Street photography tip: Taking photos while walking
Saturday 2 December 2023, 14:41 by Michiel Heijmans | 3,567 views | 5 commentsThis article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.
In street photography, there are two types of photographers, hunters and fishermen. Hunters look for their subject, while fishermen wait patiently in one place until their subject passes by. As a street photographer, you can of course use both techniques.
As a hunter, you often take photos while walking. This can cause two problems: a blurry photo because your focus point is in the wrong place, or a blurry photo because there is too much movement in the frame.
This is where your depth of field is important: The area in focus at an aperture of f/1.2 is of course much more limited than at f/11. At f/11, a much larger area of your photo is in focus, but you need a lot of light for a sufficiently fast shutter speed.
My own sweet spot is usually between f/4.5 and f/5.6. This way, you still keep a little background blur.
So, for sharp photos, also pay attention to your shutter speed. Normally, with a bit of practice, you can take photos without a tripod from a shutter speed of around 1/60.
I recommend 1/125 without hesitation, but if you are moving, your shutter speed can be a bit higher. For example, if you shoot in shutter priority mode (Tv or S), feel free to set your shutter speed to 1/250 or 1/500 when moving.
See if that works for you!
About the author
Michiel is professioneel straatfotograaf en geeft workshops en lezingen over straatfotografie. Hij schrijft columns voor Focus Magazine en is erg actief op Instagram. Daar vind je dagelijks inspiratie en tips voor je eigen straatfotografie!
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5 comments
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Ben Bang wrote on Tuesday 5 December 2023 at 11:01 | replyThere we go again, just my luck. I've been doing street photography for years, but now that I hear that makes me a hunter or a fisherman, I can no longer identify with that as a vegan.....
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Michiel Heijmans
wrote on Tuesday 5 December 2023 at 17:32
| reply
You can also hunt for bargains, or fish for compliments. I think you’ll figure it out…
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Ineke Vroom wrote on Tuesday 5 December 2023 at 19:26 | replyI just finished reading the street photography bible and now I'm really eager to get started with the handy tips and ideas!
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Michiel Heijmans
wrote on Wednesday 6 December 2023 at 11:10
| reply
Hey Ineke, what a nice comment! Thank you, good to hear!
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