Part 5 – Street and Architecture Specifics

Hello again! This tutorial is going to follow through a guide to shooting street and architecture. The previous parts of this series can be found at the bottom of my journal...

And if you like the article please fav it as it’ll help more people to see it…

What is street?

Firstly, a quick clarification of what I deem to be street photography… A photo of a lamppost (even in a street) is not street photography! It’s more of an urban landscape...

And some examples of photography that’s NOT street:

(also not very good photos either!)

Now I deem street to be a very special style of photography… You have to have the confidence to point your lens where you need to, and the subtlety and politeness not to offend people by sticking it in their face. You often don’t have long to get your shot, and I find knowing your camera well helps get those shots you might otherwise miss.

General rules:

1. It is legal to take photos of people in public.

2. It is illegal to take photos of people in a private place, without the permission of whoever’s in charge.

3. There aren’t any rules. – I personally use grads and all sorts for my street. In the end, it’s about capturing something that has some impact, and bucket loads of emotion...


Now, my style of street is a bit different to other peoples. As I love architecture, some of my street shots try to incorporate the surroundings into what the main subject is doing...

Examples:

(not mine)

Now as you can see, the second shot almost blurs the line between street and some other style, but I reckon its street. Just.

However, most street photography is based upon capturing a moment, often with the person you’re shooting, unaware that you are there. Now this is essentially very difficult. I’ve been out many times, trying to get a good street shot, but if the people aren’t portraying any kind of emotion, or just aren’t doing anything interesting, it’s very difficult to get a shot that sets itself apart from the rest. As technology has come along a long way, getting a photo of a person isn’t too difficult. What they’re doing and emotions that they are portraying are now very important. So big cities are great to try out, as lots of people are out and one of them is bound to be doing something! Controlling your aperture will help you to isolate your subject from the scene…


Black and White?

It doesn’t have to be! Look at your shot and see what works best for it. In the end, it’s a matter of personal choice.

And also, composition is key! (as with every other style)

So now for some examples of classic street shots. And remember, it’s all in the moment, so you have to be ready!









And you don’t necessarily have to be able to see people’s faces to give a photo impact...



And that's all for street photography!




Architecture

A great architectural shot relies heavily upon good composition, and a good piece of architecture to begin with.

Wide-angle lenses and HDR are often used for architecture. I find that long exposures look fantastic as the solidness of the building against the movement of the clouds work wonders…

Examples:



Be careful with wide-angles when close to a building as you’ll get converging lines, which some people don’t like... Other than that, not much else to say really... Sun rays, through the building look great, and an HDR will capture the detail well. I’ve got a tutorial on subtle HDR coming soon... Also, symmetry, leading lines, and minimalism are powerful tools for creating that special image.

More examples:



I hope you find this helpful… With both these styles the way you shoot is a matter of what you like, and the previous tutorials tell you how to use your camera to achieve these effects. Sorry if it seems brief, but it really is a matter of using what is said in the previous tutorials and combining it with this!