New to Street Photogaphy, Need Inspiration

[Tri Danimal]

As the title says I'm new to street art/photography. I enjoy walking around looking at stuff and people watching. Show me some of your ideas to help me start generating some ideas. Please.

[Shadowman]

Hi Daniel,

What's your style of shooting; frequent mover, scout out a location and setup post, or shoot from the hip?

[rpcrowe]

Daniel, one way to do this could be, as mentioned by John above, to find a sign, billboard, etc., that might in conjunction with a passerby, add up to a good shot. An example might be a shot of a sign with a sexy gal in a bikini being looked at by an old woman passing by. Or... a sign with a buffed out male (advertising a health club) with a guy with a big belly walking by.

Unfortunately, I do not seem to get as enthused about street photography shooting in my own area as much as I do when I am traveling to a foreign land...

[Manfred M]

I think the best way for you to get started is very much a two-part exercise:

1. Look at the work of street photographers past and present to see how they handle this genre. Once you understand what you like and what you don't try to figure out how you might want to approach shooting some of your own street images.

2. Post your work on a site like CiC and have your shots critiqued. You will probably agree with some of the comments and disagree with others. Go out and shoot again and you will start mastering this genre.

I generally point people to the work of Henri Cartier-Bresson; much of his work falls in to this genre. Diane Arbus, Vivian Maier, Gary Winogrand and Alfred Stieglitz are some of the old masters that have influenced me. Zack Arias is a current photographer who works in this genre.

[RBSinTo]

Daniel,
By coincidence a good Photobud told me yesterday of a group he took out recently to do street photography after giving them an introductory seminar on the subject. He told me that when the dozen or so photographers were out on the streets, they bombarded him with questions on how to decide what they should be shooting. He explained that that decision was up to each individual based on their personal interests, and what stories they wanted to tell. Despite this, they seemed to have trouble with this concept until they got together to review each other's work, where he noted that while they all visited the same streets at the same time, virtually everyone had different photos of different scenarios. It was only then that they grasped the concept he had been trying to explain.
We who shoot candid street can give you any number of suggestions on topics (which is what I assume you are asking for) but in the end, only you can decide what stories are important for you to tell with your pictures.
Robert

[Tri Danimal]

I am mostly a shoot from the hip kind of person. If I see something that looks interesting I'll try to capture it. That being said I haven't really had any practice doing it just yet. I guess I need to get out and start going to random events.

[Shadowman]

I am mostly a shoot from the hip kind of person. If I see something that looks interesting I'll try to capture it. That being said I haven't really had any practice doing it just yet. I guess I need to get out and start going to random events.

Daniel,

Not familiar with southern California but had the chance to shoot in L.A. and S.F. and these cities are good grounds for street photography, although I've read that some photographers prefer other types of cities. I usually look for older neighborhoods that are starting to transition or areas where flea markets, city centers (look for areas where lots of people tend to congregate). Busy areas are good for testing your skills, as you get more comfortable with your gear and style you may find that composition becomes more important to you; although your hit rate may lessen as you alter your style. Looking forward to seeing some of your shots.