Dear friend,
What is the secret to great street photography? It is to never hesitate.
You know that moment: you see a good street photography opportunity, yet you hesitate. When you hesitate for half a second, you lose your momentum. You end up not shooting the scene.
Hesitation is like you have a rolling ball, and then you stop it with a brick wall. That sudden jolt from hesitating will ruin your street photography flow.
My suggestion: when you feel like you’re about to hesitate, take a step forward and just click.
This is the NIKE of street photography:
JUST SHOOT IT.
If you see a potential street photograph yet feel scared,
JUST SHOOT IT.
If you see a scene that you aren’t sure whether it will be good or not,
JUST SHOOT IT.
If you are unsure of yourself, or your photographic abilities,
JUST SHOOT IT.
Street photography ain’t rocket science. Honestly, 80% of street photography is guts. Only 20% of street photography is skill.
Love risk-taking
I’m not sure what makes a good street photograph, but I know what it means to feel scared of photographing a person or a scene.
Often I see photographs I want to shoot, but I hesitate– because I fall into “paralysis by analysis”. I become paralyzed and don’t shoot, because I analyze the scene too much. I think too much about my camera settings, or how to compose or frame the scene.
To overcome this, I just turn my camera into a point and shoot. P (program mode), auto high ISO, and center point autofocus. Think less, shoot more.
Shoot from the gut, and if you see a good scene, my suggest: try to shoot at least 10 photos of the scene or person if possible.
And lastly once again,
When in doubt:
JUST SHOOT IT.
Be strong,
Eric