pictures just got so much better in terms of context, layers and composition. The focal length challenges me every time I use it.