Street Photography Workshop

I took part in a Street Photography Workshop run by Dave Mason yesterday and it was a thoroughly enjoyable and worthwhile experience.  My street photography experiments to date have been woeful, but taking part in this, so soon after meeting Matt Stuart was a real godsend.  The workshop was a good mixture of tuition and practical. 

The takeaway points from this workshop are below - unfortunately half my notes got lost on my iphone :(

• Use smaller camera if necessary
• Strong sunlight behind you - will camouflage you when people are walking towards you
• Stand in front of street furniture so people walk round
• Consider shooting from behind glass
• Bus project (shoot things you see along a bus route)
• Look for geometry eg people triangles
• Look down
• Look up
• People are strongest point in image
• Name the image after street or area so viewer can interpret the interest
• Break composition rules
• Look for colour harmony
• Look for urban details
• Exclude heads so other elements stand out (otherwise people are drawn to faces)
• Go to events to snap people in the crowds (rather than the event) - particularly if in fancy dress
• Register with events pages and facebook to find out when these are on
• Dogs are good in street photography
• Look for signs/wording and wait for the appropriate moment 
• Follow people
• Check out Bruce Gilden on youtube
• Keep your ears open
• Try to predict what's going to happen
• Go to public events for people watching
• Check out Tony Ray Jones
• People dress up at sporting events
• Look at bodies in an urban space theatre groups
• Zombie walks
• Look behind the scenes at an event
• Start building themes
• Follow mime artists
• Look for backdrops
• Use F8-16, min shutter speed 1/60s and change the ISO
• Grain/noise is ok with street photography
• Saatchi gallery is a good location
• Check out Bruce Gilden/Joel Meyerowitz on YouTube

Dave was also kind enough to suggest using a different lens for street photography - I was using an 18-55mm which wasn't great in dark light - so I am now waiting for delivery of a prime 50mm lens with a 1.8 aperture :)

Some of the better photographs I took are: