Do This for Amazing Street Photos in a Boring Place

Don't live somewhere very interesting? Always stuck going out when it's a quiet boring day but you want to get better at street photography? Then this video is for you.

🔴 If you dig the video please give it a like to help it spread to more people to enjoy - thanks for watching! :)


Gear I use:
(Affiliate links - any purchases made provide a small kick-back to me which directly supports the channel and my work - no extra cost to you)

Chapters
0:00 - My struggle
0:31 - The Power of Your Frame
1:33 - More is More
2:43 - Not Good Weather
3:31 - Less is More
5:07 - Meaning in the Moment
6:47 - The 5 Ps
8:06 - Take Advantage of These
8:52 - The Last Resort

[timjamiesonphotos]

🔴 if you enjoyed the video please hit the like button to help it spread to more people to enjoy - as always thanks for watching!

[Francois_L_]

If you find street photography hard in a small British town, you have no idea how hard street photography is in a North American suburb where people only walk to get out of their cars and cross one of the endless parking lots that litter our cities.

[ninomey]

The best Tip i realised a few months ago: take your camera everywhere. I often left my canon 6d at home because it is heavy and feels like a "burden". I solved my problem by getting a small m4/3 camera with a pancake lens and now it is with me nearly every time! No missed oppurtunities anymore :)

[cowgirljane]

I have NEVER, in my 72 years of life, found any place where I couldn't find something interesting. Even if it was just a leaf, a pebble or a piece of wood. Nothing is mundane if you treat it with respect.

[MasterOfBasses]

To me, the biggest challenge is having people giving me weird looks (I'm an introvert), or even worse, them getting mad because they noticed me taking a picture with them in the frame (I don't even get close).

[jaegerschtulmann]

The one downside of using unorthodox framing; you totally look like a stalker if they spot you 😂

[jo]

Fred Herzog was a photographer shooting street scenes in Vancouver, Canada, during the fifties and sixties, when Vancouver was essentially a small town surrounded by beautiful scenery. Most art photographers would have focused on landscape. He also shot in colour which was not fashionable for art photography at the time. He used many of the techniques you mention to perfectly capture the Vancouver of that era - neon lights reflected in the rain, kids dressed in their “old clothes” playing in front of typical corner stores, wide open near-deserted streets in downtown spaces that are now filled with high rises. Initially, his work was overlooked but nowadays his photos are cherished and prints sell for high prices. The mountains, ocean and (to a lesser extent) forests are still here, but the places and ambience that Fred caught on film only survive in his photos and the vague memories of people like me who grew up here. All of which is simply to agree that photos of even the most seemingly boring urban environments, if well executed, can have immeasurable lasting value. Keep up the good work.

[JjackVideo]

Go out with a theme in mind like "decay", "happiness" or "frame by light"

[parkerrosen]

I love what you said
"Street photography is documenting life, in the future we'll be able to look back on what once was"
This really hits it because even though we can create such dynamic beautiful interesting photos in the future it will all be photo documentation of life. Even if we don't see something super special about it now, in the future we will.

[johnwaine]

Not sure that Cheltenham is a 'small town' with all its history and grandeur. My nearest town has a population of 15, 000 and being towards the North of England, people are very wary of cameras, can become quite aggressive and will refuse if you ask their consent for a portrait. So I wouldn't take candid street photos here because of the possible fallout on the local Facebook groups eg "who is that weird old man taking photos in the street?"

Luckily, I am only a 90 minute train journey from London which is where I go one day each month for my street photography. I wish I could do it more often though.

Another excellent video. Thank you Tim

[albertsmith]

This just popped up in my recommendations and I'm glad it did.

Been shooting for over 50 years and figured a lot of this out over time, but this is very well reduced to an easy lesson that would be of value to many people... including a photographer of 50 years.

Enjoyed this.

[gzahnd]

Judging by the number of views, a lot of us live in boring places.

[photogroup]

good tips Tim, I remember the American photographer Paul Strand once said the possibility to make great photos can happen within 100 meters of your front door. You don't have to travel to exotic places to find great pics. One of my favourite books is The World From My Front Porch by Larry Towell. Gorgeous work taken on his family farm.

[munarong]

Thank you. Great video. I feel like I'm stuck in a boring place and trying to break out this boredom every time I'm out for street photography. such good advice! 👍

[sew_gal]

Fantastic. Today i was shooting my dog on the sofa...i realized how boring my photo was, but the moment i moved at a 45 degree angle ...everything changed. Just moving your body and recomposing from a different perspective made a huge difference.

[andydavey]

Awesome information Tim, I'm a west country wildlife photographer who's lost some mojo. As i have a cruise coming up that will visit the likes of Lisbon and Porto i thought i would give street photography a go. I have trawled through YouTube looking for information and tips, and while i have found some great photographers (you included), none of them resonate with me as much as you do. Your information is clear and concise, your photography is engaging and meaningful, and it's given me all the confidence to make my trip a potential photography success. I think i even noticed a photo from my neck of the woods in North Devon, showing that you don't need to be in the big city and that Street Photography can be practiced anywhere.
So thank you for the video's, looking forward to watching more and learning to hone this interesting genre of photography.

[Chaps_Jr]

Your tip about being prepared is probably the most important for me. As a 35mm guy who prefers antique mechanical SLRs (still on the hunt for a good quality affordable rangefinder), preparation is absolutely EVERYTHING to me, especially with street photography or candid shots. So many things have to be set beforehand in order for me to get that shot I want-- focus, aperture, shutter speed, exposure "push/pull", framing... If one of those is off, the shot I wanted can just be *poof* gone.

Excellent video, Tim. Great advice for beginners and experts alike.

[jaredcollins-photo]

The coloring bit... got me.. pure comedy

I also love the tip about shooting in bad weather.. It's so easy to wanna remain cozy/warm/dry but you miss out on some great opportunities!

[NotAnotherYoutubePhotographer]

This is the first video of yours I’ve watched and it’s full of great tips. As someone who hasn’t quite worked out what sort of a photographer I am, I’ll be heading out to do some street photography off the back of this to see how I do! Thanks for the inspiration!

[Sean-Smith-Photos]

Being an all weather photographer was a game changer for me. Never miss a weekend walk for weather reasons.

It's cold and rainy today and I'm heading out in about 30 minutes