How to Work the Scene in Street Photography

Dear friend, a practical tip: if you see a good street scene, don’t just take 1-2 photos then run away. Instead, keep ‘working the scene’ by continuing to shoot the scene, for you to continue lingering, and for you to keep discovering the best composition. Keep shooting and clicking (take a step forward, left, right, crouch down, get closer, go backwards). When you’re shooting look at the edges of the frame (don’t get tunnel-visioned), and when you’re home, THEN choose your best photo.


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Some tips/reminders/ideas:

Contact sheet of the old man I was photographing. The best photograph is the last one (I had no idea that it would have been the best photo while I was shooting the scene). Lesson: Keep working the scene, and when you go home, you decide which photograph is best!
Contact sheet of the old man I was photographing. The best photograph is the last one (I had no idea that it would have been the best photo while I was shooting the scene). Lesson: Keep working the scene, and when you go home, you decide which photograph is best!
  1. You never will know when you get a good photograph or not until you shoot it. Thus, keep taking risks in street photography by keep clicking, by keep shooting, by keep ‘working the scene’ from different angles, perspectives, and distances. Take a step forward, backwards, to the left, to the right.
  2. Don’t “chimp” while shooting street photography (which means don’t keep reviewing your photos on the back of your LCD screen while you’re shooting). This will disrupt your flow of shooting. Better to keep shooting, then when you go home, review your photos.
  3. You can keep shooting and clicking and working the scene, and when people notice you taking their photograph, you can say “Hello!” and “Thank you!” afterwards, smile, and wave at them, and just keep moving!

All photos

Download all JPEG photos a .ZIP file (37mb): Eric Kim work the scene – old man kyoto

See how I ‘worked the scene’ with the individual photos down here:


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