Increasing your hit rate
May 11, 2012 § 2 Comments
How to obtain more keepers in Street Photography.
As usual in my blog I like to keep it straight to the point and not waffle too much.
So here is my top 10 tips:
1. Always have your camera with you, switched on, and lens cap off.
2. Keep an eye out for distractions, as they will distract from the photo
3. Don’t rely on autofocus, as 9/10 times the camera will focus on the background (if shooting from hip)
4. Use manual settings for full control, and use them without thinking, but knowing.
5. My personal preference, but keep your shutter speed 1/250th or faster.
6. Keep an eye on the lighting conditions. (Direct sun, clouds, shaded area) manually adjust settings
7. Always anticipate / pre-visualise.
8. A strong photo is unusual, funny, emotional, memorable, tells a story, is clever and not just a random snapshot.
9. Know your lens and camera’s personality (know their weak and strong points)
10. Go out training, like you would in a gym but train your techniques until it becomes a reflex. Practice!
If you would like me to expand on a point, drop me a comment, or if you want to add some of your own tips.
hai.. i have a question.. on no.3 you said that dont relay on autofocus.. does that mean use manual focus? after found your video on youtube i start to try the shoot from the hip thing.. but i have a difficulty on geting the camera on focus on time before the moment get away.. can you explain a lil bit more to me about the focusing part?
Hi Amirul,
Yes it is better to manual focus when shooting from the hip. I switch the settings on my canon lens from “AF” auto focus to “MF” Manual focus. On my lens I have focal distance gauge in feet and meters. I would manually set my gauge to the distance I guess that I would shoot to. It takes a lot of time and practice. Practice on objects like bins etc. Guessing the distance and setting your gauge and see if you are in focus, after you have taken the shot.
And remember the wider the Aperture F0.95 to F2.8 you will have a thin focal plane, so it is advised you stay between F8-F16 to allow more objects in your scene to be in focus
Let me know if that helps you.
Zeno