Travel and Street Photography: From Snapshots to Great Shots

5. Observation vs. Engagement

Grand Place, Brussels, Belgium

ISO 125 • Ilford FP4 film • 50mm lens

How to approach street and travel photography

Up until this point we’ve focused on building a strong foundation for your photography: equipment, planning, exposure, and composition. Now comes a bit of the classroom discussion before we head into the field. In this chapter, we’ll focus on the merits of observing versus engaging with your subjects, and we’ll review some of my real-life field experiences. The goal is to set the scene for future chapters, where we’ll dig into the specifics of getting the shot in both cities and rural destinations, ...