Street photography - what's needed?

[Adam Lewis]

Right, this will be a stupid question, however... Tomorrows forecast looks to be sun/cloud for manchester, I've got a few hours in the morning between half 9 and around 12, so I'm planning on taking the plunge and going to take some street photography pics.
So the question is what to take?
(Apart from the camera and lens of course lol ).
Ill be taking it in one of those small shoulder bags, however could take it in a larger bag if necessary.
I only have one battery atm, but full up shouldn't die in 2-3 hours really, and my memory card is 16gb, so I doubt id fill this quickly?
Do I need to take a lens hood? UV filter? Rain cover? Anything you'd recommend? Tripod necessary?

I know it's a terrible question, but I don't want to spend an hour on a bus to realise I've forgotten something that would've been handy.

And for those of you who know manchester, is there anywhere in particular that is a 'good' spot? I'm currently thinking Piccadilly gardens, the Main Street (by boots, tesco extra etc), maybe st Anne's square- depending on how busy it is, and perhaps deansgate if I wander over.

I'd like any tips/help , I don't want to mess up my morning lol

Thank you

 

[Dave Green]

Piccadilly Gardens is good. The Triangle area (Front of Selfridges) is one of my fave spots for people pix. I also love to wander the back streets too - lots of photo ops. Stay out of The Arndale. St Anne's Square is good too.

 

[Lesley Jones]

I don't know the area, but I always travel light. I only have the one lens anyway and I tend to use it at the wider end. Don't bother with filters or a tripod. It may need a bit of practice, but I can hand hold down to half a second. One tenth is fine for motion blur while keeping architecture stationery. It doesn't hurt to pick the location and then wait for an interesting person to turn up. I generally wait a few minutes and if nothing happens I will move on. Look for light, reflections or interesting juxtapositions with window displays and passers by. I will get close if the image is right, but it's not necessary. Think of some of the images by Henri Cartier-Bresson with a single person caught at just the right moment with the aesthetics of the location.

If you use a very wide lens and keep your subject to the edge, then they tend to think they aren't in the frame anyway. If you're uncomfortable, you can always pretend you are waiting for them to move past and continue to stand your ground and frame, after you have taken the shot.

The very best bit of equipment to take is a smile

 

[David Mitchell]

Perhaps also set the shutter on 'silent' I know my camera has that setting, people don't usually like their photo taken so a quiet shutter will help. I would perhaps also set up the lens and exposure for the area you are shooting so you don't have to keep changing settings where you might miss something.

Here is a video by Digitalrev tv, he usually does street photography:

Street Photography Do's and Don'ts - YouTube

 

[Paul Lange]

I have begun to wonder to somewhere I think is interesting and then just stand or sit somewhere inconspicuous for around 5 minutes. Eventually, mostly the picture unfolds in front of me.

For more overt street photography balls of steel come in handy.

 

[Adam Lewis]

Piccadilly Gardens is good. The Triangle area (Front of Selfridges) is one of my fave spots for people pix. I also love to wander the back streets too - lots of photo ops. Stay out of The Arndale. St Anne's Square is good too.

Thank you dave, yeah ill end up wandering to those steps / ramped area in front of selfridges, especially seeing as the wheel is gone now yes I know about arndale, talk about robocop security lol!

- - - Updated - - -

I don't know the area, but I always travel light. I only have the one lens anyway and I tend to use it at the wider end. Don't bother with filters or a tripod. It may need a bit of practice, but I can hand hold down to half a second. One tenth is fine for motion blur while keeping architecture stationery. It doesn't hurt to pick the location and then wait for an interesting person to turn up. I generally wait a few minutes and if nothing happens I will move on. Look for light, reflections or interesting juxtapositions with window displays and passers by. I will get close if the image is right, but it's not necessary. Think of some of the images by Henri Cartier-Bresson with a single person caught at just the right moment with the aesthetics of the location.

If you use a very wide lens and keep your subject to the edge, then they tend to think they aren't in the frame anyway. If you're uncomfortable, you can always pretend you are waiting for them to move past and continue to stand your ground and frame, after you have taken the shot.

The very best bit of equipment to take is a smile

Thank you Lesley, I only use one lens anyway, and it's the 28-105 , so with crop factor it's around 50-140, so it should be good at both ends.
Thanks for the tip with wide angle and also pretending to wait.
I had already thought about being still for a short while, I'm a sucker for laziness lol. Plus at Piccadilly gardens there are a few routes heading to the same point, so I could get a few there.
Ill leave the tripod and filter & hood then. Makes me a bit lighter then too
Thanks

- - - Updated - - -

Perhaps also set the shutter on 'silent' I know my camera has that setting, people don't usually like their photo taken so a quiet shutter will help. I would perhaps also set up the lens and exposure for the area you are shooting so you don't have to keep changing settings where you might miss something.

Here is a video by Digitalrev tv, he usually does street photography:

Street Photography Do's and Don'ts - YouTube

Thank you David, I don't think my camera will do that, but ill google it just incase, I've already turned off the focused beep, and turned off the image review, to save battery and to stop myself looking all the time lol.
Thank you

- - - Updated - - -

I have begun to wonder to somewhere I think is interesting and then just stand or sit somewhere inconspicuous for around 5 minutes. Eventually, mostly the picture unfolds in front of me.

For more overt street photography balls of steel come in handy.

Oh I doubt id be overt anytime soon, however I will go find a nice background and hang around.
I may also go for some street portraits if the candid doesn't work out
Thanks

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Up your ISO a bit to keep shutter speed above 1/250 - helps avoid movement blur

 

[Darren Turner]

Travel light if your planing doing alot of wondering, as long as you take camera, chosen lens, battery & memory card you cant go wrong. As already mentioned, sometimes its good just to sit and watch, wait and see what evolves in front of you

I agree with balls of steel, but its loads of fun eh.........!!

I also agree with Daves ideas for locations, thats is where i generally mooch around

Daz

 

[Adam Lewis]

Up your ISO a bit to keep shutter speed above 1/250 - helps avoid movement blur

Thank you 800? Or higher?

- - - Updated - - -

Travel light if your planing doing alot of wondering, as long as you take chosen lens, battery & memory card you cant go wrong. As already mentioned, sometimes its good just to sit and watch, wait and see what evolves in front of you

I agree with balls of steel, but its loads of fun eh.........!!

I also agree with Daves ideas for locations, thats is where i generally mooch around

Daz

Thanks Darren, i think I'll literally be camera & lens, I might even stroll down towards Oxford road, plenty of people, plenty of bus stops for the non-movers lol

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Keep your aperture fairly open and ISO 800 should be more than enough for outdoors - even in Manchester!

If it's f-sunny, you might be ok at ISO 400

 

[Darren Turner]

yer heading down into student area could be interesting.............!!

Good look & cant wait to see your results

Daz

 

[Jim Kuo]

1/250s is ok if one of you or your subject isn't moving, so I try to shoot at 1/500s if I can help it (because chances are me and my subjects are walking toward each other).

I like F8, so my ISO usually floats from 1600 to 3200.

 

[Adam Lewis]

Thank you everyone, after 2 hours of wandering and trying to find my balls I've stopped.
My usual settings were shutter speed 1/250 , f 3-5.6, ISO varied between 200 and 800 dependant on the shade.

After about 30 mins I decided to take a look at what id done, and realised that I hadn't actually changed my ISO a few streets previous, so many dark pictures ! Not impressed lol. However it could be how bright or dark my lcd was. Ill have to wait until I'm home.

Getting the candids was much harder than I anticipated with the camera, seeing as it stands out a lot, so I do have 2 posed shots, one was an oxfam person, the other was a homeless guy who asked for money, I'd usually say no, but I said 'providing I can take a photo of you' lol, and gave him a quid. Hmmpf.

I've got a couple shot from the neck strap, I wanted to try from the hip, but seemed more logical and natural looking from the neck. These however look overexposed on the preview..

Hopefully ill be able to put these photos up for you to see today.
Maybe next time I won't be as nervous
Thanks again everyone

 

[Jim Kuo]

Keep at it Adam, it gets easier and more enjoyable.

Street photography can be fun and amusing, especially for those of us who don't like to wake up early or enjoy long commute to locations

 

[David Mitchell]

Thats why I think I will go with landscape photography rather that street photography as I wouldn't be confident about shooting on the street. Will be good to see what you have got though

 

[Adam Lewis]

I shall be keeping at it, I'm pretty sure that it was partly down to myself, not knowing where to wait around, I often found myself waiting but not taking the shot because its quiet and the person will hear the mirror slap or the shutter, or whatever it is lol.
And I think the other part was down to the fact that i was out at half 9, there's simply not enough people out.
Anyway, I'm almost home now, another hour or so and they should be up.
Shall I upload them un-edited (but cropped), or shall I post them 'enhanced' lol. Bear in mind though that any editing will mean I'd have to transfer to iPhone to edit, thus losing a load of detail?

Adam

 

[Jim Kuo]

I shall be keeping at it, I'm pretty sure that it was partly down to myself, not knowing where to wait around, I often found myself waiting but not taking the shot because its quiet and the person will hear the mirror slap or the shutter, or whatever it is lol.

One useful technique I often do is that I hold up my camera, compose the frame and wait for the subjects to enter my view finder. By doing this, you are not actively "hunting down" your subjects, and it may be less intrusive.

It definitely helps and becomes easier when you are surrounded by large crowds.

 

[Adam Lewis]

I did attempt this actually, but all I got were side on shots, which if truthful I'm not too keen on. I did stand around by a traffic light, and wait for people to come cross, but due to the distance, it was blatantly obvious and I had a few people purposely look in other directions etc.. Never mind, next time hopefully will be a bit more eventful

 

[Adam Lewis]

Here are today's shots that are any good. They aint great, i deleted 5 or so too now that they're on a bigger screen...
critique welcomed, but it was my first attempt after all and i know they aren't particularly good

1. Man with soup


2. The homeless guy


3. Overexposed, i know. forgot to change ISO when going into the sun


4. Tram stop


5. Taking a photo of a wall... normal


6. The oxfam guy


None have been edited... clearly lol

 

[David Mitchell]

I like the tram stop photo looks good though, you going to convert any to black and white?