How I do my street photography
Street photography has always been an integral part of my photography. But I only started doing it seriously when I got my second camera(a Fujifilm XE1) back in late 2014.
In the the 2 years since I've been doing street photography seriously, I have learned a few techniques and certain camera setting combinations to help me capture some pretty interesting and genuine moments.
This approach to street photography is mainly catered to shooting here in my home country, the Philippines, particularly in my home town of Cebu, but could also be applicable(maybe with some exceptions) to other parts of the world. It is also worth noting that the settings here are for the "slow" XE1 but is more or less applicable to other fuji x cameras.
Here is a list of stuff that helped me significantly improve my street photography:
1. Wearing clothes that blend in with the environment I am trying to document. When I go out and shoot, I wear clothes that matches what the people in the area I'm shooting in are wearing. So if I go shooting in the hustle and bustle of one of the many public markets here in Cebu, I would wear my "home" clothes. Just a T-shirt and shorts combo. If on the other hand I'm shooting in a higher class place like a mall or an event, I'll try to match my clothes for those place as well. Basically I'm trying to not look like a photographer. I want to be as inconspicuous as I possibly can.
2. Use a small bag. I use a small bag so that I can easily navigate tight spaces or dodge people walking fast on the streets. This is actually one of the advantages of using a small camera, you can place it in a small bag.
3. Shoot with a camera that you are comfortable with. The camera I use is very important. Not so much the performance of the camera or its features, but on how comfortable I am in using it. It should be like a musical instrument. My fingers should already know where to go. The camera becomes part of the experience, not just a tool. I use a Fujifilm XE1 as mentioned above.
4. I don't hang my camera on my neck while out shooting. When people see a camera hanging from my neck, it some what affects how people interact with me. People tend to be either curious or on guard when they see a person with a camera. This in turn kills the authenticity of my interaction with them. So I try to avoid showing off my camera as mush as possible here. Its also for safety reasons as well.
5. Tie the camera neck strap to your wrist or you could get one of those camera wrist strap. I have a DIY para cord neck strap attached to my camera. So I'm confident that it is strong. I can easily tie it to my wrist or arm while shooting. This not only makes my camera look more inconspicuous, but also helps in protecting it. We have a lot of "snatchers" in certain areas here in Cebu, so you never can be too careful. It just adds a level of security to my camera.
6. Try to make your camera as invisible as you can. While walking about I tend to hold my camera low and covered by my hand. Only showing it when I want to take a photo. This helps me capture people's genuine reactions to situations. People don't notice my camera when I carry it this way, which is what I want as a street photographer.
7. I shoot in manual mode... well semi manual. Most of the time I shoot in somewhat a semi manual way. Semi manual because I still rely on my camera to get the correct white balance as I really couldn't be bothered setting it while I'm out shooting. I love controlling the shutter speed, aperture, and ISO when shooting. Gives me a feeling of actually making the photos, not just taking them. Fujifilm X cameras makes this a breeze as their cameras and lenses have external shutter speed dials and aperture rings, which are a God send when you shoot street.
8. Develop your own predefined sets of exposure settings for different lighting scenarios. When shooting in manual, it helps to have an idea of the settings to use on different lighting situations. This helps a lot in adapting when you don't have any control over the ambient light, which happens a lot in street photography. Here are mine:
Sunny - 1/500, f8|f7.1, ISO2000
Less sunny - 1/250, f8|f7.1, ISO2000
Shade - 1/125, f8|f7.1, ISO2000
Darker shade - 1/60, f6.4, ISO2000
Dark - 1/30, f4, ISO2000
There are other variations of these settings depending on the over all ambient light. But the settings above are my go to settings for 70% of my shooting. I think I need a separate post to talk about these settings in more detail.
9. Constant ISO. I shoot in a constant ISO style. Just like the film days. My main reason for this is that it gives me 1 less exposure setting to think about. “But Raf why don't you just use auto ISO” you say? I don't, because experience has thought me that this affects my camera's reaction time. And I also shoot in a different way. Auto ISO is not really ideal for me when shooting outside. It's really important to know your cameras weakness and strength.
At day time my ISO value is 2000 and on night or darker situations, I shoot with ISO5000 adjusting it as needed. Grain isn't really an issue with Fujifilm cameras 😉.
10. Zone focus. I use a technique that the old film rangefinder photographers used called Zone Focusing. Before the advent of auto focus, this is how they used to focus the old film cameras. Its basically pre-focusing my lens to a certain distance or zone before I shoot any photo. I usually set mine between 5 to 7 feet, which gives me an acceptable focus range between 4 to 10 feet with an aperture of f8. Setting distances is made easy by the distance scale shown on my cameras EVF(I think most modern mirrorless camera already have this feature).
So any subject that comes inside that prefocused zone will relatively be in focus, so all I need to do is compose and press the shutter button. When done right, this is faster than the most advance auto focus system out there. This is what enables my "slow" XE1 to capture moments that other auto focus cameras would struggle on. Learning this technique truly opened up so many photographic opportunities for me that I would recommend anyone who takes their photography seriously to try and learn it.
11. I shoot with an 18mm(27mm full frame equiv) focal length. Currently this is definitely my favorite focal length. Partly because I started out with and 18-55mm lens and always liked to keep it at the 18mm mark. I just like how it captures the foreground as well as the background, which is pretty important in my street work. I also like the distortion that I makes to the image. This focal length definitely forces me to get close to my subject, which I think makes for a better image and teaches me better composition.
12. Shoot from the hip. Sometimes you just can't put your camera to your face as this might interfere with the genuine reaction of your subject. Or you might want a low POV shot but considering the tight spaces in the streets here, it might not be possible to get down on your knees and shoot without pissing people walking behind you off. Shooting from the hip would definitely make sense on those scenarios. Although this needs practice and a certain understanding of your focal length to pull off. This is actually where wide angle lenses shine in street photography. When I shoot at a busy place like Tabunok market, 70 percent of the time, I shoot from the hip just because of the close proximity to my subject. I have shot with the 18mm for some time now so even without looking through the viewfinder, I kind of have a general idea on how my photos would look like when shot from the hip.
13. I use the EVF only mode. When out shooting I shoot only with the EVF and turn my LCD off. Base on my experience this tends to be faster and makes my camera more responsive. Took me a few months of testing to come up with this conclusion.
14. I turn on my cameras quick start mode. I have set my camera's auto sleep function to every 30 seconds as I don't like my EVF to be always on when I’m out shooting. But when the camera sleeps for more than a few minutes and I half press to wake it up. It takes some time to actually wake up, which in a few situation caused me to miss the decisive moment. I've found out that turning on the quick start mode removes this issue. When it’s turned on, I just double tap the shutter button and then half press, the camera is immediately ready. I still constantly practice this technique when I’m out shooting as mastering it enables me to react fast.
Some might say that turning on this feature might drain the battery as its constantly sucking up battery to ensure the camera is ready all the time even when its off. My solution to this is, I just remove the battery if I am not using my camera.
15. I shoot jpeg(blasphemy!). Yes its true. I shoot in jpeg. Why you ask? Well… why the heck not? Fuji’s jpegs are awesome. The X-Trans sensor produces excellent colors. Partnered with their film simulations, I really don’t need to shoot RAW. Don’t get me wrong though, fuji’s RAW files are excellent, but just not something I use every time.
Don’t always give in to the bull crap that so called “advance” photographers say about not shooting in jpeg and to always shoot RAW.
16. Extra batteries. I use a digital mirror-less camera which are known to be battery guzzlers. I have 1 battery in use and 1 extra. So far 2 batteries works for me, but I think in the future I would need more.
17. Don’t expect too much. I rather enjoy the experience of shooting rather than stressing on getting the perfect street photograph. Just shoot and be happy. Having an awesome photo after is just the icing on the cake.
So that was it. The list above is more or less how I shoot my street work. Is this the best and only way to shoot street? Nope, but it works for me very well so far. This is definitely a subjective list. A list that caters to my personal photographic needs.
Is the list set in stone? Definitely not. Things might change in the future. Settings may change, as well as techniques. That's the fun right there. Everything is dynamic. A constant urge to always keep evolving and improving my skills.
Hope you found this list interesting and helpful to your own photography style.
Have a good one... 😁
