Mindset in Street Photography

Shooting Street Photography is, like any other form of art and craft, demanding your utmost concentration if you want to come home with something.

Being on the street can be relaxing, you can just take a stroll and snap a few frames here and there, or try and concentrate and actively look for good images. But that is not enough. You need to really be there and give it your full attention to get results.

I often have been shooting and thinking of other things at the same time. Guess what? I was extremely unhappy with the results from that day. I wasn’t concentrating enough. At other times I was out there on the street but I wasn’t “inspired”. I was looking around keeping on complaining in my head how nothing interesting was going on. Good shots? Nope! Of course not! It’s when I was thinking positive, concentrating, really focusing that I was getting decent shots. Every time I got a passable one it was energising me to go on, persevere, and get a better one. And I was getting better ones. Those are the days when you are likely to get some keepers, maybe even a portfolio image.

I was listening to a Matt Stuart interview some time ago and he described these mental states brilliantly. What? Him again? Yes, him again, He’s really great. I’d like to use his definitions to describe them. There are three main mindsets he mentions (he calls them levels of engagement):

Negative mindset

Bad photography day. You think everything is rubbish and go out on patrol making sure nothing is happening.

Needless to say, nothing good will be recorded by your camera. That is something I experienced quite a few times, and you better stop and change mindset before continuing or you might as well go home and watch Netflix. More rewarding.

You will never see the best moments unless they slap you in the face, or you will mistime the shot, bugger the framing or the exposure, focus on the wrong thing. Which will reinforce the certainty that there is nothing worth shooting out there. Why bother then?

Engaged mindset

There is something happening, you’re feeling good and you see some shots. But it’s now time for a coffee or a sandwich. A deserved rest while looking at your favourite social network feed. Then you get out there again, you keep on shooting and seeing good stuff. Wait, I needed to send a reply to that message. And see what she’s doing tonight. Right, back to shooting! But I need to pee first…

The mood might be right, but the focus isn’t (pun intended). You will be missing a lot, and the shots will be sloppy. To use Matt’s words: you might come back with bits and bobs.

Completely in the zone

You forget where you are. You are fully engaged, concentrating and focused. In the zone…zone focusing! Sorry, couldn’t resist. Anyway, you can see the slightest movement, you detect the body language, you are almost thinking the same as the people you’re photographing. That’s when you forget about time, food, toilet. You are completely immersed.

This is when you can get to an almost zen level: you anticipate what’s going to happen.

And that’s when the great images are created. That’s when your portfolio welcomes new members to its exclusive club. 

Conclusions

We need to remember that even in a zen state the number of keepers and great images will still be really low. That’s the nature of Street Photography. But the number of failures will be an order of magnitude higher than when you are not fully in the zone. Of course a stroke of luck is often needed even for the most skilled photographer, but, as the old saying goes, “the more I practice, the luckier I get”. I would add, the more you concentrate, the more skilful you get! 

A stroke of luck might happen even if you’re not concentrating, but that will be a rare occurrence, and you might miss it because you weren’t ready.

Bottom line: if you want to get results, give it your best and focus. Maybe zone focus. Hehe…

I used a lot of Matt’s phrasing and words, but I think he really described it well. A big thank you to Matt Stuart for being an inspiration!

Thanks for reading and let me know what you think. Even if you don’t like my humour.