Being ready to shoot
Reading my posts in the “How I took the shot” series, I realised they might come across as brag. But that’s not what I’m trying to say.
My point is rather, that in street photography there’s always a lot of luck involved – simply because for candid street shots you can’t plan anything. But also – that being patient and prepared are valuable skills to get better at as a street photographer.
By “being prepared” I mean both paying attention as well as having your camera set up correctly. There were many more unsuccessful attempts in the past where I waited and nothing interesting was happening. Or I didn’t wait long enough. Or I didn’t get the shot, because
- I was not paying attention or
- my settings weren’t right or
- I wasn’t quick enough or
- I didn’t dare to take the shot.
And that’s way worse: You can’t do anything about it when nothing interesting happens. But you can be ready, if it does. So I try to eliminate these four issues as much as I can. And then I’m sometimes even at the right place at the right time.
