PHOTOGRAPHY

STREET PHOTOGRAPHY

The most important secrets and skills of street photography or city life.

  This type of photography can be defined from its name, as it expresses what takes place and its various daily events take place in the public street of a city. An amateur street photography photographer monitors and documents every movement or stagnation on the street, whether it is day or night, as his lens captures images that tell about the reality of a particular city by photographing:

• Its architecture, is reflected in its buildings and the way they are engineered.

• The daily life of its residents in the streets, markets, schools, etc...

• Its gardens and the natural aspect in it.

• Its economic and industrial movement, factories, huge companies, traffic...

• And the rest of the other things that a person can live in a city or village.

  This type is considered one of the easiest types of photography, as it does not require specific and special photographic equipment, but images can be taken with any camera using a normal lens. A smartphone camera can also be relied on for this purpose, but there is an aspect that should not be overlooked, which is knowledge Intuitive with photography essentials like proper image composition, shutter speed, and ideal aperture size for great photos. The photographer can also mix street photography between street portrait photography and night photography, as they are often done on the street.

  What is the appropriate lens for street photography or city life?

  In fact, there is no preferred lens for street photography or city life, but the better the lens is, the better. It is also important that the aperture of the lens allows the entry of an important amount of light because on the street you can photograph places where the proportion of lighting is weak, which It will make the photographer get low light photos. The choice of lens depends on the subject to be photographed in the first place.

   What is the appropriate camera for street photography or city life?

  As mentioned in the introduction to the topic, it is not necessary to own a camera with high features to take great pictures of the street and city life, but what the photographer needs, in this case, is creativity and positive thinking more than paying attention to the camera. We can also associate the matter of choosing the camera with the type of scene to be photographed. If, for example, the photographer decides to shoot a portrait in the street, he must abide by all that the portrait requires him to do, and the same applies to him in the case of night photography in the city. Using the smartphone to take pictures of some sides of the street may be useful in this.

   What are the appropriate settings in the camera for street photography or city life?

  If you go out to photograph the streets or urban life with a reflex camera, it is recommended to set it to the following settings:

  Raising the shutter speed while shooting fast motion such as people traveling through different means of transportation.

  Reduce the ISO sensitivity during the day and take advantage of natural light, and it can also be raised slightly in the case of shooting at night.

  Choose a small aperture or a large f-number to focus on every detail of the scene.

   What tools and equipment should you carry with you?

  Perhaps this is the only type of photography that does not require you to carry a lot of photographic equipment if you are photographing a street or neighborhood in your city. the following:

• Tripod: It is one of the important tools that you should carry with you in case you want to shoot with long exposures or choose to shoot a scene with a narrow aperture and a slow shutter speed, it helps you avoid blurry images in this case.

• Filters: You may need to use one of the filters that will help you get distinctive pictures, especially the polarizing filter or filter, which will avoid the appearance of light reflections on the windows of buildings, cars, and rivers in that city.

• Carrying an additional memory card: You do not know at any moment that the memory card installed in the camera in which you are shooting can malfunction, so we always emphasize carrying an additional card to avoid embarrassing situations and miss the opportunity to take pictures for moments that may never come back.

• Additional battery: If you are using an original battery for the camera, make sure that it is fully charged, but if you notice that the performance of that battery has started declining over time, it is better to buy another backup battery.

   What should you do before and during street or city life photography?

• Prepare the camera as appropriate for each scene you are about to photograph.

• Choosing the appropriate angle for shooting to obtain an aesthetic composition for the image.

• Apply the rule of thirds when necessary.

• Focus on setting the most important goals in focus strengths.

• Take as many photos as possible, then choose the best one.

• Use raw when taking photos if you are going to edit them later.

• Taking black and white photos is a unique experience while photographing the street.

   

  conclusion 

  This was a set of ideas and tips that can be used to improve your skills and abilities in the field of street photography or city life. Of course, this is not all, but there are things that you will discover yourself when practicing, but everything has a beginning and this is your beginning.