Best Camera Settings For Street Photography
Camera Settings for Street Photography
For street photography, the recommended camera settings are:
- Aperture: f/8
- Shooting Mode: Aperture Priority
- ISO: 100
- Metering Mode: Center-Weighted
- White Balance: Auto
- Image Format: RAW
What is Street Photography
Street photography is a genre that captures everyday life moments and random incidents in the streets, and beyond.
It serves as a form of documentation of the mundane.
Aperture in Street Photography
The aperture of f/8 will help you capture most of the scene in sharp focus.
It is hard to do street photography with an aperture of f/1.4, as most of the scene is out of focus.
Also, by not worrying about your focus that much, you can concentrate more on your composition and storytelling.
Aperture Priority in Street Photography
Since we have already decided on our aperture and know how our depth of field will appear, we now need to ''choose'' the Shutter Speed.
By switching to aperture priority mode, your camera will adjust the shutter speed automatically to achieve the ''correct'' exposure.
In simple terms, when you use aperture priority mode, you set the aperture and your camera sets the shutter speed accordingly.
ISO in Street Photography
We start with an ISO of 100 for optimal photo quality. If your photos appear too dark or blurry, increase the ISO.
Don't worry if you notice a bit of grain you can remove it during post-processing.
Keep in mind that you can also use auto ISO, but your photos might not turn out as expected since the camera will make the choice for you, potentially misunderstanding your intentions.
Metering Mode in Street Photography
The metering modes help your camera determine the exposure settings based on a reference point.
Since the camera decides the shutter speed, it requires guidance on what to expose for.
With the center-weighted metering mode, your camera evaluates the central 30% of your frame to ensure correct exposure.
Whenever you adjust your framing, the camera adjusts the shutter speed accordingly to properly expose your subject.
💡Tip
When you find the desired exposure and want to reframe without losing it, you can use functions like AEL or EL, which stand for Auto Exposure Lock and Exposure Lock respectively.
These functions can be mapped to buttons on your camera for efficiency. Every time you press these buttons, your camera will lock the exposure, allowing you to reframe.
It's like putting your camera's brain on pause.
White Balance in Street Photography
Setting your white balance to auto allows you to focus on capturing the moment.
If you’re not aiming for a very specific color tone, using auto white balance and adjusting it in post-processing will work 99% of the time.
However, to make this approach work effectively, be sure to shoot in RAW format.
Image Format in Street Photography
Shooting in RAW gives you the flexibility to edit your photos and achieve your desired aesthetic.
It simply provides more room to work with. If you don’t shoot in RAW, you risk losing much of your shot's potential.
💡Tip
RAW photos store more information than JPGs, so they require more memory.
Make sure you have a memory card with a fast enough write speed to capture multiple RAW photos smoothly, without issues.
In conclusion
These are recommendations that will work for most photographers in most situations.
Make sure you understand these concepts and adapt them to suit your needs.
