Ghatahora Photography: High Street Photography

Tuesday, 31 March 2015

High Street Photography

Taking photographs of the High Street is one of my favourite subjects, simply because its fun and easy to capture the mood.

Here are a few points to keep in mind when taking the photographs:

The right camera settings on both SLRs and Compact Cameras
If allowed, use a tripod. Keep in mind that many places will not allow the use of tripods.
Plan where to take the High Street photographs.
Time - is it a day time shot, or a night shot.
Think about composition, how to include people in the photograph, leading lines, colour, close-ups etc
Exposure - if taking photographs at night, it's always best to over and under expose the shot by 0.3. (use this as a guide only, adjust according to your image) Every camera will have a '-+' symbol.
Final finished image — before I take any photographs, I always think about how I want the final finished image to look. If it's going to be in colour, sepia, b/w or do I need to add noise/gain in the final image to create the mood and atmosphere.

Settings for Compact Cameras

Day-Time

Use 'Landscape' Mode (it will give you the maximum depth of field)

Night-Time

Use 'Sunset', 'Fireworks', 'Night' Modes (every camera is different, please check your camera manual to see which mode gives a slow shutter speed. Use these as a guidance only)

Set SLR cameras on either Aperture Mode or Shutter Mode.

Here are some photographs of High Street Photography

1. This photograph was taken on fully 'Manual' using a tripod. Using a slow shutter speed has created movement of the people walking around in the frame. Photograph taken in Singapore, Sentosa Island.

2. Image taken on 'Manual' mode - Sentosa Island, Singapore

3. Photograph outside a shopping mall in Bangkok, local people offering flowers and fruits at the temples made outside the malls.

4. Bangkok - people praying outside the shopping mall

5. Lunch time rush hour in Singapore

6. Tall buildings - Singapore

7. Olympic torch relay - Basingstoke 2012 (below image was taken with a compact camera)

8. Newquay, Cornwall High Street - the image below was taken using a compact camera, which was set on 'Night' Mode. The image had a slight camera shake, so I have added extra noise at post production, simply because I was using the camera without a tripod. The colour of the image has also be changed in post production.