Top tips for shooting unique street photography

Street photography has been around for as long as cameras have been portable enough to carry easily. It's a genre that includes a broad range of styles, but it's loosely defined as non-staged images shot in public. Most people think of the New York style from the 1960s to 1980s as the quintessential street photography – fast-paced shots, sometimes taken right in people's faces. However, like all types of photography, it has evolved.

In an era when everyone has a smartphone in their pocket, serious street photographers differentiate themselves by the quality of their camera-shot images and their creativity. They may stick to the style above, but they do street photography in their own way.

Take Andres McNeill. Based in Glasgow in the UK, he has gained a substantial social following for his dramatic, architecture-led shots of the Scottish city. For Andres, buildings come first, then the people.

Here he shares his tips for shooting in the street.

• Observe the world
• Find a style that inspires you
• Embrace creative perspectives
• Use the weather to your advantage
• Be respectful
• Street photography kitbag

When Andres goes out on a day's shoot, he deliberately avoids overthinking where he's going, instead responding to what he sees. That said, he has a sense of what he's looking for. "​​I would say that I'm a little bit different from a lot of street photographers, because I take urban architecture into account," he explains. "I'm interested in showing scale. I like to have a massive building and then people in the foreground to create contrast."

Andres will wander around until he finds a location that he thinks will make a powerful composition and then he readies his camera and waits. "I find a nice building as my background and the person crossing in front is almost secondary," he says. What makes the ideal subject is often based on a visual repetition or coincidence – "a person wearing a green top standing next to a billboard with a picture of a person wearing a green top, things like that".

When photographing people in a scene, it’s important to have a focal point in mind – whether that's the eyes of the main subject, the face of a central person in a crowd, or someone hurrying along the street.

Cinema is an important touchpoint for Andres, who composes an image "almost like an establishing shot in a film".

He stresses that there is no 'one size fits all' when it comes to street photography today. The things that catch Andres' eye most are the shapes and patterns of buildings, whether that's 19th-century Victorian edifices or the occasional Brutalist structures you find in Glasgow's streets. He says, "I'm a big fan of using leading lines, where the lines of a building lead you to a subject. Sometimes I'll shoot with a building on either side of the frame and then in the middle a person or maybe a taxi coming towards me.

"There are just so many ways to approach it," Andres adds. "The old way was always using 35mm, sometimes shooting from the hip, up close, whereas now we use such a variety of focal lengths. If you're feeling more introverted, you could use an 85mm or a 200mm and shoot from across the street and capture a moment that you might miss at 35mm."

To create distinctive images, try shooting from an unusual angle or unconventional viewpoint. One of the things Andres loves about Glasgow is the different perspectives and layers he can bring in frame because it's so hilly. The elevation is also great for capturing sunsets.

Another useful technique is looking for reflections in windows or other shiny surfaces. As well as windows, you could also try experimenting with puddles and rivers to create interesting compositions.

If you're shooting street images, consider what's unique about your own city and use that to make your images interesting and individual.

It may have a beautiful built environment, but Glasgow is also one of the UK's wettest cities. Andres doesn't mind. In fact, he checks the forecast hoping for rain. "My friends and family hate me for it," he laughs.

"Working with EOS R System cameras, because the resolution is so high, I can see every droplet of rain," he adds. "The rain just gives images a totally different look to what you would take on a summer's day. It's more of a moody look." Also, umbrellas are great props.

It's always advisable to check the legalities of street photography where you plan to shoot – but, generally, most countries permit photography in public places unless otherwise specified. That includes photography of pedestrians on the street and people in public places such as parks.

All the same, photographing strangers can be daunting. "Just be honest about what you're doing and let your passion shine through," advises Andres, who normally takes the shot and then, where possible, goes and talks to the subject and shows it to them on the back of his camera. You could also offer to share the images, or give the subject your social details so they can view the images online.

Most people understand, but Andres will happily delete the image if they ask.

The compact size and low-light performance of Canon's mirrorless EOS R System cameras, from the full-frame EOS R8 and EOS R6 Mark II to the APS-C EOS R10 and EOS R50, make them a great choice for street photography.

Andres usually shoots at high shutter speeds in continuous burst mode. "I want to freeze the action and I don't want to miss the shot," he explains.

Traditionally, street photographers used 35mm or 50mm lenses, because that's closest to the way the human eye sees the world and therefore gives a natural perspective. The Canon RF 50mm F1.8 STM and RF 35mm F1.8 MACRO IS STM both give beautifully smooth bokeh and their wide apertures also help to create a cinematic effect, isolating the subject while keeping the background blurred.

If, however, your backdrop is as important as your subject, a wide-angle lens might be a better option. The super-compact Canon RF 28mm F2.8 STM has both a versatile focal length and a fast aperture for experimenting with background blur, making it an ideal lens for street photography. The all-purpose Canon RF 24-105mm F4-7.1 IS STM features optical IS to minimise camera shake and also gives you the versatility to capture both wide-angle urban scenes and more intimate street portraits. "Sometimes I like to be able to zoom in and create different perspectives," Andres says.

Shooting with a telephoto lens means you can keep some distance between yourself and the subject, so you don't have to invade their privacy. The Canon RF 24-240mm F4-6.3 IS USM is a hugely versatile 10x zoom lens, which is ideal if you want one lens with a focal length for every scenario

Street photography is the most accessible type of photography. You don't need a complicated, expensive setup to get started. You don't need to travel overseas, trek up mountains or sit for weeks in a hide until a rare creature appears. All you need to do is grab your kitbag, head out into the streets near where you live and get shooting. And it's a skill that gets better with practice. "Until you've trained your eyes, you don't realise that incredible moments happen all the time," says Andres. "It's just about being patient."

Fascinating subjects are right there on your doorstep. So get out there, be ready and hit the shutter.


Written by Rachel Segal Hamilton