I often get asked how do I find photos to take when I’m walking around a city… and the answer is not as complicated as many people think it is. In fact it is more of a science rather than an art and I will share my approach with you today.

Purpose

The first thing I need to decide is the purpose of going out to shoot. Am I going for a specific shot or do I just want to wander round and see what I can get? Am I alone or am I shooting with others? What do I want to have achieved by the end? How I answer those questions will influence everything else. Because if I want to go alone and work on my craft, then I might go to a certain location and use a certain lens. However If I want to just wander round with a friend and see what I can get, then it’s different location and a different lens.

Location / Route / Weather / Season / Time

Once I know why I’m going out, I can then plan the route or just pick one location. Of course the weather and time of year play a huge part in this too. If it’s a rainy evening in January, then I will pick a different location and maybe a different lens compared to a summer morning. I will also plan my route based on where the light will be coming from. For example, in London between October and April, I will typically start shooting in the east and then head west while remaining on the north side of the river. This ensures that I always have good light coming from where I want and it will follow me as I walk the route. The light aspect will make more sense in a minute.

Gear

Now that I know what why and when, I can select the gear that I want to use. If I am going somewhere very open or I’m shooting details, then I would bring my 50mm prime. If I am going somewhere more tightly packed and want to get the mood and environment, then I would pick the 27mm prime. In most cases I tend to shoot both so I would bring both primes. If I am in a fast paced scenario, shooting out of a car, in bad weather or don’t know what to expect, then I would chose the 24-70 zoom.

Light

To me, light is the most important thing. Without good light there is no good photo. Light can transform the most boring scene and it can ruin the most interesting one. However not all light is created equal and personally I look out for either backlighting or side lighting. So the source of light or the brightest part of the image has to be either behind the subject or from the side. This allows the the light to wrap around the subject thus adding more depth to the image. Next time you watch your favourite movie, especially one that is known to be well filmed, pay close attention to where the light is in relation to the subject.In most cases it would be either behind or from the side. So now when I’m walking from East to West as mentioned earlier, I have good side and backlight all the way through.

Composition

Once we have a good source of light, the next thing is to find a good composition. This is a very deep topic however in general, a well composed photo is a well balanced photo. In a typical scene we have different elements:

Bright highlights and colours
Negative / empty space
Details and busy areas
Boring shadow areas

Each of these will command a certain amount of your attention. The highlights and colours will take most of your attention. The shadows will take the least. The negative space and details sit somewhere in the middle. So in a typical scene we are just trying to balance all those against each other. If we have too many highlights at the top and not enough shadow detail to balance it out, the image will feel top heavy. If we have too much negative space to the right but not enough details to the left to balance it out, the image will feel unbalanced. The goal is to balance all these different elements to get a well balanced thus well composed photo. Of course we have all the usual extras like leading lines, framing and foreground element which are powerful tools. However they can’t fix an unbalanced image. So use them as ways to make a good composition even better and not to rescue a bad one.

Subject

Now we get onto the most subjective and divisive part. Everyone has an opinion on what is a good subject and what is a bad one. Everyone also has an opinion on what subject counts as street photography and what subject counts as something else. Truth of the matter is that no one is right or wrong. Subjects are subjective and it depends entirely on where you are. For me, if you can find it in a street, it is street photography. So people, buildings, transport and whatever else you will see in a typical street. In Lisbon a classic tram might make a good subject but take a modern boring tram elsewhere in Europe and it’s no longer interesting. In the Mediterranean, the window frames and blinds will make for a great photo but in the UK they will definitely not. In New York or London you will get amazing moody scenes, but in the tropics you probably won’t. So at the end of the day just shoot what you find interesting. If you like window blinds, go for it. If it’s silhouettes, knock yourself out. The more you shoot what you like the quicker you will find your own voice within this space.

Story

Another popular concept that’s getting thrown around is the idea of a story in a photo. Now although having an image with a story is great, in my opinion it is not essential for every image and if anything, you want some photos which are just visually pleasing and nothing else. So what is story? In my opinion an image with a story is an image that makes you feel a certain way given the context of the photo. Below is a photo from a warm late summer London sunset. A cityscape would have worked but by having this guy sitting here with a cigarette, it further puts you in the scene and makes you feel like you’re there chilling. Also if you ask questions, then there’s a good chance the image has some kind of a story. For example in this photo from an NYC subway. Who is the girl hiding from? Why is the girl in the carriage staring at her? This could be a still from a thriller.

Photosets

Finally whenever I am out, I always try to come back with a photo set and very rarely do I aim for one amazing photo. In my opinion having a solid photo set with a selection of a good images, is a better way to tell a story of a location or event than just one amazing image. The amazing image can be the leading one, but having some details and establishing shots for context can make a huge difference. In a typical photo set I will be looking for 3 types of photos. The first is establishing or wide. This tells the viewer where you are. The second is a subject or medium photo. For many of us this could be our strongest photo and is typically of an interesting subject within that location. The third image is a detail shot of something interesting or unique to that location. It does not have to be an amazing photo, just visually pleasing. It will be use to break up the photo set.

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