Smartphone techniques for better street photography

The rise of the popularity of smartphone photography has encouraged a lot of photography enthusiasts to try out street photography. Though it’s easy to get into, it’s one of the hardest to build up the courage to actually try. 

Image source: doublemesh.com

Hopefully, this tip sheet will show you how to start capturing great street shots. 

Shoot from the hip 

While many photography schools have taught that you shouldn’t shoot from the hip, in street photography, it’s actually encouraged. After all, what matters is the photo. Shooting from the hip helps in the candidness of the picture. Once you aim your smartphone from your chest, people will immediately think they’re being photographed and will act unnaturally as a result. Shooting from the hip will also yield you results that you find interesting because of the angle you’re shooting from. 

Avoid using the shutter button on your touchscreen 

If you’re shooting with an iPhone, the volume button on your headphones acts as a shutter, so you can appear listening to music while you take a photo. You’ll also get more stable shots because prodding the screen can make you lose stability. 

Don’t spend too much time perfecting your shot 

When you work with dedicated cameras, many photographers try to get the image as close to what they want it to be in the camera. But with a mobile phone, the emphasis is much more on fixing it later on in the post. The sensor on a camera phone is generally so small that your focus shouldn’t really matter. Avoid spending a ton of time perfecting your shot, because you might miss a lot of good opportunities in the process. 

Image source: highsnobiety.com

Shahriar Ekbatani here. My favorite photographic subjects include vibrant street scenes in cities around the world and candid pictures of everyday people. Check out my work by visiting my LinkedIn page.