Sometimes when I post an image on Instagram I mention that it’s taken ages to take. One of the best shots I’ve taken in the past few months took more than 30 minutes of standing around and waiting. To be perfectly frank, whenever I end up waiting for the right person to pass where the light is hitting or for it to slightly change, I never know whether the waiting is worth it and sometimes I end up putting a lot of pressure on this being a keeper shot. All of us have busy lives and can’t afford just sitting around and waiting to potentially get a good shot. Not only that but (especially in winter) the light can change pretty quickly and even become flat if the sky gets overcast.
There are a lot of street photographers who are against waiting for a shot. They believe that street photography should spontaneous. That’s perfectly fine, we all have different views. The question is, are you, as a photographer, willing to sit around to potentially get a shot? Well, landscape photographers are definitely used to that. There are plenty of stories of someone setting up their tripod and then… nothing happens. Street photography is different, though. Here, everything is dynamic. Rush hour might start (or end), you can’t go back the week after because the sun will already be hitting the light differently, you have to be more subtle when taking the shot and many more.
Even when you aren’t just standing there, it can still take hours to take a decent shot as a lot of things have to go your way. The trick is to just keep walking around and to keep your eyes open. Keep looking for compositions and interesting subjects. It won’t necessarily come to you, though. It happens quite often that a walk has been absolutely fruitless but that’s ok. The fact that you walked around, looking for shots to take means you were training your eyes. Looking for interesting images to have, exercising your creativity. The best part is that you can do that even without carrying a camera with you. Just keep your eyes open and searching.
Many people, especially street photographers, pick up analog cameras for the fact that it makes them slow down. On old school film cameras, you don’t have lightning fast autofocus, so that really makes you slow down. The best part is that you only have 36 shots, and you can’t even see them immediately. That’s why you really have to think about your photograph and expose, and compose it well, as when you see it you won’t be able to retake it.
"Street fotography slows down time - I'm no longer looking to get to my destination, the journey is the destination" S. Tucker
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