This month’s Share Six theme is Street. Oooh, it’s a good one!
I have appreciated the art of Street Photography for as long as I have appreciated art itself. But since I have been able to call myself a photographer, Street Photography is not an art I have mastered. So I want to take this theme as a chance to encourage anyone reading this who is new to photography and/or new to street photography in particular to say this:
“Get Out and Explore”
You may think of Street Photography is an artsy black and white image of a busker on the subway or moving depiction of homeless man sleeping in a shop doorway. Yes, but Street Photography is that and more. Street Photography is capturing passing moments and freezing them in time. In the hustle and bustle of daily life, we all need to stop for a moment and look and you don’t need to be a photographer to do that!
Whatever and wherever your “street” is, you don’t have to label yourself as a “photographer” or an “artist”, you don’t have to shoot in manual or even own a fancy dSLR, to open your eyes to your surroundings and give street photography a try. The images I’m sharing with you today are from 2014. I had an entry level dSLR and I was only just learning how to use it properly. I was a tourist in Italy, documenting our trip. I was just starting out.
You too can capture images like this, simply by getting out of your house and allowing yourself time to explore. Whether it is somewhere you’ve never been or somewhere you go all the time, whether you’re taking a break and being a tourist, take these simple ideas to view it in a new way:
#1 Soak it in: how does the place make you feel? If you were a tourist, what would you see? What would stand out as different to anywhere else?
#2 Observe: watch the flow and movement of people, of traffic, of birds or flowers in the breeze. How do they enter your view, how do they move across the frame?
#3 Position yourself: think about angles and architectural leading lines, textures and framing, light and shade.
#4 Include people: don’t wait for a gap in the crowds. People give you a frame of reference. They give an image life and scale and perspective. They tell their own story.
#5 Details: if you struggle to narrow down you vision, focus on finding a particular colour or type of texture. A colour story is a wonderful way to get started and explore.
I hope these little tips help you in some small way!
Please click HERE to see how the talented Tori of Roots & Twigs Photography interpreted this month’s theme.
Join us for this month’s theme by posting your {street} images on our Facebook page at Share Six and to our Instagram gallery, by tagging #sharesix and #sharesix_street. A new theme will be posted on 6th June.
Ceri you have taken me back to 1987 and our European trip. We stopped over in Venice and walked in the square and crossed the bridges. We were warned that if we fell in the river we were off to the hospital to have our stomach pumped. I remember the beautiful masks that you have captured so well, and the stunning glass work being done in the city. We sat at one of the tables at the edge of the square to have coffee. Your blog has me right back there. Wow, this is awesome and you are so right, pictures capture a moment in time. I also love all the tips that you gave on your page. Great share.
Beautiful images, Ceri! I’d love to go to Italy someday. And I love the tips you shared.
Beautiful images, Ceri. My fave is of the lady on the bridge and the laundry. I assume that’s Venice? I loved shooting street photography there, and definitely, including their laundry out to dry!
Absolutely loved your images and that you took the opportunity to share tips. I also so appreciate that you highlighted that “we all need to stop for a moment and look” – just a perfect reminder. <3
Wow Ceri these are stunning. I love the one with the boy on the bike. Definitely my favourite. I wish when I went to Sicily in the late 90’s that I was doing photography then. These just make me want to go back there. Fabulous!