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Photography Tips by Pablo Raw – Street Photography

By Prince Of Petworth

The photography tips series is written by Pablo Raw. You can learn more about him here.

There are as many definitions of Street Photography as street photographers, so I’ll just focus on my experience and techniques taking photos of people in everyday situations.

So how do I do it? Sometimes I just ask people if I can take their picture! You’ll be surprised to know that I have never got a “no” for an answer (well, maybe once). The advantage of this is that you can get really close to the person and get the details of clothing, facial features, jewelry, etc. and since the person is posing for you, sometimes you even have the time to do more than one shot. When I ask, I ask them if they’d like me to email the photo to them, and they are often quite eager. In the case of street performers, I have found that most of the time they’ll let you take their photo if you put some money in the bucket.

Most of the time, I carry a zoom lens with me. That allows me to take photos from a distance without people noticing that I’m doing it, and therefore acting spontaneously and casual, which is one of the things that makes this type of photography so interesting. The distance also allows me to introduce more elements on the photo (backgrounds, cars, other people) that can help me tell the story.

The inclusion of a person in the photo can sometimes help the viewer get a sense of the scale of the objects, e.g. an oversized doors that otherwise would look normal. I sometimes sit in a specific place, such as a park, and just wait and observe people from a distance. Patience is usually rewarded when suddenly there’s some cool interaction between people or their pets, etc. , but you have to be ready. Do a couple of test shots while you are waiting, in order to have the right settings on your camera.

Continues after the jump. (more…)

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