This is for the Nervous Street Photographer.

[Music] this video is for the nervous Street photographer those who find themselves stuck every time they set foot outside with their cameras what are people thinking what will this person say these questions might run through your mind so much so that you might never end up raising the camera to your eye and what are you left with a pit in your stomach and no photos it's no wonder why a lot of beginners stop doing street photography after a while because why would you want to go through that again oh foreign photography for many years I still get anxious about it at times it could be one of the best moments I've seen in a long time and I'll hesitate and not take the photo because I was just too worried about you know what the potential outcome would have been if I you know took the photo as painful as those instances are you don't learn to get over that by not trying it again you have to relive them again and again and eventually there might come a time where it no longer bothers you so if you're watching this video and expecting some quick fix to just immediately get rid of your nervousness when it comes to street photography that's not the case but that isn't to say that there aren't some things that you can do to help you get over this and you know slowly become more confident doing street photography so that's what I want to share with you all in today's video foreign [Music] first identify what's making you nervous in the first place before I get into any of my tips here I think it really makes sense to think about what exactly is making you nervous about street photography it could be that you aren't really confident with how to use your camera or maybe you're afraid of what people might be thinking of you walking around with a camera or you're worried about what someone might say if you photograph them maybe it's all of those things you might be surprised but doing this simple exercise of thinking about what exactly is making you nervous about street photography could help you overcome it in the long term just so you're aware of you know what's causing you to feel nervous I personally think this is a useful thing to do when it comes to you know overcoming your nerves so after we've done that let's get into the first tip don't bring a bag with you so this might sound kind of weird why would I be suggesting you to not bring a camera bag but there's a reason behind this part of what makes a lot of people nervous when it comes to street photography is the perceived attention that's drawn to them because of the camera around their neck you know you're walking around likely by yourself with your camera and just that might be hard enough for a lot of people and I know that to be true because I can't approached by a lot of people online telling me how hard it is to you know walk around taking photos and they oftentimes just keep the camera in their bag and never take it out to take photos if you're looking to get into street photography you're not going to get very far if you're not comfortable in public with your camera and you're obviously not going to be practicing and taking a lot of photos if your camera's in your bag it'll be a little like getting thrown into the fire but the next time you go out into the city leave the camera bag behind when you do that you'll have nowhere to put your camera but around your neck or in your hands and odds are you're more likely to use it when it's in your hand there really isn't anything to be embarrassed by taking your camera outside and using it more people are doing photography now more than ever and you know if someone sees someone with a camera that's just not an uncommon sight to see so even though you might feel like you stick out like a sore thumb it's not like people are seeing something they've never seen before so there's nothing really weird about it if anything people might be looking at your camera and they're thinking what model camera it is because they want one too or they're trying to figure out what vintage like a film camera your x100v is when it comes to street photography your camera is practically useless if it's tucked away in your bag so I encourage you to challenge yourself and leave the camera bag behind it will feel like ripping a Band-Aid off and it might be terrifying at first but you'll be surprised that for a lot of you you'll quickly get over it you can only do that through experience so why bother putting a delay on it start somewhere low-key a lot of beginners think that they need to do street photography in the busiest part of town that obviously isn't true you can take great photos anywhere so don't feel like you need to shoot in a really busy or crowded area heck I don't really like shooting in those types of environments myself so something I like to do is start off in a rather low-key area something like a public park like where I'm at right now and then I'll slowly work my way towards you know a busier part of the city I find starting out in an area like this is a really good way to ease into the process you can set up your camera for how you want to shoot you'll feel a lot more comfortable warming up and getting into the flow of doing street photography a little change like this can really go a long way if you're finding yourself struggling every time you try to start doing street photography so if a ton of people in large crowds makes you nervous don't shoot in those types of environments start your day off shooting in a low-key chill area and then you can slowly build up the confidence to photograph a busier area if that's what you're trying to do [Music] a lot of beginner Street photographers think that to do street photography you need to seek out interesting people on the street to photograph but that's just one way of doing street photography and I wouldn't necessarily recommend that way to people who are finding it to be really nerve-wracking rather than looking for interesting people look for interesting scenes pay attention more to your environment the light the Shadows how they form shapes against buildings look for pronounced colors or something unique about a particular area that might make for an interesting photograph hang around that area and visualize a subject within your frame if you're patient enough an interesting subject might walk by and that's your chance to combine an interesting scene and an interesting subject together to make your photo shooting this way takes out a lot of the anxiety of photographing people and it sort of flips the role on your subject to approach you rather than you approaching your subject you can set everything up on your camera the settings the composition all you need to do is wait and be ready to hit the shutter when the subject walks into frame [Music] I like to go about shooting street photography like this because I personally find myself more drawn to the environment and scenes that I come across more so than people but that's not to say that my subjects or the people I'm photographing are not important to my street photography now with all that said this might limit you and your creativity and how you shoot but when you're just starting out this can really help you navigate street photography and the nerves that come with it now I don't often find myself having to explain myself to people when I'm out doing street photography but ever so often someone might ask me and approach me what I'm doing I find that being upfront and honest when that happens is the best way to go about it so what I like to do is show some of my work and explain that I am a street photographer but rather than showing my Instagram page or my YouTube channel I just like to show my website because it's a much nicer presentation of my favorite photos I personally use Squarespace who are today's sponsor but I've been using them for close to five years now before I even started a YouTube channel when it comes to presenting your photography online a professional looking website can go a long way you don't necessarily have to be a professional to have a professional looking website Squarespace makes it so easy to start building a really cool website and they're continuing to make it even more customizable than before so if I ever get approached by a stranger and they ask me what I'm doing I'll quickly pop up a bookmarks page from my portfolio and show them some of my favorite photos there's also a QR code so they can scan it and bring it up on their own phone people are so much more understanding of what you do when you show your work like this and knowing this and having it in my back pocket literally it takes off a lot of the anxiety of shooting street photography so try square space for yourself and build your own website you can start a free trial and get 10 off your first purchase when you visit squarespace.com Faisal and use the code Faisal [Music] [Music] photograph what's actually interesting to you so much of street photography is photographing people and while I've talked a lot on this channel how it's not necessarily all about the people you photograph this style of street photography is what draws a lot of people to the genre but if you're simply walking around with a camera in the streets taking photos of random people you see it's going to be hard to do street photography like that and you probably will find yourself really nervous and I say that because there isn't any real reason why you're photographing someone if that person approached you and asks you why you took their photo you wouldn't know what to say because you don't really know yourself why you took the photo you'd be stuck you'd be figuring out you know the quickest lie you can come up with being in that situation would make anyone nervous I don't want to come off condescending when I say this but don't photograph people for the sake of just photographing people I speak for my own experience because I used to do street photography like that I would run around with my camera and photograph anyone I saw with no real idea what I was doing or why I was doing it maybe I was just practicing and getting used to my camera but it made street photography really nerve-wracking for me it's hard to do street photography like that but if you challenge yourself to be less trigger happy and take the time to be you know more observant you'll find moments that are a lot more interesting and worth photographing and here's where it becomes helpful for those who find street photography nervous if that person approached you and asks you what you are doing and why you photograph them your reason is right there in front of you there was an actual reason why you took the photograph and that's what you can say in response and explain to the person you photographed you can be fully confident and honest with why you did take that photo because you know why you took the photo something something about that scene or moment was interesting enough for you to hit the shutter you won't have to feel like you have to be kind some lie to explain yourself so you know taking the time to really photograph things that are interesting to you will in turn make you more confident doing street photography so I hope this tip helps those of you finding this genre of Photography a little bit difficult remember this it's completely normal to be nervous doing screen photography I know people who've been doing it for years and way more than I have and they still get nervous doing photography so it's completely normal if you're a beginner and you are feeling this just know that every time you go out and do it again and again that's progress and it's going to help you feel more confident in the long run so hope this motivates you guys or inspires you a little bit to head out there this week and make some photos for yourself alright that's all for me I'll see you guys in the next one peace welcome [Music] foreign [Music]

Channel: Faizal Westcott

Views: 343,602

Keywords: street photography, fuji, film, fujifilm, analog, rangefinder, pov, gopro, X-E4, XE4, X100V, X100F, street photography tips, tips and tricks, techniques, uninspired, motivation, best street camera, best beginner camera, street photography basics, best film simulation, composition tips, get better at exposing, exposure tips, 35mm film stocks, kodak portra color, shooting manual, point and shoot, scanning photos, street photographers, how to shoot street, Nervous, shy photographer, introvert

Id: a_xCKrhFaUk

Length: 12min 3sec (723 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 11 2022