Street Photography: Light, Settings and Lenses

The technical side of street work, kept simple. Three videos settle the camera settings that let you react fast, zone focusing removes autofocus lag altogether, and the case is made for a 50mm. The rest is about light: finding good light on the street, using reflected light, building mood and mystery, going high-contrast on bright days and making pictures when the sky is flat grey.

26 Jul 2024

How to Do High-Contrast Street Photography the Right Way

Rupert Vandervell dissects several of his high-contrast black and white street pictures, many from a week in Porto, explaining the light, timing and framing behind each. He favours quiet back streets around 4pm as shadows lengthen, checks frame edges, treats buildings as dark shapes and waits for one animated figure.