The Realities of Street Photography - tips to help you on your journey as a street photographer 

Great video, full of wisdom. I would add to "b&w doesn't make a bad picture good" "film/analog doesn't make a random scene great". You've got a new suscriber

Great episode Brian. I do street photography simply for myself. I do not have a Facebook, Instagram or TikTok account at all. I just share it with my friends and family and I am happy with what I do. The images may be rubbish, but at least I get to enjoy myself, get out and about instead of being a couch potato, continue to develop and refine my style and improve incrementally. It helps to keep my fitness and mental health in check too. My main street photography camera is an Olympus E-M5ii with a 14mm/2.5 Panasonic lens or a 19mm/2.8 Sigma lens. They are great for street, and split roughly 45%/55%. The key to using any lens is to get into the groove of seeing the scene with the appropriate angle of view. It takes a while, but when I get it, it becomes intuitive.

Thank you for coming back!

Terrific revised video format Brian. When I shot a lot of street in London back in the late 60's, early 70's my lens of choice was the 28mm. I occasionally jumped up to 50mm but always landed back on the 28, it just totally involved me in the scene rather than left me as an outsider. Thanks for posting.

Is great to see you back.👏

Welcome back. Thank you for passing along what I consider to be invaluable information to those of us, such as myself, who aspire to one day be successful photographers. Your channel has become one of my favorites. You have a gift. Thank you for sharing that gift with every single one of us.

Great to see you're back on RU-vid! Looking forward to your future videos.

Loving this new format Brian. Looking forward to the next one! 👏👏

Love the new format and excited for the direction of this channel! Expect confrontation. My favorite takeaway from this episode 👍🏽

Love the new format! Looking forward to the critique and zines! Please keep them coming :=)

Good to see you again.

I really enjoyed the new video and nice to see you here again !

Great to see you back!

Loved this video, Brian, everything you said is so true of Street Photography! I feel the same as you, like I'm just getting back into Street after the last three years!

So great to watch a new video. I’ve binged watched most of your earlier videos and picked up your Street Photography Workshop book - thanks so much for the great content, it’s really helped improve my street photography.

Thanks for the great tips Brian-I enjoy your videos.❤

Brian great to have you back on the Tube. Again another information filled video.

Thanks! Finally, somebody talks photography and not gear. I feel Years of real street experience out of Your each sentence. Looking forward to be member of this Club.

What a good episode and come-back! I watched a lot of street photography clips on RU-vid and Street Snappers are still my favorite. 28mm is a very interesting focal length where I could not use well for years. But last year I used an Elmarit for 2 months until I got a 75mm. I know we should try to stick to one but sometimes switching view points helps revive the desire to hit the streets!

Thanks for this. I have just started following you. I find your words very wise. I like the comment about gear does not matter. I have a lot of choices with the cameras and lenses I own. And they do nit include Fujifilm of Leica or Ricoh GR3.

good to see you back !!

Welcome back, Brian. We've missed you!

Excellent range of points and thoughts, good to see you back.! Thank you for your time and effort.The plans you have sound great.. I do like Black and white and colour, but If I plan B&W then Iset that to what I see through the viewfinder/screen when shooting…I think B&W does make getting a good subject and composition even more important so I totally endorse your point about post production etc. I also find some of my most satisfying shots are from My simple Ricoh GR3…or my iphone! ( Timing, being “there” and aware is by far the most important thing!Plus luck too!)

I sincerely appreciate your advices and vision about street photography. This is the way it goes , it’s a journey and de quote from Kydonakis is absolutely true and relevant. Thanks for giving us the opportunity to share your expertise

Just loved it Sir. I am new to this genre and you have answered many of the thoughts that are passing through my mind. Looking forward to learn from you and practice it in the field

I am an accountant and don't often get a chance to talk to photographers. Listening to conversations like yours, really helps me to think. Thank you

Thank you. Listening to folks who do this well is worth gold to me as I start out.

Oh finally you’re back!! :) Looking forward to the new format! :)

Good to see you back Brian. I was a tad upset about the switch of Fuji ambassadors more so when you look at the work from the replacements, maybe they have linked up with Urth filters, but the pics you see on their sight are a little odd and I wonder who they are trying to impress? Very good filters though. So the genre of street, hence why I shoot Streetish, a bit of everything. Like you I do it for me and have nothing to do with instaforgotten, the two second mini gallery. The quote at the end, I can live with that lol. Arcadia in the USA do mono chrome versions of the X Pro series!

I'm glad to having found your channel and books😊 Thank you very much for sharing your expertise with us.

thank you! the quote at the end is my perfect shoe.

Welcome back Brian, I enjoyed the new video format. Looking forward to watching more. Nice work and well done. Neil M

Welcome back, Brian, you’ve been missed! Excellent video, looking forward to more.

This is quite good. I'll look forward to more. Thanks.

Great to see you back. I just joined the Facebook group because it's good to have a face to put to the group, rather than an anonymous group. I hope I can do it justice with some of my images.

Very well said Brian. Concise and informative as always. Confrontation and rejection is all part of it. I’ve been shooting for about 2 years now and I’m feeling I’ve reached a bit of a plateau so I’m going after some different shots within the context of the project I’m shooting. Wanna try to get more moments. Ive been critical towards my own “work” lately. I’d like it to be a bit more varied. Really needed to hear lots of what was said in this video. Thanks so much for uploading Brian!

Wonderful, thank you!

Thank you Brian , love the new format..must go now and get on to the street

Nice to see you back, it’s good to see you after listening to your podcasts. Great video and good points, I look forward to seeing how the series progresses. I didn’t get on with the V and took advantage of its 2nd hand popularity to buy one of its more expensive rivals. Moving away from daily posts on IG I now post a video at the end of the month of the month. I would love a monochrome camera as I do only shoot without colour but feel conflicted with shooting in colour raw and converting. After your video I may try mono jpeg for this month as my editing is minimal anyway. Best wishes and take care

Good video Brian and a compelling quote to end on.

Great video - again Brian! Your passion for street photography is contagious 👌👍🔝📸

Stumbled across this channel by accident. I don't do "street photography" but living by the sea and going for a bike ride every morning, I take a lot of photographs every week. Leaving aside the word "street", pretty much everything said here applies to all photography, excellent chat :)

So glad I found you here on RU-vid. It's been really helpful hearing an experienced guy talking about something I've just started to get interested in (at 63!) to balance the endless content from the younger set on social media. I've gone for micro four thirds, Olympus E-M10 as my main camera and Panasonic GX880 as my pop in the pocket camera; interestingly of the 3 lenses I bought, apart from the 14-42 kit lens) I find I'm using the 14mm, 28mm equivalent the most, on the GX880. It's half the cost of a Ricoh GR for a similar size and setup.

First time viewer. Really enjoyed your advice and insight. It’s excellent and inspiring and as well as grounding. Glad to be a new subscriber.

You said it’s been a while since your last video, but hey, it was worth waiting for. What a great, inspiring and thought provoking video.

I enjoyed your video. I enjoyed your photos. I think you should show more of YOUR work. When you're listening to another photographer talk about 'street photography,' until you see examples of his work, you're always skeptical. Too often when I'm watching videos of other street photographers' work I'm thinking to myself, "What were you thinking when you took that photo?!"

That flowed really well. Good advice!

I have only just come across your site, what a great introduction 👍 now subscribed and looking forward to the next edition.

I love your videos. I´d really like to live in UK to attend to your workshops. Congratulations Mr. Brian.

Nice video Brian. Some interesting points there (love the comment on what “bangers” are lol). Felt like I was back on one of your workshops : )

Loved your video. It just made me want to go out and shoot. But it’s already 10.40pm!!

I will tell you that I really love this lens, the 28mm. It suits me! It is really very flexible! Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us

You covered a lot of ground in this video. Good points -- thank you. In regard to the 28mm width, it is wonderful when it works. The issues are when the subject is a distance beyond where you are at the time the moment happens. When up closer, there is more chance of bruising the scene, as you become more a part of that scene. The camera, when tilted, unlike 50mm view, as you know can really go wonky, whereas the geometry and framing is easier for 50mm. I wonder if Henri Cartier-Bresson liked the 50mm due to the frame and good geometry without distortions? I like subjects near the edge and have to rethink just how far to go with 28mm, as not to distort too much. I do love just how much the width covers, and that deep look. The only prime I have in 28mm FF, is the Lumix 14mm f2.5 lens. MFT is a very forgiving camera format to use, as no matter how fast you choose when opening up, unless you go crazy, you taken in the background with ease. I have shot with 35mm on FF, and it is interesting, and seems wide to me. I am thinking only because I am so use the 50mm, that I see 35mm and 28mm as interesting, yet more of a challenge. I do love to mix things up now and then, and even go 90mm, which is great, unless the close shots get away --- life is that way. I enjoy the wide lenses, and some close work, but seem to gravitate back to 50mm. Maybe I see that section of a scene as the most relevant? At times I want for the wide or a zoom, as to take-in a broad scene, like the string of buildings. Mostly it is about the more immediate and trying not to bruise the scene in the process. I shoot in smaller cities, so having a camera with me, people think I am a tourist or professional, I am thinking. Maybe just a crazy old man? It is laughable that people are concerned about someone with a camera, when all people with phones have a camera, and could be sending off photos in seconds. I would be more concerned about big brother government or technocrats wishing to photograph my every move. This is the year 2023 and people worry about someone with a camera? I just smile, and most times, it is all A-OK. Take care, Loren Schwiderski, in California

Great to see you back after the slight absence, and glad all is well. I do have some issues with street photography having constructs, or rules, or anything like that, especially when you state later on that we should be shooting for ourselves. If I'm shooting for myself, then that lunch photo that you may not be SP might very well be something I'm very happy with, so what label to I apply to it? I never thought of the photography I did in NYC and elsewhere in the 70's/80's was 'street photography' as it was just taking photographs. And I enjoyed myself immensely while doing it and never felt I had to put the work into it, it just was there. I think if you asked 100 street photographers to describe what 'it' is, you'll get 110 different answers. And that's what makes it so great!

I like the new format Brian and see how it links to the reconfigured facebook group. Most of what you say is linked to motivation. I agree that if ones motivation is externally based on likes from Instagram and other social media disappointment is likely. You are not just chasing people but also an algorithm . Street is not only misunderstood by Joe Public but by the photographic community at large hence the need for support from our self-defined clubs communities or collectives. Having had a camera in hand for decades as a hobby I got interested in street or as I prefer to say candid photography about 2010. What really got me going was the discovery by John Maloof in a garage sale of the late Vivian Maiers work. That she had done street for nearly 50 years without recognition whilst working as a nanny was really inspiring. Her motivation and drive was entirely from within an almost compulsive desire and need to carry on doing what was obviously a personal pleasure. That she had a somewhat quirky peronality played its part but that can be said of of quite a few that get into photography and street in particular. The need to discover and follow ones own personal drive is neatly summed up in Joel Meyerowittz current book "How I Make Photgraphs" Its the process that happens in ones minds eye- the idea -the pre-visualisation, setting the scene, the being out there and sensing the moment; the Making of an image before Taking the shot with whatever gear you happen to have. . Personally I find the question "What camera did you use?" very tedious along with the need to bite my lip before replying. Too many let their gear get in the way.

Great vid Brian and an excellent reminder about the fickle insta approvals

Love your comments on the Fuji X100V I feel exactly the same way.

Good stuff. Thanks !!!

less than a minute in i already love to is guy and immediately subscribed

Hi Brian Nice to hear from you again I agree with all you have said, I’d like to add if anyone expects to win club competitions with street photography you’ll find that you will be lucky if you do. The person you should be photographing for is yourself and if someone else likes it great!

I really enjoyed the new video and look forward to seeing how you progress with the new RU-vid format and the building of a street photography community. Your list of street photography realities was timely, right on target, and very well stated. I'm also glad you mentioned Vero, at least tangentially. I'm finding it to be a very much needed and adequate substitute for Instagram. I'm looking forward to your future videos. Thanks.

Great video , glad your back looking forward to your chanel , I can't see episodes on your podcast ? Guessing g it got held up

Great video Brian. 👌🏻

GREAT!!!!

One of my best experience was when my brother offered me a Canon AE1 and I decided to try it out, so I loaded a film and I went to a neighbourhood where I like to shoot. I had a great day shooting. The next day, I tried to rewind the film and remove it to have it developed and realised that it was never loaded properly and no exposures were made. I felt a bit bad and a bit sad, that's all, still great memories, and I realised that I do this for the experience, not for the result. BTW I usually shoot 35mm. It's like a compromise between 50 and 28. I'm aware that watered down compromises are usually bad in photography. However I often don't have the time or will to swap lenses - 35 is pretty general purpose.

Enjoy your new freedom for using other exiting gear aswell. I like your honesty and your view on photography. A new member in your club ;-)

Thank you - very inspiring. It’s great see you back. I’d suggest to the lady from Philly that she shoot portraits or event gigs to support her street photography. BTW I lived there 17 yrs & it’s a fabulous city for street photography.

Very informative. I've been learning the ropes for a few months now and its taken that long, just to feel comfortable amongst people. I find that focusing with one thing at a time for eg, composition, light, zone focusing etc, works well, otherwise it can be a bit overwhelming

Glad to see you back Brian. I got rid of Instagram - not for any reason other than it was holding me back. Im happy to accept that the process is what I enjoy - I don't do it for likes. Looking forward to more videos.

New Sub here, loved hearing your commentary and it resonated with me. Looking forward to catching up with your past videos and what you have coming up! Thank you.

Really nice video, I enjoyed watching you very much. And the "gear is not important" comment is a very important. Especially for hobby photographers like me 😂

Really enjoyed that Brian .

Fantastic video. I needed to hear this for so many reasons. I agonize order gear, IG likes, the number of keepers, color vs B/W, etc....everything you said. Thanks for validating it's ok to just for yourself.

Brian - Thank you, excellent video. I am an "amateur street photographer" and shoot because I LOVE photographing people. I totally agree with you about gear, use what you have, know your camera. My BEST day would be to go and walk for hours and see what I could possibly capture.

Chock full of fine points Brian, I love shooting street style people pictures, it's always nice to hear your take on things. Just applied to join your FB group. I've tried Insta and didn't get much joy for the effort I put in so deleted it, I'll stick to the RU-vid channel I enjoy that far more. I was always a 35 or 50mm shooter but since getting a Q2 I'm absolutely loving 28mm it makes me get closer which adds impact love it.

Welcome back!

Great video, totally agree with all you said. In particular I agree with your take on Instagram. I signed up a while back and left after a couple of months. I found myself taking pictures that I would not normally take but was taking because I thought they would work on Instagram. It started to change the pictures I was taking so I dumped it. I'm happy again taking pictures just got me.

Great content. Although I already have committed to high-failure endeavors like coding and skateboarding, and even golf on occasion, I'm very familiar with high-failure pursuits. So why not add one more! Anything worth doing is likely going to be difficult. I just got a GR iii a week ago. I almost got the 40mm but didn't want to limit myself right off the bat. I figure I can always get one later or spend more on a q2 if I prove to myself I can commit to this with just a gr3 for a while.

Another good video Brian. You always remind me to get out on the street! I still don’t have confidence to take observational shots of the wider context for fear of the possible confrontation mentioned by some others here. Instead I default into asking people if I can take their photographs. This has become a project for me - fashion in London in 2023 but I hope to get more confident to take the sort of candid pictures others can do. Any tips?

Great vid. So nice to hear you're saying things I've been thinking about too. The great photographers (Bresson, Doisneau etc) succeeded because each picture avoided being confusingly detailed but still contained enough substance to give the viewer pause to think. There was always something evocative. People balanced brilliantly either with each other or with the environment. Often with a pleasing hint of humour. Meanwhile, current photographers usually hide behind leading lines, rule of thirds, wide angle distortion, filters, film simulations, black and white, stupid amounts of clarity etc ... like a factory churning out modernist bathroom tiles. I've walked 30 miles in London in the past three days, keen to find some interesting scenes. I took almost no photos, as it's flippin' difficult :) But I've no regrets as I still feel firmly behind the wheel. I just have to be a bit more nosey and enjoy what I see as a world of experiences.

Agree with your view on 28mm. I started my street photography journey with 50 and 135mm because I didn't want to get too close, but as people are the key focus of my work it didn't satisfy or give me what I was really after. I moved on to 35mm but eventually bought a 28mm full frame equivalent lens and it changed everything. It takes me way out of my comfort zone because of being in such close proximity to my subjects, but (my opinion) my pictures just got so much better in terms of context, layers and composition. The focal length challenges me every time I use it.

Heureux de vous revoir sur cette plateforme .

Well said Brian 👍

Thanks for being here..I am in NYC, and shoot in street scenes here and elsewhere..I use a Pentax K1Mk2,and it has never been to imposing, never been boring, and because of the build quality, I can shoot in ALL weather. Fuji shooters here are some amazing shooters and LOVE, not like their cameras. I do not worry about those who comment nor the creators who get slick at the mouth,because all those keyboard warriors/creators who cheerleader for brands/formats, are NOT prepared to have that same energy in person...My avatar is a shot I took right in front of the house..

Love the 28mm focal length for travel, and as a general-purpose walk-around lens. But when I know I’ll only do street photography, I prefer something between 40 and 45mm, generally zone-focusing. Favorite camera for the streets of the world? Olympus E-M10 Mkii, even after all these years…

Hi Brian , hope you are well . I so agree with your points . I feel that a good 90 % of so called street photography online nowdays is no more that very average snapshop of people walking in the street or, just a graphic light trick under a bridge . In my opinion , even some of the new generation guys , who took the genre by storm on social media especialy in UK are falling in this trap unfortunatly . It is funny that so many people admire Magnum photographers ( myslef included ) but rarely apply the rigueur of work those guy put into their work . subject , context , provoking questions and emotions then light, colours composition to help re-enforce the subject itslef ...for that reason I force myself to go a bit more docu style , to teach myself that subject ( real one, not a random person walking in front of a bilboard ) is more important than anything else . I guess I passed stage one of the Dunning Kruger Effect and that's a good thing 😂

Been shooting street, etc for over 50 years and I enjoy your conversations. Yes, I have thousands of useless images, but I do not delete them as I often go way back in time to see what I did right and wrong. Also we move on so sometimes I no longer like my old images and sometimes the bad ones I deleted years ago I now like better today. I like to shoot wide (24 or 28), but for some reason since COVID I tend to stay further away from my subjects and often shoot with a 50. I still like a 35 lens too. I refuse to engage in social media as I consider it a waste of time. I'd rather be out shooting during my most liked time of day or processing images at night.

Welcome back.

Another great video Brian. Loved it so much. I found it very difficult to do street photography in UAE as the rules are very strict here. But i am trying my best 😊

Hi, Really enjoyed your video, I'm not a camera gear video guy I am more into the process and improving and find your videos very informative with interesting format.

Organisational behaviours implicit in modernity translates into recreational activities that can in a sense be a driver for social categorisation as a photographer which divides photographers into two camps. Those that adhere to a community and the solo or self categoriser. So the elephant in the room is the social identity the photographer hooks into for self esteem.

Excellent video. Joined the Facebook group too

I bought a Leica Q2, believe it or not my wife persuaded me to do so. It has changed my photography so much, both in style and in the amount of shooting I do. The camera goes with me every time I go out the door. Yes I love the 28mm

I shoot with a Nikon full frame. I bought the 40mm a couple of years ago because it's a good compromise between the 35mm and 50mm. I really like that lens. It's one of my favorites. I bought the 28mm around Christmas last year and now it stays on one of my cameras. I usually use it on my z6 II. My z8 is just a little too big and heavy to walk around with with the way I shoot. If I had bought the 28mm first I may not have bought the 40mm. I like walking right by someone up close and taking a photo of them without them knowing. I'll either have the camera hanging from my neck or around one shoulder and let the camera hang a bit lower. I can turn the camera in portrait view that way very easily and hold it in one hand. I do have a wrist strap but I don't really like it that much. I use zone focus and I'm getting better at angling the camera in the right direction and angle without having to have the camera at my eye. Sometimes I'll hold my camera high close to my right shoulder near my chin. I can angle it inwards to point out at someone to me left. I can walk down the sidewalk and take the photo as I pass by our as I meet someone. The 28mm let's you be really close and still get a lot of things in the background in the frame unlike the 40mm. I think a wider angle lens is more forgiving because it has a wider depth of field even at f/5.6. I never thought I would get into our like street photography. I mainly shoot landscape and milky way photos. I find street photography to be more challenging. It's always different when you go out even if you're walking the same streets. I have an IG account but I don't post as much on it. I'm fact it's private. There's too many fake accounts with links to porn sites always trying to follow me. If I made it public I would have to go through the followers every day to block those accounts so they wouldn't have access to my other followers. My photography is just for me. I mostly post on fb.

Thanks

"When I was in school, bangers were sausages."

Always carry a small fast 28mm equivalent lens camera and get in close. I use a Ricoh GR digital from 2005 8 megapixel CCD sensor. Learn to see and anticipate.

Ooohh love this new format Brian, with reference to 'your zines/books/images'.. how does one go about submitting for feedback?

Wake up call. Great video ... :)

Looks like I better delete all my cat on a wall photos then! :D Good to see you back Brian!