My Street Photography Basic Settings

When I do street photography, I use Aperture Priority Mode, instead of Manual Mode, (Yes, most of the time, when I shoot, I use Manual Mode). There are times when I need to control my camera in a quicker manner than Manual Mode allows—street photography is one of those times. With my camera in Aperture Priority Mode, I set a Maximum ISO (such as 1600) and watch my shutter speed (depending on your camera, you may be able to set a minimum shutter speed. I have a Sony a6000, and unfortunately it does not have that feature, so I watch my shutter speed). I don’t allow it to go below 1/250 sec. (1/125 sec. at night). I keep my shutter speed above this threshold to avoid camera shake and to keep sharp images from movement. Then all I do is adjust my aperture. I also set my camera to continuous shooting (or burst mode) for moving subjects—since I have a shake and I find there is more of a chance of getting a sharp image using this mode. As for lens, I used my 35mm f/1.8 and 50mm f/1.8 lenses. I tend to use prime lenses for street photography because they usually have a better (or wider) aperture—allowing for more light to my sensor. This means I can keep my shutter speed faster without compromising by raising my ISO (which adds noise/grain to my photos).

My settings, by no means, are a rule or everybody’s settings. They are also meant to be a starting point. They change for me depending on what I’m photographing while out too. For instance, if I decide to take a panning image of a bicyclist, my technique changes completely, and I focus on my shutter speed (instead of the aperture).

The one important rule that I follow and suggest you follow when shooting street photography is: Have fun!

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