The 3 Key Skills to Master as a Street Photographer You May Not Be Aware Of

Photography by Polly Rusyn at Seville's Feria d'Abril showing a young girl in a yellow dress fighting for her candy floss!

We've all heard about hunting and fishing, working the scene, and observation as the main street photography skills and techniques to master right?

But there's more to it...

Hitting the streets with an open mind and the right mindset is everything, because being able to capture "the extraordinary in the ordinary" hinges on patience, spontaneity, AND belief!!!

3 key skills to master 

1. You have to be able to wait patiently but also know how long to hang around before ditching a place and moving on.

2. You have to be focussed with a vision and an idea in mind while being open to something random happening.

3. You have to be able to step out of your comfort zone and get up close to your subjects and immerse yourself in the scene (so much so you end up wearing a cloak of invisibility!)

Add these skills to the top 3 elements that take your street photography to the next level, that I wrote about in my last email and you are going to be WINNING!

 

>>> If you missed it you can also read it on the blog

  

"Street Photography for me is a combination of the art of observation and the science of composition, with a sprinkle of serendipity. It's a problem to solve, a jigsaw puzzle without a finished picture, and realtime theatre unfolding before my eyes." - Polly Rusyn

(that's me y'all!)

  

Join me on a street photography weekend workshop to learn more about how to NOT take boring photos ;) I will teach you The Curiosity Principle™️ and give you the Blueprint of what makes a great street photo! AND I'll help you train your observation filter... I will also share all the elements that make a street photo great! PLUS you'll hear me shouting "shadows are real!" 

 

>>> All upcoming Weekenders are now listed on the website

 

Here's everything you'll learn on a Weekender:

📸  How to set yourself up for success with the right mindset

📸  Ways of "working the scene"

📸  How to read the street and think like a street photographer

📸  How to "make something out of nothing"

📸  The keys to ambiguity and mystery

📸  Dos and don'ts of framing and cropping

📸  Things to look out for to create context and connections

📸  How to tell a story (or multiple stories) with a single shot

📸  The blueprint for a great photo

📸  An introduction to the gestalt principles of visual perception

📸  How to approach crowded places in multiple creative ways

📸  What to avoid and keep an eye on when shooting

📸  Ways to structure your images compositionally

📸  And more...

I don't hold anything back, and if you join a Weekender with an event I'll teach you how to shoot events like a street photographer not an event photographer!

🚨 What I DON'T do is stand a whole group in one spot and tell you what to photograph. Instead I share ideas, inspiration, tips, and tools so whatever image you capture is all yours. Learning takes trial and error, and getting good takes practice. And all of that leads to a true sense of satisfaction when you nail a shot!

 

Here are some of my favourite shots made in my favourite cities for street photography:

All levels of street photography experience are welcome on Weekenders! All assignments are created to be achieved by everyone wherever they are on their street photography journey. Some photographers who join me don't even need a workshop anymore - they just enjoy the experience!

 

>>> All upcoming Weekenders are listed on the website

 

SAVE THE DATES!

Hope to see you soon...

 

— Polly

p.s. Registrations for Weekenders 2025 open on Saturday 03 August 2024 (with early booking offers!)

 

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