You and your camera should always be ready for street photography

Because a good photo is just a second away from you. If you see something you should be able to react in a short period of time.

Here are my tips to not miss the most shots:
  1. take your camera out of the bag - in the bag it is too far away from your eyes and hands to react quick enough.
  2. hang the camera around your neck or us a small strap and hold it in your hand - I love to let my camera hang on the height of the left hip with a long strap around the neck. Just grab the cam and get your left arm out of the strap and pull the camera to your eye. Bam! If you are approaching a scene hold it already in your hands. I always turn my camera on when I grab it. Today's digital cameras are fast enough to be ready half the way you drag them to your eyes.
  3. use zone-focusing to avoid missed shots - when you draw your camera quickly to your eyes the scene could change in a short period of time. So in most situations you don´t have the time to do this (re)focusing-thing. I set my x100s to a distance of 3 or 5 meters at f8 (auto-ISO). This gives you enough range to get your subject into focus and concentrate more on framing (way more important). If you want to take a portrait or you have more time left then switch back to auto-focus and a different f-stop.
  4. always look for good light and analyse the scene - if you enter new place, building etc. let your inner camera work for you. Analyze from witch direction the light is coming. Are there interesting lines, backdrops and other things that can make your photo right? When you are aware of the scene you can react faster when something is happening in front of your camera. Maybe you need to dial in a different value of exposure compensation because the place is a bright white place or too dark etc. The key is to be aware of place, time and light.
  5. luck - yes. Sometimes I just fire my camera from the hip and get some great results. It´s a bit like gambling. But without some gambling the world would be a boring place.
Photograph a break by Nils Kuelper (robvisual) on 500px
you need to be stealth and quick to get good candid street photos (x-t1 / stockholm)

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