Street photography is a type of documentary photography that features subjects in candid situations within public places such as streets, parks, beaches, malls, political conventions, and other settings. With a few years of experience and some trial and error, I’m going to share with you what works and what doesn’t about urban street portraiture.

First thing’s first; check your camera equipment. Do you have enough battery power? Do you have the right lenses? Always make sure if you are making a special trip for your street photography, that you are prepared. Being prepared for taking street photography means being prepared and organized with your digital camera, batteries, lenses, filters, flash and for the weather. Being prepared for your street photography needs to be a paramount decision before you step foot out the door. When you arrive at your location, then set your shutter speed, lighting, angle of the sun, correct aperture etc. It’s important to take five or ten minutes doing this to ensure optimum photos.

Shutter Speed

You can go two ways with this. A fast shutter speed to capture a freeze frame look with fast moving people or a slow shutter can really create a dramatic impact with good utilization of slow shutter speeds to show motion. I recommend the start with a shutter speed of at least 1/125th of second. This will freeze the action in motion of the subject and cancel out any movement of the camera by you. This of course depends on the focal length and what light you have to work with.

Aperture and depth of field

Start by choosing a medium aperture of about f/11 to f/16 for shooting in sunny daylight. The complete depth of field will give focus to the subjects if you are moving or have trouble focusing. For people that are standing still or sitting you can use a larger aperture to help separate the person from the background through this handy technique of using a shallow depth of field.

I recommend that you choose a time and a location for your street photography. Choosing your time and location will be very important for your photography because it will determine who is out on the street and why. For example if you choose a busy city street such as George Street in Sydney at 5.30 pm on a weekday you’ll find the majority of people are 9 to 5 workers who are in a rush to get home and have no interest to stand there and talk to you while you explain the reasons for wanting to photograph them.

This brings me to my next point with your digital photography. To go out on the street and photograph people for now reason other than your enjoyment may not be enough reason for them. Imagine how you would feel if someone with a digital camera and their photographic gear came up to you on the street and said “hey! How are ya? Look I was wondering if I could take your picture? It’s just for my own personal use.” You can imagine what “personal use” could mean.

So it is better if you are taking photos for a project, or a photo website, or even charity. If it is for your own legitimate use, such as for the enjoyment or practice for you could then get yourself a telephoto lens and take them from a distance. But even that looks a bit suspicious. People get very concerned with “unofficial” photographers in public places. If this is a problem then you could ask people you know; friends or family, to come and do some shooting with you. As thanks for the day, offer them a framed portrait of themselves.

If you have a project you are working on and need random people to photograph then a “Release Form” will be very essential. This is a very important aspect of street photography. You will need to check your local laws or bylaws about what is to photograph in public and what is not. I would first check with a lawyer as you don’t want any problems of a legal nature. Find out if you need a release form or model release form first.

Summing up, photography on the streets is a lot of fun. Remember it is art, and you can play around with your settings, and take your time. Always go out prepared, legally, technically and artistically. And have fun!

Amy Renfrey writes a bi-weekly/occasional article for The Corner Blog. Amy is a digital photographer, a photography teacher, and author of the popular Digital Photography Success package as well as her ebook Powerful Landscape Photography. For more information, or to purchase her Photography Package, visit her site: Digital Photography Success and Powerful Landscape Photography. Amy also publishes a monthly photography ezine called Focus eMagazine which includes dozen of articles and tutorials, as well as hours of video each month. Click here to find out more and subscribe to Focus eMagazine.