{"id":30798,"date":"2016-11-07T06:00:21","date_gmt":"2016-11-07T14:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=30798"},"modified":"2016-11-07T19:12:47","modified_gmt":"2016-11-08T03:12:47","slug":"7-tips-how-to-get-into-the-zone-when-shooting-street-photography","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2016\/11\/07\/7-tips-how-to-get-into-the-zone-when-shooting-street-photography\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Get into the Zone in Street Photography"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Downtown
Downtown LA, 2014<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the best feelings when I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m shooting street photography is getting into the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153zone\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201d the feeling when I am being the most creative, the most concentrated, and hours fly by.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I feel one with the camera, and I no longer think. The camera takes photos by itself.<\/p>\n

How do we enter this mythical \u00e2\u20ac\u0153zone\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in street photography? How can we better harness this \u00e2\u20ac\u0153flow state\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in our work?<\/p>\n

1. Kill all distractions<\/h2>\n
\"Downtown
Downtown LA, 2013<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really focus on my street photography if I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m doing anything else. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t focus on my street photography if I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m walking with someone else, if I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m listening to music, on my phone, or trying to make videos.<\/p>\n

The more distractions you have, the less you are able to focus.<\/p>\n

Silence your phone, turn it into airplane mode, or just turn it off completely.<\/p>\n

Take out your earbuds. The more you can listen to the outside, the more you can identify possible good shots.<\/p>\n

Which brings me to the next point:<\/p>\n

2. Shoot solo<\/h2>\n
\"Quoc.
Quoc. Provincetown, 2015<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The best street photography I do when I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m in the zone is when I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m alone.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately as a social photographer, I prefer shooting with others. I still get decent photos, but the best photos I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve shot are almost when I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m by myself.<\/p>\n

When you are with other photographers, they are often a distraction (or pull you away from your zone).<\/p>\n

When it comes to working out, I prefer to work out alone. When I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m working out with others, while I enjoy their company, I am more focused on conversation than actually working out.<\/p>\n

The same thing happens with photography. If you want to make your best photos, shoot solo. If you want to have a good time, perhaps go with other photographers.<\/p>\n

3. Take some time to warm-up<\/h2>\n
\"Tokyo,
Tokyo, 2013<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Furthermore, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve realized it takes me a while to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153warm up\u00e2\u20ac\u009d before I can get into the zone when shooting street photography.<\/p>\n

I also find that it is hard to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153warm up\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in the beginning. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see anything interesting, or I feel nervous or self-conscious when I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m shooting.<\/p>\n

What we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re trying to do is get rid of our self-consciousness. We want to forget the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153self.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d We want to enter a state where we simply react to what is in front of our eyes, take photos without hesitation, without fear, or without concern.<\/p>\n

4. Set your camera and forget it<\/h2>\n
\"Tokyo,
Tokyo, 2011<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I find another great way of entering the zone in street photography is to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153set it and forget it\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (in terms of technical settings).<\/p>\n

For example, on my Ricoh GR II camera, when shooting, I keep the camera in P (program) mode (the camera automatically chooses the aperture and shutter speed), ISO 1600 (allows me to have a fast shutter speed), and center-point autofocus (works good enough). Once I set my settings, I can simply forget them. And when I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m shooting, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not worried about my settings.<\/p>\n

Depending on what camera you use, you can use different settings. For example, when shooting with a rangefinder (let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s say a digital Leica) I would just use f\/8, ISO 1600-3200 (depending on how dark it is), and pre-focus to 1.2 meters or so. And take all the photos at that distance without thinking about the camera.<\/p>\n

What we want to do is enter a state where we no longer think about the camera. So try to use the simplest camera that you can. The benefit of a lot of micro 4\/3rds cameras is that they have incredibly fast autofocus (if you tend to miss focusing a lot).<\/p>\n

I also find that a camera that is light, portable, and compact helps us get into the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153zone.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d When my camera is big, heavy, and cumbersome \u00e2\u20ac\u201d I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m worrying more about the weight and the strain in my shoulders (if wearing a neck strap), rather than making photos.<\/p>\n

5. Shoot in crowded places<\/h2>\n
\"NYC,
NYC, 2016<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I also find that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a lot less self-conscious shooting street photography in crowded places. I simply enter the crowd, and become one of the wave of people.<\/p>\n

When I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m shooting in quiet or deserted places, I become much more self-conscious of myself, and nervous. And I hesitate, and I am less likely to shoot without thinking.<\/p>\n

Also one of the benefits of shooting in a crowded place (let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s say a downtown area) is that it is less intimidating for our subjects. They simply assume that we might be photographing someone else, or that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re a stupid tourist.<\/p>\n

6. Wear comfortable clothing<\/h2>\n
\"SF,
SF, 2016. Portrait by Luis Donoso<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This sounds a bit simple, but wear clothes that you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re comfortable out shooting in. If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re somewhere hot, wear breathable clothes (don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t wear jeans). Wear comfortable athletic shoes which allows you to walk for miles without hurting your feet. I think buying a good pair of shoes in street photography is better than buying an expensive camera (credit to Matt Stuart for the idea).<\/p>\n

Also, I find that wearing all-black (along with having a black camera) is the best way to be \u00e2\u20ac\u0153stealth\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and blend in with the crowd. There is a reason why ninjas wear all black.<\/p>\n

The brighter the color clothing you wear, the more attention you will draw to yourself, and the more self-conscious you will become.<\/p>\n

7. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t try too hard<\/h2>\n
\"SF,
SF, 2016<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lastly, just enjoy your walk when shooting street photography. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t force yourself to make good photos. Rather, simply think to yourself: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Today I will enjoy my walk, take a few photos, enjoy a cup of coffee, and if I happen to make some good shots, that is ok. If I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get any good shots, that is ok too.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

By putting less pressure on yourself, the better you perform. Ask any person who goes to sleep with someone else for the first time (if you try too hard you won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t perform as well).<\/p>\n

In Taoism they this \u00e2\u20ac\u0153wu-wei\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (action without action) \u00e2\u20ac\u201d or \u00e2\u20ac\u0153unforced action.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d You don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t over-analyze or over-think things when you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re out shooting. You simply see what is interesting, and click. You figure out whether you like the shot later.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n
\"Downtown
Downtown LA, 2016<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I think street photography is self-therapy. There is nothing that gets me out of my head than to walk around, talk to strangers (or don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t), enjoy a walk, and make images. I love feeling one with the streets, and it helps me not worry about the stresses of my life.<\/p>\n

Try your best to get into this elusive \u00e2\u20ac\u0153zone.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Kill distractions, go solo, focus, yet don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be too hard on yourself.<\/p>\n

The more you are in the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153zone\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, the more creative you will be, the less stressed, and the more wonderful photos you will shoot.<\/p>\n

Go forth,
\nEric<\/p>\n

Learn more: Street Photography 101 ><\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the best feelings when I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m shooting street photography is getting into the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153zone\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201d the feeling when I am being the most creative, the most concentrated, and hours fly by.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30474,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_ek_photo_artist_note":"","_ek_photo_thesis":"","_ek_photo_camera":"","_ek_photo_place":"","_ek_photo_human_moment":"","_ek_photo_sequence":"","_ek_photo_question":"","_ek_photo_canonical_claim":"","_ek_photo_ai_summary":"","_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-posts"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/6.change-lenses.jpg?fit=5212%2C3468&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30798\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}