Shooting From The Heart, Or the Hip, or Somewhere

On my trip to France last May I was taken along to provide some photography advice and suggestions and possibly some direction for the travellers in the group. The design of the trip was quite casual. Gery from STI Canada  http://www.sticanada.com/ , who orgainized the tour, was pretty clear in his direction to me that the goal was to keep this fun and informative, and not like school with assignments and 'homework'. I was there to assist his clients in getting something extra from his excursions.
So days in Paris were often spent simply roaming and exploring places to get lost in that wonderful city.
It also gave me some opportunity to do some creative photography for myself and expand my own creative boundries. In fact, I reverted to some of my earliest days learning photography back in art school.

When photographers are first developing their understanding of the tools and have limited resources and experience, especially with giving direction to talent or models or subjects willing to pose for them, they often take to the streets to capture the action of everyday life and everyday people around them. I did a lot of that and enjoyed photographing people in all their quirky best. People watching is one of the most enjoyable past-times at any time, but in a city with a moving feast for the eyes, it is exciting.

So, I reverted to my early days of shooting casually with my camera in my hand, or hanging on its strap around my neck, to minimize my obvious intrusion into the vision of my subjects.

Digital cameras with autofocus make this exercise pretty simple and achieveable. I usually shoot on Manual (M) for the work I do, to maintain maximum control and understanding of what the camera is doing for me. I never shoot on Auto or Program because the camera takes too much control away from me.

But when shooting street shots without looking through the viewfinder, I find it advantageous to shoot on Aperture Priority (A). This allows me to pick the aperture that will give me depth of field adequate enough to keep my prey.....er, subject in the focus I want. Or, it can give me a shallower depth of field to create a more selective vision. Then, depending on the light situation, your camera will select the shutter speed to match the aperture for best exposure. If the lighting changes radically it may require you to select a different aperture. 

If you try to shoot various people on the move, in varying light, when set on Manual (M) you'll be having to change your setting constantly, and getting very inconsistant results technically.

My preference is to use my CANON 17 - 35mm 2.8 L series lens. This is clearly my most used and favourite lens for a range of subject matter. I prefer this lens so I can get reasonably close to my subjects and create a more intimate vision than when shooting with a long telephoto lens from a distance. It also increases my depth of focus and can include more of the scene around my subjects than a long lens will provide. I really feel that including some of the environment around the person of interest tells more of the story of where they, and you, are located and what the feel of the location can be.

Get out and explore your streets, or when you're in a different place find what's special in the regular everyday people of the place you're exploring. I don't know what it is, but people always seem to look different in different cities I'm visiting. And they make for great subjects.