Sharpen Your Street Photography

28/01/2026 In Photo Tips, Venture Blog By sengmah

We’ve just run the “Hit the Streets” workshop last Saturday and what a blast it was! As an added bonus, the City of Perth was hosting “Hoop Fest” which meant that the streets were thriving with crowds, making for great street photography opportunities.

“Streetographer” Sean Breadsell led the event, sharing his tips and techniques for capturing life on the streets. There was much to learn but the essentials can be distilled into three main points

Shoot what you like
Keep shooting (don’t stop)
Be brave — don’t let fear and anxiety hold you back.

Following on from this workshop, I thought I’d share some of my “top tips” to help “sharpen” your street photography vision and captures!

Street photograph of food delivery cyclists in Perth.

LEARN TO SEE

Good street photography isn’t about just snapping wildly and hoping that you snag something. It’s about recognising the inherent story or pattern in a moment.

Look for scenes or situations that grab your attention. Most of these will have mixed elements within it: juxtaposition, contrasting colours, action, interaction, emotion.

A good way to practice this is to people watch. Sit at an outdoor cafe and just watch what unfolds around you. Hone your attention into micro-scenes within the larger scene. Look for human interaction, dialogue, gestures. Watch for contrast in light or colour. Look for interesting patterns in the positioning of elements or people within a scene.

Don’t take photos. Just watch and recognise the potential in these microscenes.

The next time you head out with your camera, you’ll be more sensitised to finding these scenes.

Street photographed of layered scene in Forrest Place Perth.

SHOOT QUICKLY AND DECISIVELY

This means getting your settings right on the get go. You won’t have the opportunity to change settings once you have seen something with potential. So get this right before you even start looking.

When you shoot, you’re compressing a handful of seconds into closing in, framing, focusing and pressing that shutter button. You may snap off a few shots before you exit that moment.

For me, there is a kind of thrill in the challenge of finding and capturing that moment. Then moving out of it as quickly as you entered it.

Street photograph of people with dogs in front of a YES sign.

PICK A STAGE AND WAIT FOR THE ACTORS

If you’re not so much into “hunting” for the shot, another approach would be to find a setting or background that works. Perhaps it’s the content or detail of the background. Or perhaps it’s the way light plays on the background.

Get your settings right, then wait and watch. Look for the moment when there is an integration of subject and background. Something visual stepping into the light. Or a moment which allows for connection or juxtaposition with the background. It could be colour contrast, a gesture, anything that generates meaning for you.

Street photograph of a girl checking her smartphone in front of an M sign and shop posters.

Street photograph of a woman standing next to a Hoops Fest banner.

SIMPLIFY YOUR SETTINGS

Shoot with the settings that you are most confident using. Just because a noted street photographer uses Manual Exposure mode doesn’t mean you have to. As long as you are able to quickly and easily make adjustments, shoot the way you feel most comfortable. The less you have to fiddle with buttons and dials, the more focus you can give to moments and scenes.