Is street shooting easy?

[Juan Valdenebro]

Hi,


Today I was thinking I have very few street shooting images I consider really good... And after some experience in other fields I was thinking perhaps street/people is the photographic field I'd describe as the toughest one for getting outstanding results, both because you can't repeat and make your images better as you have almost no time to act, and also because when your main subject is what briefly happens to people around you, you don't depend on your abilities exclusively, but on situations you can't -in lots of different ways- control, prepare or predict...


Have you ever felt street shooting is a hard, complex and slow game? Or do you feel it's easy and get great results all the time?


Cheers,


Juan

 

[Michiel Fokkema]

It's hard and needs practice, practice and practice.

Cheers,

Michiel Fokkema

 

[alistair.o]

Hard (in a word!). So many variables that are NOT under your control.

'Street' is both a delight and a vexation in the same day.

Al

 

[SimonSawSunlight]

it's 3% talent, 17% technique, 40% time/effort/routine and 40% luck. 🙂

 

[jsrockit]

it's 3% talent, 17% technique, 40% time/effort/routine and 40% luck. 🙂

I almost agree with this... but based on how many bad street photos I see... I'd say it takes more talent than 3% . However, it certainly is a patience, time & effort, and luck centric game. Yes, it is harder than people think. People who do it well make it look deceptively simple.

 

[SimonSawSunlight]

I almost agree with this... but based on how many bad street photos I see... I'd say it takes more talent than 3% . However, it certainly is a patience, time & effort, and luck centric game. Yes, it is harder than people think. People who do it well make it look deceptively simple.

maybe that's just a result of bad editing? 😀

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

it's 3% talent, 17% technique, 40% time/effort/routine and 40% luck. 🙂

Any recommended brand if I want to buy some good luck?

Cheers,

Juan

 

[Roger Hicks]

Nothing's easy, except sometimes a stroke of luck.

As the old joke goes:

Tourist in NYC: "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?"

New Yorker: "Practise."

Cheers,

R.

 

[GSNfan]

"Its not about making a pretty picture, that anybody can do..." -GW

 

[SimonSawSunlight]

Any recommended brand if I want to buy some good luck?

Cheers,

Juan

don't know. glen elgin? laphroaig? talisker? bruichladdich? pick your favourite.

 

[Rick Waldroup]

It is hard to do and get consistent results. However, it is very rewarding when you really nail a shot. Street and documentary is just about all I shoot and I can tell you from experience that it takes a lot of practice and patience. Most people give up on it way too soon as they sometimes do not see immediate results.

 

[maddoc]

Have you ever felt street shooting is a hard, complex and slow game? Or do you feel it's easy and get great results all the time?


Cheers,


Juan

Street-photography needs technique, a very good knowledge of the surrounding / anticipation of people's behavior, guts and some portion of luck. In other words, what Robert Capa said.... 🙂

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

I remember in an interview HCB said something like I didn't do any of my best photographs: they all were made by the good luck that came those times...

Well, the guy was lucky quite a few times!

Cheers,

Juan

 

[naruto]

Any recommended brand if I want to buy some good luck?

Cheers,

Juan

I missed out on the eBay auction that ended by 0.42$. They come up rarely... :bang:

 

[robklurfield]

one must balance patience and speed, always looking (with an open mind) for some serendipitous scene unfolding where you least expect it ... and then, you have to be as fast as a cat to catch it before it vanishes.

I think it may take less photographic/technical skill and far more visual/brain/coordination skill to be good at this. also, it probably doesn't hurt to be willing to have a much higher ratio throw-away shots-to-keepers ratio than you would accept in most other shooting situations. You've got to be willing to waste some frames at a higher rate than might be your personal norm. then, when you're done, you've probably got to be a little more ruthless in your editing.

personally, I find I'm sometimes very willing to trade strong content for top image quality. a blur or something not quite optimally focused bothers me far less in a street situation than it would elsewhere.

one of my favorite all-time Winogrand shots is of the guy with a bandaged broken nose starring at Gary from the seat of a convertible on the streets of LA. if one were judging that from a pure technical standpoint, you'd probably say it left something to be desired, but I certainly have found it to be a powerful image regardless of any technical imperfections. I'm no Winogrand, but his street work is certainly something I don't mind saying informs my practice and way of seeing.

the best advice I could give you on street shooting is to just go out there and do it. you learn what you like and what works best for your own style, technique and way of seeing by doing. kind of like what a PJ goes through in a war zone. I think you take all of your accumulated knowledge and skill, and simply sublimate it in favor of taking the existential/zen approach of just being in the moment. the skill won't leave you, but you won't be thinking about how to apply it so much. it'll be kind of automatic. I think you then get back home and turn back on the rigorous analytic/critical part of your skill set as you edit and cull. anyway, that's what I try (and routinely fail at) to do.

have fun. life is short. fill it with images.

 

[helen.HH]

One needs a Good Eye...Good Timing...some technique
and a hell of a lotta LUCK in catching 'That Moment'....😱
like Rick said "its very Rewarding" when accomplished

There are days I can walk the Street many hours and Shoot Nothing...🙁

 

[robklurfield]

luck is what you make for yourself by taking risks (and more of them). if you stay home, you won't take any good street shots. if you're too cautious or too stingy with clicking the shutter, you'll limit severely the opportunities for luck. moral of the story, whether you're HCB, Winogrand or Valdenebro: take more chances.

 

[igi]

it's 3% talent, 17% technique, 40% time/effort/routine and 40% luck. 🙂

+1

When I get to talks about how hard street photography is, I also say it's half skill, half luck😉

And good results are very gratifying. Like winning the lottery...

 

[RedLion]

Street Photography ... Luck?

Street Photography ... Luck?

My limited experience is that after one has learned the fundamentals (technique & craft), the primary challenge is becoming unselfconscious. Everyone has to find their own way into the ZONE. For myself, Luck seems to occur more often when I'm in the zone.

Joe

 

[sjw617]

"Its not about making a pretty picture, that anybody can do..." -GW

No. It is about pretty pictures and not everyone can do it.

Steve