Instantly improve your street photography by relying on these three techniques

There are plenty of ways to grow as a photographer and improve your skills. In this video, Martin Kaninsky shares three techniques for street photographers that will help you up your game. But, I think it’s useful to have these techniques in mind no matter your preferred photography genre, so make sure to take a look.

1. Figure-background relationship

It’s important that your viewer clearly reads where your subject is, and the proper relationship between your subject and the background will make it easier. As Martin points out, this is something you actually experience every day when reading a text: you either have a dark figure on a light background (black letters on white paper/screen) or the other way around.

In photography, this means that your eyes will automatically look for the strongest contrast in the image. So, if you’re a street photographer, wait for your bright subject to walk into a dark background, or for a dark subject to enter a bright background. You can also reposition yourself to work out the scene.

2. Kissing and overlapping

When positioning the subject, mind the edges so they don’t “kiss.” Instead, make the subject overlap with the edges in the background. Additionally, make sure there are no poles, trees and similar objects that look like they’re going through your subject’s head. Again, move around and work out the scene. You can also use a wide aperture to blur the background, but depending on your lens and lighting, you won’t always be able to do that.

3. Edge flicker

Finally, always pay attention to the edge of the frame. Sometimes you can crop the photo, sure, but it’s not always the case. You might lose some quality, disturb the ratio, or cut your subject in some of the images. So, mind the elements that enter or exit the edges of your frame, because they take away the viewer’s attention from the main subject.

So, next time you go out to take some street shots, have these three things in mind before you press the shutter. I believe you’ll be happy with the photos you make and end up with many more keepers.

[3 Tips for Instantly Improving Your Street Photo Game | Martin Kaninsky]