Street Photography and Prime Lenses

The most common questions street photographers get – apart from technique questions – are questions about gear. The first question usually revolves around “which camera do you use?” The answer to that is usually the one that I have in my hand. The next question is “what lenses do you use?”. I could give them a similar smart ass answer as the previous one, i.e., whichever one I have installed on my camera, but I usually say “it depends

Many people confuse lenses with technique. To be sure, if you are carrying a 500mm lens around and are trying to take pictures of a person across from you in a subway car, it doesn’t matter how much technique you have, it’s going to be really difficult to get a shot off, much less one in focus. Lenses assist your technique, in that they help you convey through the final image the picture you want people to see.

Street Photography Techniques

When you're getting started the challenge is overcoming the fear of taking pictures of strangers. Since telephoto lenses are not normally used in street photography, how can you stand a few feet from your subject, put the camera to your eye, focus, and click the shutter without getting nervous? A good street photographer is not only fearful in the beginning (this is a good sign of being sensitive) but they also don't want to do anything which will change the how the subject is behaving.

Street photography

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. Street photography uses the techniques of straight photography in that it shows a pure vision of something, like holding up a mirror to society. Street photography often tends to be ironic and can be distanced from its subject matter, and often concentrates on a single human moment, caught at a decisive or poignant moment. On the other hand, much street photography takes the opposite approach and provides a very literal and extremely personal rendering of the subject matter, giving the audience a more visceral experience of walks of life they might only be passingly familiar with. In the 20th century, street photographers have provided an exemplary and detailed record of street culture in Europe and North America, and elsewhere to a somewhat lesser extent.