Street Photography: A seven-step plan for overcoming range anxiety

If you are like me, you might be squeamish about photographing people close up without asking permission. I enjoy photographing inanimate subjects, but the walking, talking, breathing kind: that’s a different story. However, thanks to some great advice, new skills, and nifty technology, I have turned a corner. Here’s how I overcame my street photography ‘range anxiety’.

Many of the world’s renowned photographers are or were leading exponents of street photography. Some people even view street photography as the highest form of photographic art. But what is it exactly?

I like the description I heard in a Thorsten Overgaard video. The sentiment goes something like this: ‘You go out on the street, you see something interesting, you photograph it.’

That might be a bit too general a definition for some. For one thing, it doesn’t explicitly mention people. Perhaps that’s not strictly necessary for a good street photo; the subject could be a dog. On the other hand, a large percentage of street photographs I have seen feature candid shots of people. They might be sitting, walking, or talking. But, there is something about them, in that instant, that makes for a good photo.

Street photography range anxiety

And here’s the problem. Although it’s perfectly legal to photograph someone in a public place, it has always seemed a bit too confrontational for me. It’s one thing to use a long lens and shoot a person looking in a different direction. Taking a photo of someone up close, especially walking towards me, is quite another. So, although I have dabbled a bit in photographing strangers, I have usually asked permission to take a portrait shot. Happily, most people oblige.

At the back of my mind, though, I have had this hankering to tackle ‘real’ street photography. The kind that photographers like Alan Schaller do so well. The kind that involves candid, close-up photos of strangers. Whilst popular, this approach is controversial. Not everyone agrees that taking someone’s photo without asking permission is acceptable. The differing perspectives on this subject will be considered in a future article.

Recently, I feel I have made a personal breakthrough in this area. It’s as if pieces of a puzzle, seemingly unrelated, fell nicely into place. All of a sudden, I can confidently photograph strangers. As I reflected on this expansion of my photographic comfort zone, I saw a series of steps I had followed. In fact, I had unknowingly followed a seven-step plan.

It worked for me; I am now enjoying candid street photography. If you are hesitant about photographing people on the street, perhaps it would work for you too.

The material shared below is probably obvious to many experienced Macfilos readers. Apologies for telling you something you already know.

But just in case you also suffer from street photography range anxiety, here are those steps I took.

Overcoming street photography range anxiety step 1: Embracing zone focus

I received a nudge in this direction from Editor Mike, in a conversation about focusing a rangefinder camera. He encouraged me to try pre-focusing the camera using the depth-of-field markings on the lens. This way, he said, without further fiddling, I could capture a sharp image as long as the subject was within my pre-defined zone of focus.

Months later, I thought about that exchange and decided to give it a try. My first efforts were with a Leica Q2. As an owner, I am very familiar with its 28mm angle-of-view. It had proved very useful for landscape and architectural shots.

I now began to see its usefulness in street photography, with its large depth-of-field (DoF) at narrow apertures. I followed Mike’s instructions and manually set the focus range using the information on its lens. Jackpot! When I set the aperture at f/8 and above, most of what I could see through my viewfinder was in focus.

My appreciation for the impressive DoF generated by wide-angle lenses was reinforced by another nudge.

I acquired a 21mm lens for my rangefinder after trying out one owned by another Macfilos shooter: Dirk Säger. I took a few shots using Dirk’s lens and was struck by two things. First, how much of the world was captured in the image. Second, it all seemed to be in focus. In fact, at f/11, its DoF runs from less than a meter to infinity. Wild!

My new 21mm lens was just the tool I needed to kick-start a new phase in my exploration of street photography. I set an aperture of f/8 or f/11, selected my DoF range, and off I went.

Step 2: Setting a high ISO, even while stopped down

When using aperture-priority mode, I usually set my ISO to AUTO and leave it to my camera to juggle shutter speed and ISO. However, this runs the risk of having a low shutter speed selected to keep ISO close to 100. I therefore set a minimum shutter speed in the AUTO ISO SETTINGS menu.

But with my aperture stopped down all the way to f/11, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I set an ISO level manually at 1600. This would guarantee good exposure at a shutter speed of 1/500s to 1/800s, even in shade. The risk of camera shake was therefore minimized.

If conditions were brighter, I would go with ISO 800 at f/8.

With these aperture and ISO settings, I was confident of having sharp, correctly exposed images. In some cases, I gently cropped an image to tighten up the frame and correct for pressing the shutter release a little early.

The risk with these approaches was having grainy photos, with no subject isolation. I will come to those issues below.

Step 3: Shooting from the hip, without using the viewfinder

While on the street, raising the camera to eye level to compose the image gave me the heebie-jeebies. It signalled unequivocally that I was in the process of taking someone’s photograph. This triggered my anxiety about being confronted by an irate stranger.

So, when I read about ‘shooting from the hip’, I was intrigued. Could I really capture a nicely framed, sharply focused, correctly exposed photo this way?

Well, I had already taken care of focus and exposure through Steps 1 & 2. So, the remaining issue was correct framing. Here is where my wide-angle lens was additionally helpful. I practised discreetly pointing the camera in the direction of a subject while judging their distance. When I was sure they were in the zone of focus, I pressed the shutter release.

My initial results were rather hit-and-miss. Two common problems were misjudging distance and not holding the camera level. These resulted in images where the person of interest was either too far away or was missing legs.

Hip-shooting hacks

To improve my hit rate, I used two hacks. The first was the articulated screen on my Lumix S5. Opened out, I could look down at the screen as the subject approached, framing the shot correctly. I held the camera at waist level, using my thumb to press the shutter release. Mike reminds me that if I had a Q3 instead of a Q2, I’d be able to perform the same trick of looking down on the screen.

As I developed a better sense of distance and timing, I began to look up just before taking the shot, gazing directly at the person. I think scarcely anyone would realise I was taking their photograph.

In addition to the Lumix S5, I also used my Leica SL2, with no articulating rear screen. The second hack ensured that when sat at my hip, this camera was also level.

I bought a pack of ‘mini-spirit levels’. Among the selection were two of the circular design, often used on tripods to indicate level in two dimensions. Using some double-sided adhesive tape, I attached the spirit level to the top of my camera. With a quick downward glance, I checked the camera level in both tilt and roll planes before taking the shot.

Over time, using these manoeuvres, I gained muscle memory, and no longer needed such aids. A quick downward glance was enough to confirm that the camera was reasonably level. The forgiving field-of-view of the 21mm lens took care of any remaining tilt and roll errors.

Here I was, on the street, photographing people to my heart’s content. However, with these chosen ISO settings, a number of my cropped photos were indeed grainy.  

Step 4: Using the ‘Denoise’ feature in Lightroom to fix grainy shots

I have written previously about this denoise feature in Lightroom, introduced in early 2023. I had used it primarily for nighttime and indoor shots, where lack of light necessitated a high ISO setting. In effect, I was now recreating that light deficit with my stopped down/high ISO approach to street photography.

I therefore began using Lightroom’s AI-assisted denoising option on my noisy street photos. It works really well. I try to make all other post-processing adjustments first, such as raising shadows, dealing with highlights and tweaking saturation. I then apply the denoise algorithm, usually accepting the default 50% level on the effect slider.

This routine has been especially useful for photographs I took late in the afternoon when the sun was low. If all the action is on the shady side of the street, that’s where I take the photos.

This step is clearly not necessary for all street photography shots. But it compensates for my selection of small aperture/high ISO settings to get sharp images. You could view it as the final element of a three-way strategy for achieving sharp, correctly exposed images.

Step 5: Using the new Lens Blur feature in Lightroom to narrow DoF

The inevitable consequence of choosing a narrow aperture to achieve a large depth of field is that both subject and background are in focus. Wouldn’t it be even better if the subject was in focus but isolated from the background? After all, that’s why we buy expensive, fast lenses and use them in portrait photography.

Once again, a machine-learning-based Lightroom feature offers the possibility of having your cake and eating it. Introduced recently, this option seems algorithmically related to the ‘portrait mode’ option on iPhones. The difference here is that I can apply it retroactively and to a controllable degree.

I offered a more thorough assessment of the feature in a recent article. But in the right situation, it successfully transforms an f/11 image into one shot with a much faster lens. I have used it on several photographs in this article.

Step 6: Choosing a project theme on which to focus

When out and about with my camera, I always see people walking dogs. I therefore decided to hone my street photography skills by taking candid shots of dog walkers. Although a somewhat quotidian subject, I hoped to capture some fun shots of people and pets.

I found having a theme to guide my early, tentative efforts at photographing strangers was helpful. And I did indeed capture a few fun pictures. The theme could be people jogging, cycling, or emerging from doorways. Whichever is a common occurrence in your neighbourhood might be the one for you.

Step 7: Practising every day

I live in a city with a year-round mild, dry climate and so regularly go for an afternoon stroll. I always take my camera, aiming to take at least one worthwhile photograph on each walk. This regular cadence has helped me to practice taking candid shots. It feels quite natural now to set my aperture and focus range as I set off, holding the camera at my hip.

I was even able to continue my street walkabouts on a recent trip Down Under, although not focused on dog walkers.

As in most endeavours, practice helps build muscle memory and confidence. My squeamishness has receded. I would now describe my attitude to street photography as embracing its edginess and even taking a few risks.

Overcoming street photography range anxiety — how do you do it?

I am sure there are many other paths to overcoming an anxiety about photographing strangers and so enjoying street photography. It’s also the case that there are many types of street photography, not all of which include people.

All I can say is that after a hesitant start, I am ‘on the road’ — or should that be ‘on the street’? I would be fascinated to hear how others view street photography, including techniques they have developed to become a stealthy street photographer themselves.

You are welcome to share your perspectives in the comment section below.

Read more from the author

Read the first post in this series

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