5 Ways to make Street Photography Easier

Street photography is not easy. Let’s not pretend the masters of documentary photography got there in 5 simple steps. They obviously spent an huge chunk of their lives out there doing the do, not pondering on how to make it easy. Therefore the idea should be to get better, not wish that things were easier.

But as with anything in life that requires progression, I think it’s important to break things down to make those steps of progression a little more approachable. Especially if you’re quite new to street photographers, i hope these following 5 ideas can really help set you off in the right direction.

The goal is to enter flow. When we’re in flow we’re focused, we’re zoned in, that’s when I believe we’re more likely to get better results. From personal experience being in feels like your way more attentive, observant and when a great moment presents - you’re ready to press the shutter button. But also being in flow could be when it’s most enjoyable, because that’s the whole point right? To have fun.

Activate Novelty

Whether this is a new location, using different gear or being with new people - ‘the rise of superman by Steven Kotler’ references that novelty can encourage flow state which can increase productivity. Try something you haven’t done before and that could spark creativity.

Restrict yourself to one focal length, if you always use the LCD screen, turn it off and now you’re only allowed the viewfinder. Don’t go outside, get frustrated or bored that your photos aren’t getting better if you’re not changing anything about your approach.

The danger here is to not get addicted to that ‘new camera’ feeling or ‘new location feeling’ because this novetly shouldn’t be motivation to get outside. Motivation is fleeting, we shouldn’t rely on it. But once in a while, definitely give yourself a reason to try something new and switch things up, the focus becomes on the thing you’ve changed and not the challenging idea of getting great photographs, which is out of our control a lot of the time.

Expect Nothing

Don’t even look at your photos. Try and go a day, 3 days, 2 weeks without even looking at your photographs you’ve taken. Then street photography doesn’t become about the results. Get into the habit, or accept the idea that you go outside to enjoy the process of taking pictures. You might be in the pursuit of always wanting to get better and constantly trying to improve but sometimes, that just doesn’t matter at all.

Having no expectations is a great place to start, you can’t be let down this way.

So maybe you get in from a full day of taking photos and you edit and export your files right away. I typically do this, but once in a while I might just dump my files onto a harddrive and leave them alone for a few weeks.

Separating myself and my opinions and my mood from the final images is a refreshing way of enjoying the act of street photography and not the result of street photography.

Anticipation, Not Reaction

Anticipate moments instead of being surprised by them. Instead of walking around waiting for something to get your attention or catch your eye (which could be never). Pay attention to the details, patterns, and movements around you. Train yourself to spot interesting characters, compelling compositions, or juxtapositions. By constantly scanning your environment, you can begin to anticipate when these elements might align to create a visually compelling moment.

This is a proactive approach, not a reactive one.

Another technique is to imagine "what if" scenarios in your mind. Visualize different possibilities and interactions that could occur within a scene. This mental exercise helps you anticipate potential moments before they happen, allowing you to be in the right place at the right time, hopefully.

Anticipation is not about predicting every moment accurately. That’s impossible. It's about developing a mindset of active engagement and readiness. This shift in perspective could create that little spark you need.

Set and Forget

Using auto camera modes like aperture priority can make street photography easier by allowing you to focus more on capturing the moment rather than worrying about technical settings.

When shooting in aperture priority mode, you can set the desired aperture (f-stop) while the camera automatically adjusts the shutter speed and ISO. this means you just control the depth of your focus, f8 - f11 to get most of your frame in focus, or maybe if you want that shallow depth of field for subject separation you’re using f2 - f4.

Using aperture priority mode allows you to react quickly to changing lighting conditions. As you move through different environments in the streets, the lighting may vary, and having the camera set to automatically adjust the exposure helps ensure proper exposure ish without missing a shot.

I think this is an obvious comment really, we just want to simplify the technical aspect of street photography, allowing you to focus more on composition, timing, and capturing the moments that matter when a scene is unfolding in front of you.

Create Triggers

In the book 'The One Thing', the quote "the person that tries to capture two rabbits, catches neither" is used to emphasise the importance of focus and prioritisation. The idea is that if you try to chase after multiple goals or tasks at the same time, you spread your efforts and attention too thin, making it difficult to achieve significant progress or success in any one area.

The underlying message is that by narrowing your focus to one important task or goal, you can maximize your effectiveness and increase the likelihood of achieving significant results. So how can we apply this to street photography?

Start by creating triggers for yourself. Go on a walk and only look for the colours red and yellow. How creative can you get with only those 2 colours. Maybe before when you’re hunting for everything you see nothing. Using red and yellow as our trigger we might learn to see things we never considered before.

I certainly have a bunch of these triggers in the back of mind. I might not intentionally narrow it down to 1 or 2 things anymore but over the years I’ve banked a few classic triggers that keep my eyes on the look out for potential images. The colour red is just generally a big trigger for me, I always notice it. Peoples gestures, matching outfits, funny expressions. These are all things that I notice without even seeming to try. So why not start by looking through some of your favourite photographs or photo books and make notes of why you like them, is it the compositions, the mood, the people, what is it about those images you first notice. Steal those ideas and focus on them next time you’re out shooting.