Successful street photography involves instinctive reactions, quick judgments, and framing the shot without overthinking.
Using zone focusing in street photography with a focal length of 28mm or 35mm and slightly under-focusing can lead to capturing desired subjects and achieving quick and instinctive shooting without the need to focus.
Deep dives
Greg Litten's Background and Street Photography Journey
Greg Litten is a commercial photographer and former photojournalist based in Florida. He has been doing street photography since the 1980s and has always been fascinated with capturing people. He started his career in photojournalism and later transitioned into advertising and commercial photography. However, he still continues to shoot street photography with small cameras, primarily focusing on photographing people on the beaches of Florida.
Thinking Like a Gunfighter in Street Photography
Greg Litten draws an interesting analogy between street photography and gunfighting. He recalls his experience in the historical gunfighter location of Tombstone, Arizona, and how it made him think about the mechanics of gunfighting and its similarities to street photography. He breaks down the concept into a three-step process, comparing it to the movement of a gunfighter drawing and shooting their gun. According to Litten, successful street photography involves instinctive reactions, quick judgments, and framing the shot without overthinking.
The Benefits of Zone Focusing
Litten discusses the advantages of using zone focusing in street photography. He recommends a focal length of 28mm or 35mm for street photography and typically sets his focus to about 2.5 to 3 meters. Litten finds that it is better to slightly under-focus than over-focus in order to capture the desired subjects. He also highlights the usefulness of zone focusing with autofocusing cameras, allowing for quick and instinctive shooting without the need to focus. Litten emphasizes the importance of continuous practice and experimentation to hone one's ability to accurately judge distances and achieve sharp focus in street photography.
The Importance of Spontaneity in Street Photography
Litten emphasizes the significance of not overthinking and having a spontaneous approach in street photography. He refers to the adage 'don't think, shoot' as a reminder to trust one's instincts and capture the moment without hesitation. Litten believes that some of his best street photography images are the ones taken without much planning or premeditation, as they often possess a raw and emotive quality. He encourages photographers to be open to undiscovered possibilities and to continuously push themselves to recognize and capture compelling moments.
Photojournalist and commercial photographer Craig Litten has e had a camera in his hands since he was 15-years-old. From the beginning, his desire was to photograph people.
This led to a 20-year career as a photojournalist producing more than 10,000 published photos in print. Most recently he has been working as an advertising and lifestyle photographer for clients like Bose, Mizuno, Sun Bum & HBO.
In his free time Craig is an avid street photographer where he applies his skills creating personal projects.
Craig believes your strongest street photos are created when you shoot things that capture your attention instinctively, without thinking. His philosophy is “Don’t think…Shoot.”
In today’s program Craig explains his zen-like method of building muscle memory with your camera to training methods used by gunfighters the old west.
