Exploring streets for hours on end without a map is my favourite way to travel.
Getting in the steps and playing the game of blending in. Walking with a purpose and a head on a swivel, looking around at every angle, leading line, shape, and framing opportunity feeling like a dog distracted by squirrel after squirrel.
I’ve always had anxiety of approaching strangers to take their photos. The easiest way to grow your portfolio with diverse faces and looks is to stop those you admire who are around you. Season of East Vancouver is an inspiring project that captures the eclectic looks of Vancouverites and has pushed me to stop more people, give them a compliment, and hopefully a portrait they’re excited about.
Photographers Greg Girard and Fred Herzog both inspired me to take on street photography in my own city of Vancouver, but taking street photography travelling and using it as a catalyst to explore new places and build relationships has been my creative fuel.
I wish I could say stopping people is easy; I still struggle with it today and often opt for the headphones-in and secret photograph of passersby – a style of street photography I’ve grown to love and prefer. I find my state of flow walking streets and playing the covert game, which results in the most candid photos possible of people naturally in their element.
One strategy that made taking the leap and talking to strangers (which has only become harder after COVID) is removing the word “picture” from the conversation.
The line, “I love your _______. May I take your portrait?” has made it easiest to break the seal per se and spark conversation.
Whether approaching people or keeping a distance and shooting candids, every photo walk and journey taking street photos is unique and brings me back shoot after shoot.
After touring the beach towns of Hermosa Beach and Venice Beach, I had one afternoon in Downtown Los Angeles to capture every street photography opportunity I could.
Downtown Los Angeles is not everyone’s cup of tea – not is it a tourist attraction of any means these days. Keeping my distance while shooting and hip-firing wide angle candids allowed me to cover the most amount of distance and opportunities.
This was my first street photography experience using a Canon R5, an upgrade I had made a week previous. The eye-detecting focus system made shooting hip fire flawless. Before, my 15-30mm wide angle would capture maybe 10-15% of hip fire shots perfect when shooting strangers walking by on the street – only slightly more so if I only chose to keep the focal point in the exact middle.
The mirrorless focussing system and eye detection brought my success rate to close to 95% and eliminated the guessing and checking. Paired with a Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 II lens (with a converter for the Canon RF mount), it has quickly become my workhorse combo for all street, lifestyle, and fashion photography.
All the shots through this photojournal were captured at my hip and cross-street shots of storefronts were captured through the viewfinder. The moral of this post is that your comfort level approaching strangers should never impact the types of shots you can capture on a street photography walk. Whether you’re in a mood to stop someone or listen to a podcast instead and explore like a fly on the wall, street photography enables you to capture real emotion and storytelling in environments familiar and new. Schedule a day when travelling to walk 15, 20, 25km+ or to the max of your comfort level and tell a story with your shots as you explore.
