In this article, we'll explore 10 street photography styles, or call them techniques, to help you get started and improve your skills.
Street photographers are often drawn to the unexpected, the mundane, and the poetic, finding beauty and meaning in the ordinary and the everyday. But there are pacertain patterns, certain things you can look for on the streets. Some small things will help you at the beginning.
1. PLAY WITH LIGHT AND SHADOW: CHIAROSCURO
The chiaroscuro technique is a lighting technique that originated in painting and is now widely used in street photography. It involves strong contrasts between light and shadow to create a sense of depth, drama, and mood in an image.
How to do it: Find a spot where strong light cuts through darkness, a sunbeam between buildings, a shaft of light in a market.
Expose for the brightest part of the scene (spot metering helps), let the shadows fall to black, and wait for a subject to walk into the light.
Your image will look underexposed on the screen; and that's exactly what we are looking for. I explain the full process in my chiaroscuro article
2. USE REFLECTIONS IN YOUR STREET PHOTOS
Reflections in windows, mirrors, and water can add an interesting element to your street photographs. Look for reflective surfaces and use them; sometimes a reflection can be so complex that it stops the viewer, makes them pause to figure out what is happening in the frame.
How to do it: After rain, work the puddles: get your camera low, almost touching the ground, and compose the reflection first, then wait for someone to pass through it.
With shop windows, position yourself at an angle so the reflection and what's behind the glass layer over each other.
3. FOCUS ON DETAILS
Details can tell a story in street photography. Focus on the small details you see on the street, something that makes a scene interesting, and use them to create a strong visual narrative.
How to do it: Spend one session photographing nothing wider than a hand.
Hands at work, worn shoes, objects on a vendor's table, a note taped to a door.
Get close, fill the frame.
4. USE MOTION BLUR
Experiment with slow shutter speeds and panning techniques to create motion blur in your images. This can add a sense of energy and movement to your street photographs. The sweet spot is 1/8 to 1/30 of a second.
How to do it: There are two options.
Brace yourself against a wall or lamppost, set your camera to 1/10 to 1/⅓s, focus on a static element and let the the moving elements smear past it.
Or panning: follow a moving subject (a cyclist works well) at 1/8 to ⅓0s, rotating from the waist, and keep moving after you press the shutter.
Expect misses; Mastering these techniques is as part of it.
I have a Full breakdown in my panning article.
5. USE NEGATIVE SPACE
Negative space can add drama and emphasize your hero. Use the empty space in your composition to draw attention to your subject. The eye will run through the empty space of the frame and land on your subject.
How to do it: Look for empty backgrounds first, a bare wall, an open sky, a rever, or a deep shadow, and treat them as the stage.
Then wait for a single subject to enter, and keep them relatively small in the frame, occupying maybe a tenth of it. The rule of thumb: if it feels like too much empty space, it's probably almost enough.
6. FOCUS ON GESTURES
Gestures and body language can tell a story in street photography. Look for interesting gestures and use them to create something that can touch the viewer on an emotional level.
How to do it: this is a patience technique.
Just watch people for ten minutes: how they talk with their hands, greet, argue, wait. Gestures repeat, which means that you can anticipate the next one.
So once you spot one forming (a pointing hand, a hug beginning, a laugh coming), be ready for it and catch it.
7. GO OUT IN STRANGE WEATHER
Street photography can be unpredictable, and weather can play a big role in the outcome of your images. Be prepared for changes and use them to your advantage to capture unique and dramatic street photographs.
How to do it: You just need to go out when the weather is not exactly comfortable.
At the moments other photographers stay home are exactly when to go out.
Rain gives you umbrellas, reflections, and people running away from it; fog gives you layers and mysterystrong winds gives you people trying to hold things to not fly away.
Just make sure to keep your camera gear safe.
8. LOOK FOR PATTERNS
Patterns can add visual interest to your street photography. Look for repeating shapes, lines, and textures in your surroundings and use them to create dynamic and compelling images.
How to do it: That's an observation task.
Find the pattern first, a row of windows, striped shadows from a fence, stacked market crates, and compose it clean.
Then decide: shoot the pattern pure, or wait for something to break it. The broken pattern is usually the stronger photo: one person walking through the repeating shadows, one red umbrella in a grid of black ones.
9. PLAY WITH SHADOWS
Light and shadow can be your brushes for storytelling. With these two alone, you can create some very interesting images. Look for interesting light sources and shadows, and let your imagination fly.
How to do it: Shoot the shadow instead of the person. Low morning or late afternoon sun stretches shadows long; Position yourself in such a a way, so the shadow becomes the main subject and the person casting it is secondary or even out of frame.
Also look for shadow shapes cast by fences, signs, and leaves that act as costumes and textures on whatever passes through them.
10. INCLUDE ANIMALS
In a busy city, there are street animals of all kinds: dogs, cats, birds, and even a few monkeys. They can add a unique extra layer of interest, emotion, and meaning to a photograph.
How to do it: don't photograph the animal alone; photograph the relationship.
A dog mirroring its owner's posture, a cat watching a fish vendor, pigeons erupting around a walking figure.
Or goats sitting on benches with people
Get to the animal's eye level (yes, it means crouching), and be quick: animals give you one or two chances at most.
DON'T STOP AT THE TECHNIQUE
These are just a few street photography techniques. They will help you; you will know what to look for on the streets.
But please, do yourself a favor and don't just focus on the technique. The technique should have substance. A picture of a goat without a narrative is just a photo of a goat; a long exposure without a narrative is just a long exposure. I often see photographers who focus on the technique and have very little story in their frames. Don't be that photographer!
Look for interesting compositions: a strong composition is essential. Look for shapes, patterns, lines, and frames in your surroundings and use them to create something more interesting than mundane photographs.
Get close to your subject: getting close creates that energy of presence, an intimate and engaging image that tells a story.
But most importantly, practice and enjoy. Street photography should bring you joy and happiness.