February Photo Challenge
Street Photography
As a follow on to our upcoming presentation by Valerie Jardin our February challenge takes us out to the streets.
Successful street photography is a exercise in observation. It is a practice of photographing a moment of the routine in everyday life that could easily go unnoticed yet tells a story. It is a challenging genre as often lighting, content and opportunity is a matter of chance. It should be approached with thoughtfulness and patience. While we most often think of it as images of people in a busy urban environment, it does not have to be on a street and does not have to involve a human. Street photography includes images taken anywhere that depict the hand of man or human or societal impact. Images of people are unstaged and candid. Most importantly it should prompt the viewer’s imagination giving hints to the human experience and the uniqueness of everyday life. The objective is to find beauty in the ordinary witha story that will provoke an emotional response from the viewer.
The idea of taking candid shot in public can be initially intimidating. Here are some thoughts for getting started.
- Settle in a location and let the image come to you. You will draw less attention to yourself if you blend into the environment.
- If you are walking around, take it slow and beobservant. There are wonderful images in the most unassuming places. Look for interest and beauty in the ordinary.
- Pretend you’re not photographing your intended subject. Look around your subject with your camera and quickly take the shot at an opportune moment.
- If you are challenged by the subject, smile and don’t act like you’ve done something wrong. Pleasantly explain you are a photographer shooting in the area and they added interest to the scene. You could also offer to send the the photo. If they seem uncomfortable, offer to delete the image and apologize.
- You might start in a familiar area just looking for interesting mundane subjects. As an alternative, try a busy area popular with tourists where it’s common to see people with cameras.
- If using a mirrorless or dslr camera, use your articulated rear monitor. It appears you’re reviewing your previous images and not compositing a photo.
- Think about your camera as little as possible. Use gear you are familiar with and allows you mobility. You want to be able to take the shot without hesitation and fiddling with settings. Previsualize considering the light and shadow in the environment as well as the style you want to achieve. Do you want freeze action or blur? What is your intended depth of field? Set aperture or shutter priority accordingly. Consider auto ISO and along with exposure compensation as the light at the moment dictates.
- Set your camera’s monitor to view in monochrome. If you are shooting in raw, your camera will still record in color. Viewing in monochrome can help with composition as your eye an be distracted by color and it allows you to concentrate more on what’s happening and on light and shadow. Keeping your histogram in your monitor is also helpful with correct exposure. This should leave you with a quality original for your post processing work.
- Be observant, selective and patient. A thoughtful approach, waiting for a defining moment will result in more compelling images.
For more guidance and inspiration, check out these websites:
Valerie Jardin https://www.valeriejardinphotography.com/
B&H Event Space with Kenneth Hines - Let Your Feelings Guide You
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhNgMP4CU4o
James Maher Photography www.jamesmaherphotography.com (this site has FREE downloadable ebooks that thoroughly discuss street photography)
To participate in this challenge,
upload a maximum of THREE images to a personal LVPC website profile album.
Tag the image 02/25_Street.
Images will be accepted until 11:30 PM March 1, 2025
Future Themes
Upcoming Challenges
March 2025
Our Amazing Planet
How to Participate
For best viewing and for our downloading, prepare your images with 1280 pixel width for landscape and 720 pixel width for portrait, max file size 3 MB.
Upload your images (3 max) to your member album Click Challenge Instructions button below or watch a short video
Watch Short Video
Member Login, Profile, Website: Photo Albums, Open an Album (pencil), Add Photo(s).
Select the Correct Challenge TAG from the pull-down list for each image. Do NOT create your own TAG.
You are done! Your image will be manually loaded to the Challenge Album
after the challenge concludes. (be patient).
Challenge Instructions