When I was in New York and Washington DC last week, I was excited to make street photography a part of my 365 Photo Project.
I also found street photography to be a little intimidating. When I was out for an early morning shoot in DC, I intentionally chose not to take some shots of homeless people sleeping on benches in a park. The images I saw would have been stirring, I believe. I was afraid of making them mad.
This is a great article about the ethics of shooting on the street, and has some great discussion of street photography techniques. I wish I had seen it before my trip. I might have taken a few shots that I chose not to.
It’s fun to read about the snobbish side of photography. I like that you should be up close and not use long lenses for “real” street photography. For now, I’ll be zooming in until I get more comfortable.
As I walked through the streets, I did consider the approach the author describes of “stealth” picture taking. I knew that would be hard and didn’t try. I now wish I had. Sounds like it would be a good technique to know. Sounds like anything, it takes a great deal of practice.
This is a great read and it contains beautiful pictures.
And here is one street photo from my trip.
A Street Photo shot of a Psychic as she tries to cool off on a hot New York summer day. Shot by Jason Hodges
