selfie black yellow ERIC KIM

How to Become a Street Photography Sharpshooter

As much as I hate to say, shooting street photography is (kind of) like shooting a gun. For example when I was a Boy Scout during Boy Scout summer camp, I got all three (archery, shotgun, and rifle merit badge) all in one summer! And similar parallels between ‘Zen in the Art of Archery’ vibes we get from Eugen Herrigel (apparently Henri Cartier-Bresson loved this book).

The gist:

When it comes to photography and street photography, we must harness the following:

  1. Focus
  2. Breathing
  3. Not to shoot too quickly, nor too slowly
  4. To parse out the cadence of our shooting (the rhythm in which we shoot photos)
  5. All the while being mindful of composition, aim, and framing.

FPS shooter (first person shooter video games) and street photography?

For example let us consider — when you watch any of my GoPro POV videos, it is almost as if you are shooting the photos. It seems we like to harness this ‘POV’ perspective, like a video game.

Why is street photography so fun?

I find one of the great appeals of shooting street photography is the joy in experimentation of timing, framing, and composition. Also what makes street photography so fun and interesting to me is the social interaction. It takes much skill to shoot street photography while being mindful of how you are interacting with others, engaging with others, etc.

Gopro Street photography fusion 360

What *IS* street photography anyways?

Simply put:

Street photography is documenting and capturing the essence of humanity, often in public places.

Stick with one camera, and one lens for a very long time