7 Street Photography Rules You Should Definitely Break

This is the only rule that we insist you break. Street photography is all about spontaneity and capturing moments. That is hard to do when you have to worry about adjusting your ISO, aperture, etc. Stay in program mode or aperture priority. We suggest setting cameras to f/8, ISO to 400 minimum, and letting the shutter speed on auto.

We hear this all the time, but the reality is there is potential in every shot, even shots from behind. We’re not suggesting that you take all of your shots from behind, but it definitely has its time and place artistically. Point is, if you see something interesting, capture it.

Street photographers typically shoot eye level. Although this seems like the obvious thing to do, try getting different angles by shooting away from your eye. Try from high up or down low, point is, try different perspectives.

This is not always possible. Sometimes there’s nowhere to hide from your subject. If I’m shooting with a 35mm or 28mm lens, you are going to see me. But if your subject can see you, so what?

This rule came about in the film days when it was much harder to crop. Nowadays cropping is easy, so if it looks better cropped, crop.

We are not saying to always shoot in 70mm, but give it a try. Experiment, don’t always stick to the same lenses. Perhaps the extra compression will give your shots an interesting look.

We understand that composition is important, but sometimes when you are shooting street photography you can’t always ask your subjects to get into position, but when opportunities are limited, you just have to get what you can get.