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Street Photography “Themes” by John Verner

Themes – aspects of a photograph that makes the image stronger, more cohesive, and compelling. A central idea, concept, or theme.

Color Your World – look for a dominant color to create a main theme for your photo

Frame Your Subject – frame your subject to make a compelling composition; frames create a focal point in your image

Do You Have a Sense of Humor? – look for funny and unexpected moments, look for unexpected situations

What’s Your Perspective? - shoot from high and above, go low; find an interesting angle to photograph, move around

Up Close and Personal – get up close to your subject to capture their personality; talk to the person, get to know them, have fun

The Big Picture – step back to get a large overview of the area or scene, go wide

Patterns, Design, Composition – look for interesting patterns to create your composition, lines, shapes, color, spaces

Silhouettes and Shadows – work with hard light to create dramatic lighting effects (‘chiaroscuro’ means light against dark)

Go Minimal – Find simplicity, create space; eliminate distracting and busy elements, open up your composition

Night Time is the Right Time – try shooting night scenes (best to use a tripod, adjust your ISO to support your shutter speed and aperture) 

Far and Wide – expand your horizon beyond city shots; go to rural areas, photograph old houses, factories, interesting buildings, signs

Touchy, Feely – look for scenes that create an emotion or mood, laughter, affection, excitement, surprise, human connection

Post – get creative when editing your images; try black and white in addition to color, experiment with color grading, work with different tints and tones, add a vignette, etc.

Of course, there are many other ideas you can use to make your photos unique and original. Also, try combining different themes. And don’t forget to look at other street photographers to get inspiration. Instagram is a great place to look.

John Verner

clearlotusphoto.com                                                                      emptyclouds@hotmail.com

clearlotusphoto.com                                                                     

Instagram - @clear_lotus

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