Originally Posted by
Shadowman
I've tried a technique described by Bryan Peterson, not necessarily for street photography but sometimes works.
1. Determine whether you want a Deep or Shallow depth of field image, set aperture accordingly.
2. Set shutter speed and ISO to get desired exposure.
3. Manually focus at a prescribed distance (1/3rd into foreground for Deep dof, no where in particular for shallow).
4. Compose shot for your desired capture.
The shallow dof works best for cityscapes, protraits,etc. The deep dof works best for street photograph but depends on the type of lens you are using. For telephoto lens in the 100-300mm range you may not be able to focus on a subject standing within five feet of you and closest acceptable focus range may be thirty feet away. For wide-angle lenses at the short end your subject will have to be closer than you might like. With a mid-range zoom (18-70mm) you should be right on target.