As another year of Street Photography gets underway , its time to make plans for the months ahead, the flat lighting and lower temperatures might not be motivating you at the moment but its time to establish a few aims and objectives
Review the past year , use the "WHY" question to analyse your successes, motivations and failures , establish in your mind what success is, success comes in different shapes and sizes and can only be measured on a personal level . The pictures and activities that make you happiest are the ones that you should consider to be the most successful, , my Street Photography is undertaken with a smile on my face , sometimes I actually laugh out loud at the things I see and shoot on the streets. I hope this shows in my pictures.
Remember a bad days Street Photography is better than a good day at work !
Plan to shoot a few events this year or challenge yourself to shoot a few different cities . While on the subject of shooting cities, try to establish a street photography route in the city you shoot most , you'll be surprised by how much a established route changes once you start looking deeper on a regular basis, you will also become aware of how the light changes throughout the day, allowing you to predict and exploit the best light.
Plan to shoot different , try long exposures, blur, flash, high view points and low view points, embrace alternative techniques, this will help you to grow and learn as a photographer.
Decide what you want to achieve this year and take action to make it happen , if you fail to get "the" shot you want, return again and again until you get what you want , the picture below might look like a casual capture however it did not give itself up easily ! Eventually (3 Years later) I got it !
I tried to shoot this scene in a rain storm without success, the bottom line is that all weather conditions can be the right conditions if you have a few ideas put aside, ready to be used on , dare I say it "a rainy day" !
I hope this piece has inspired you to set aside a few dates in your diary, to do something different this year or even revisit a location that did not deliver for you last time.
Although most of us embrace a spontaneous photographic approach on the streets this does not exclude us from being organised and making plans, setting time aside for your street photography will help you to achieve more, it will also give you something relaxing to plan around and look forward too ,
Persperation or Inspiration ?
Keep it real !