To be a successful street photographer, you must have certain qualities; It doesn’t hurt to be confident enough to approach a stranger, and you need to have ample patience and persistence, and many times, you need to have a good amount of stealthiness. In short, you have to have ninja skills to photograph on the streets, and the following Cooperative of Photography (COOPH) video gives us 23 tips to help cultivate that.
Swiss photographer Thomas Leuthard takes us around the streets of Salzburg, Austria, and shows us how he documents every day life. The street photography tips in the four minute video range from what to wear (#1 dark colors as to not stand out), to approaching people (#19 & 20: don’t be afraid of people, introduce yourself, promise to email them the image, leave a business card). Many of the tips for street photography can translate into any genre of photography such as #14: ‘Look for natural frames’, or #21: Never delete your photos, back them up, and use them to look back and learn from.
[REWIND: 5 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR STREET PHOTOGRAPHY (AND WHY YOU SHOULD DO A PHOTO WALK ASAP)]
My personal favorite tip is #2: control your camera wirelessly. Leuthard is shown using his iPhone to control his camera to slyly photograph a street musician. I always forget that my cameras are wifi enabled and I can do so much from the app. Many of the camera companies have an app these days that allows you to connect your phone to your camera via wifi. Sony has its ‘Play Memories’ app, Fuji the ‘Cam Remote’, and Olympus has ‘Image Share’ (which is the one I assume Leuthard is using as he is shooting with the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II throughout the video. Other gear used in the video: a17mm and a 45mm lens, Sirui Tripod, G-Technology G-Drive ev RaW SSD and the camera strap is his own design.
The next time you are out shooting in the street, use some of this advice for street photography to help you capture images like a “ninja.”
Watch 23 Ninja Street Photography Tips For Your Next Photo Walk
“Street photography is like fishing. Catching the fish is more exciting than eating it.” ~ Thomas Leuthard
See more of Thomas Leuthard’s work on his website and more COOPH videos here.
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