Street photography may not be the most popular kind of photography in Nigeria but one can’t deny it’s quickly getting more traction. However, unlike foreign climes where you could show up with your camera, take shots and move on without any issues, Nigerians are incredibly sceptical about having their pictures taken (especially anywhere outside events – probably someone thinks you’re going to use their picture for something diabolical!). Either way, that shouldn’t stop us from pursuing what we love doing; it just means we’ve got to get creative about it. This was the subject of discussion on the PixelsAndLens Whatsapp group yesterday evening (drop your number in comments to get added up) and I decided to put up a few pointers to taking street shots without trouble. Here goes!

Use A Phone Camera: One sentiment I’ve heard expressed severally is that phones aren’t good for photography. This isn’t exactly true – you can take great shots with phones – I take shots with my phone all the time. Sure, DSLRs would give the best outputs but one huge advantage to street photographers is that using your phone makes it less obvious that you are taking shots. There are lots of phones with cameras that are just awesome for photography – street photography inclusive. IPhone 6S, Samsung Galaxy S7, Microsoft Lumia 950XL and LG G5 are just a few examples of phones that turn out great shots.

Employ A Bit Of Acting: I know, it’s weird that you might have to act a bit just to get a few shots in but trust me, you don’t necessarily need to put up an Oscar winning performance. One thing I do while using my phone to take shots is to appear like I’m dialling a number or I squint like I can’t properly see what’s on my phone screen but I’m actually taking pictures. I once had to act like I was wiping the lens of a DSLR camera while taking a street shot (mainly because I was in a pretty rough area of town – last thing I wanted was to be surrounded by a group of toughs wondering why I’m taking pictures of them!); meanwhile, I was clicking away at the intervals my hand wasn’t actually covering the lens. Be creative!

Learn To Shot Without Looking At Your Target: Yes, I know, this is incredibly difficult. The most important tool for any photographer is their own eyes. However, getting your scene and taking shots without looking at them is a way not to draw attention to yourself when taking street shots. Whether using a phone or DSLR, this skill is pretty important as it could help you take lots of shots without getting noticed. What you could do is look at your scene/target, position yourself in a way that would allow you raise your camera or phone to take the shot, then look away before clicking the shutter button. Also, take a number of shots in quick succession if using this technique to increase your chances of getting the perfect shot as you may not be able to instantly review your shots. Trust me, even if people think you might be taking shots of them, they won’t be too sure and would be less likely to approach you.

Turn Off Your Flash And Shutter Sound: One of the biggest giveaways for anyone taking shots while out and about are the sound of the shutter (especially if you are using your phone) and your flash going off. Trust me, I’ve been there before. They call attention to you. Now this makes things difficult in low-light situations or at night when you absolutely need your flash to get any thing out of the shot. However, if your scene or target is bright enough and your flash isn’t needed, turn it off.

Take Shots In Motion: This one works a lot for me. Sure, lots of times you’d prefer to be stationary so your lens can properly focus on the scene and to prevent blurring but being stationary is an attention grabber as well. Taking shots while on the move makes people less likely realise you’re taking shots of them as they would more than likely expect you to be stationary when taking shots. To help make things easier, you could slow walk so there isn’t much camera movement resulting in an unfocused or blurry shot.

Take Shots In Crowded/Busy Places: This works great, almost all the time. The more people are in an are, the less likely anyone would focus on you and what you are doing with your camera/phone. Of course, one disadvantage of taking shots in busy or crowded places is the increased likelihood of people getting in the line of the shot and blocking the view/scene but you’re more likely to get more chances to take more shots without being noticed. Of course, this being Nigeria (especially certain parts of Lagos I’m familiar with), be very vigilant so someone doesn’t try to grab your phone/cam or knock it out of your hands by mistake if it’s not tethered to you somehow.

Pick A Vantage Point Where You Won’t Be Noticed: This is pretty important, especially when using a camera and not a phone. If you know you’re more likely to get noticed, pick a spot where people wouldn’t really notice or see you. I’ve taken shots from inside busses, sitting in a shade, from inside buildings….anywhere that would mean I would take shots without drawing undue attention to myself. Just look at the surrounding of where you want to take your shots from and try to find a spot or place where you can easily snap without getting noticed.

https://pixelsandlensnigeria./2016/08/13/a-few-tips-for-the-nigerian-street-photographer/

Where have you been all this while brother?

Great stuff.. I do this like everytime

monlawal:
Where have you been all this while brother?

Lol, right here, alive and well. Thanks for asking!

senbonzakurakageyoshi:


Lol, right here, alive and well. Thanks for asking!

ok boss. There was a story you wrote from way back before the nairaland apocalypse i enjoyed it. The name though. Are you chinese?

Helpful tho

Thanks a lot, nice tutorial BTW Check diz out and smile a bit


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EV5QabTs2co&hl=en&gl=NG&client=mv-google