Street Portraits-Fast and Simple

It’s never easy approaching complete strangers on the street, not for me anyway. I like to photograph people though and I’ve found that shooting with a long telephoto lens on the sly can yield interesting candid portraits, but it’s cowardly and some might say a little creepy. I think the word is paparazzi.

If you want to get nice intimate portraits of your fellow humans you just have to go up and ask. Cooperation is necesssary. But… You need to be prepared to get the shot you want. You have to have a strategy. I figure if you’re going to approach somebody and ask him or her for something you might as well get what you want.

I get prepared before the “approach”.


First a word about the technical side of street portraits: (For me “street portraits” means no additional lighting, just simple walking around and shooting with minimal gear.)

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Most good portraits share some common traits (settings) that I can control in the camera. These are some basics:

Camera settings: a large aperture is usually a good choice. The shallow depth-of-field created by F4 or F5.6 will separate your subject from the background.

Lens: Moderate telephotos (50mm-85mm) lens are nice because they don’t distort the subject like a wide angle can.

Diffused Light: In most cases, I try to make the person look good and that means I want little or no shadows. Hard shadows make people ugly. Overcast days and open shade areas are great places to take a portrait.

Focus on the eyes! That’s where the soul lives.

This is a general approach. Sometimes I want shadows or distortion. It’s just creative choices I get to make.
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My thought process when I see someone I want to photograph is usually the same wherever I am.

Unless the stranger you just asked to photograph is a skilled model, they’re probably a little nervous about being photographed, especially by a stranger on the street. It’s like approaching wildlife; you have to assume there are only a few moments to get the shot before they runoff.

Fiddling around with your camera while they wait gives them time to get nervous and bailout. The more professional or skilled you seem gives your subject confidence.
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Before I even approach a person, I make sure I’m ready to take the shot.

Aperture: I set an aperture of F4 or F5.6. I normally shoot on aperture priority (AV) anyway so it's just a roll of the dial for me.

Choose the lens: I often shoot with a midrange zoom lens. On my 17-55mm lens I rotate the zoom to about the 50mm mark. Now I will treat it like a fixed 50mm lens.

Auto-focus point: I’ll probably shoot a vertical frame so I make sure my auto-focus point is on the top third of the frame (where my subjects eyes will be.)

Location: Now I look for a good place to take the portrait. I’m looking for a simple background. If it’s a bright sunny day, I’m looking for a simple background AND some open shade. Because I'm dealing with strangers, I look for something in the immediate area. Often times, I’ll just hang out at the interesting or ideal location and wait for an interesting subject to come along. It’s easier for them to say yes if they are already there.

This can take 20 seconds or less without even raising the camera to my eye. (of course I’ll make changes to some of these settings as the shoot progresses, but being setup like this will ensure a get few great shots right off the bat.)

With all of these things done, I can now approach the person and politely ask if I may photograph them. At this point, my camera is just hanging on my shoulder until they agree. If they say no, I’m not going to take a shot anyway. That’s just not cool.

Talking is important. Engaging your subject with small talk will help them forget the camera and look more relaxed and natural. When they agree, I ask them to move into the spot I had in mind. It's never more than a few steps away. Sometimes they surprise me and have some ideas too. That's a good thing. It all starts to work.

It helps to show them some shots on your camera after a few frames just to get them to relax. Don’t show them the one when they blinked or went cross-eyed, these never help their confidence.

It’s amazing what people will do after you’ve shown them a beautiful shot of themselves. They suddenly have ideas for locations and poses and my job just got easier. It doesn’t always flow like that, but the more skilled you seem the easier it will be.

When my subject gets more comfortable and into it, that’s when I might take the time to change lenses, locations or try adding some light. Since they're comfortable now, I'm not in such a hurry to get it done and cut them loose.

When taking portraits of strangers, the most important thing is to know your gear inside and out and keep it simple. Be prepared to get the shot and don’t make them wait. Ordinary people respond positively to someone who seems to know what they’re doing.



The shots from the top down:
1. Havana, Cuba. This was a lucky shot. No prep, a borrowed camera and a single frame. You can't always be lucky.

2. Barra de Navidad, Mexico. A cowboy pauses for a quick shot.

3. Bagan, Myanmar. This young Burmese monk was collecting alms in a temple.

4.Bangkok, Thailand. A monk waits for a train in Hualomphong station. 20mm lens slow shutter to show motion in the train.

5. A pretty girl pauses for a smoke during a quick photo session.

6. Xian, China. Hard light matches the vibe she's giving me. I didn't ask her if could take her photo first. Cooperation is always better.

7.Xian, China. A muslim man in the Great Mosque. 80-200mm lens at F4

As always, click any image for the larger version. TR