3 Ways How Being Injured Helped me Become a Better Street Photographer

About two weeks ago, I was playing basketball and when I went up for the rebound, I landed on someone’s foot and fell my entire weight roll onto my left ankle. Then I proceeded to hear the cracks (like cracking your knuckles, except times five) and then the final pop at the end. It was a pretty serious sprain.

I then went to the doctor the next day and got an x-ray. Although I didn’t break any bones (thank God), I was going to be in crutches for at least 2 weeks. This meant going 2 weeks without shooting any street photography.

As you guys can imagine, I got pretty antsy staying at home all of the time. I felt that the streets were calling my name–and longed to go shoot.

Fast-forward 2 weeks and now I am walking with a slight limp (thanks for all the words of encouragement + prayer). I took the liberty the other day to shoot street photography, and I gotta tell ya–it was pretty damn painful. Every step forward felt like a thousand needles piercing into my ankle, and it was hard to even walk the distance of a block or so.

But as I like to think, “Everything happens for a reason.” I then noticed that although it was difficult shooting street photography while still injured, there were some learning points that I got out of it. This is what inspired me to write this post. I will therefore tell you how being injured helped me realize some points that helped me

1. Walking slower helped me capture moments I might have missed.

"After the Rain" - Santa Monica Street Photography
"After the Rain" – Santa Monica

Due to the fact that I was injured, I walked extremely slowly while shooting street photography around the 3rd Street Promenade. Although at first this was incredibly frustrating, I started noticing things I might have missed while healthy. I started to see more “interesting characters” I might have missed if I were walking at full speed. In slowing down, I started to “see” better as a street photographer.

2. Being injured helped me be more creative

"Drain" - Santa Monica Street Photograph
"Drain" – Santa Monica

Although I was “disabled,” my shots certainly were not. I used this limitation of mine to force myself to be more creative with with my shots. This meant that I could not run over to a scene that I thought was interesting while shooting it from multiple different angles. Rather, I visualized the shots I had in mind when seeing a certain scene, and tried my best to force a strong composition. This argument could also be made when comparing prime lenses to zoom lenses. I would definitely say that prime lenses helped me become a better photographer–as well as being injured.

3. I no longer make any excuses for not shooting.

"Strung Up" - 3rd Street Promenade
"Strung Up" – 3rd Street Promenade

As street photographers, our feet are our most valuable asset. Being able-bodied helps us explore the urban jungles, and without them, it makes street photography incredibly difficult. To find interesting characters often requires one to walk over a semi-large distance, which is incredibly difficult while being injured. Now that I am on my road to recovery, I can no longer make any excuses for not going out and shooting simply because I am “lazy.” I have realized how important my health is, and while it is still good– I need to embrace my duty to keep taking my street photographs.

On the same note, I wanted to mention a photographer named Timothy Agee. He is a fantastic photographer and a professional as well. What makes him different from the slew of other photographers out there? He is photographer who currently shoots from a wheelchair, in his Canon 60D. He never makes any excuses for not going out and shooting—and neither should you.

Have you ever learned anything about photography while being injured? Please leave a comment below and tell us your story!