Fishing vs Hunting in Street Photography

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If you’re new to street photography, understanding the different approaches to the process of capturing images on the street can really get us thinking, making better photos and enjoying ourselves when we hit the pavement.

There are two main approaches to street photography, ‘fishing’ and ‘hunting’. Exploring both ways will greatly improve the variety in not just your day but also your work as well. So what is fishing and hunting? And what are some ways we can go about trying these approaches to make better work?

Fishing

Let’s start with fishing. Fishing is where you find a location that you think has some potential for some good photographs. It might be a busy intersection with lots of foot traffic, an industrial area with lots of light and shadow, it could be inside a train station where there is grand architecture. Any location that captures your eye and then you just camp out. You hang around, seeing if anything comes together to make a great shot.

Often the fishing approach is a bit slower, you scope out the area, look at the light and compositions that might work and then perhaps just wait for the exact right moment for a person to walk past where you want them. Fishing can also be a faster approach too if you’re waiting around an a street corner for example observing for human moments but in this approach you tend to spend a lot of time in one area.

Another way you can approach fishing is if you find a background that might make for a good juxtaposition, you bide your time and then when the right moment comes along you snap off the shutter.

The ‘fishing’ approach: I noticed this scene and waited here for a while until a person came to stand in front of the frosted window completing the image. This photo is more about the environment than the moment.

Hunting

The second approach to street photography is hunting. In contrast to fishing where you wait in a location, when hunting you’re on the move, walking around and getting the steps in looking for great moments to capture with your camera. This approach tends to be a bit more fast-paced and reactive, you’re looking for moments on the fly and then aiming to be quick and nimble enough to position yourself in the right place to capture the action.

One way of capturing shots on the fly can be shooting from the hip, or walking down a busy street looking ahead past what’s directly in front of you, to see if anything is approaching that might make a good shot once they are within your camera range, such as a character in snazzy clothing, or a nice human moment of emotion.

The ‘hunting’ approach: While roaming around walking the streets during Chinese New Year I came across this scene and snapped off some shots on the fly. This image is more about the moment then the environment.

Which approach is right for you?

Fishing suggests a slower approach, where you bide your time and try your luck for the right shot in the right place and hunting suggests a faster, on-the-move approach, constantly observing, moving and capturing images on the fly. When I first started out in street photography I definitely spent more time working slower by fishing a lot more. But as I’ve become more and more interested in capturing human moments and emotions on the street and being a bit bolder in my approach, I’ve found my process revolves a lot more around hunting, with occasional fishing thrown in.

You of course don’t need to just do one or the other of these approaches, I recommend mixing then up. When I’m on a street photography walk I tend to do a bit of both depending on the environment I find myself in. I always like to say: shoot to the conditions, you just need to work with what you’ve got to get the best photos that you can from the environment and situation you find yourself in.

Once you know what approach works best for you, either fishing, hunting or both, this can often have an impact on finding your street photography style or knowing how you want to focus your attention when you go out. Sometimes it can be tricky to know what to look out for regardless of the approach you choose, so check out this article next for some ideas.