Get Better at Street Photography in One Week

Reading time: 7 mins

What if you could make a big leap in your street photography skills in just one week? Whether you’re struggling with finding compelling compositions or capturing authentic moments, this post will give you five powerful things to focus on to transform your shots fast. These aren’t generic tips—they’re practical, tested methods that will change the way you see and shoot the streets, so lets get right into it.

1. Master the Art of Pre-Visualisation

The first and maybe most important step in improving your street photography is to work on pre-visualisation, so what do I mean by that? Most people think great street photography is about being in the right place at the right time, but the best street photographers don’t just react to moments - they anticipate them. They see potential before it happens.

To get started, spend the beginning of the first day of your week without even lifting your camera, instead just observe. Find a location, whether it's a bustling square or a quiet alley and watch how the scene evolves. How do people move? How does the light shift? Pay attention to the rhythm of the street and start to anticipate when and where something interesting might happen. It could be the way a beam of light moves across the pavement as the sun sets or the interaction between two strangers.

For example, if you’re photographing a parade, pre-visualize a shot of a performer mid-dance or a float passing by with colorful decorations. Imagine the moment just as someone makes the right expression or gesture. When you’re ready to shoot, you’ll have already seen the photo in your mind. As you practice this, the ability to pre-visualize will help you capture more dynamic, powerful images.

Another way you can pre-visualise a shot is thinking in advance of a moment what you could potentially capture. For example recently in Trafalgar Square I saw a dad and his family where his son was jumping off a pillar into his arms. I saw it happen from a distance but pre-visualised it happening again and where I’d need to be to get the best shot, so I quickly positioned myself to snap the moment.

Imagine how much stronger your photos could be if you weren’t just reacting to the world around you, but actively shaping the moment before it even happens.

Now that we’ve explored anticipating the scene, what happens when you physically and emotionally step into it? 

2. Get Closer: Physically and Emotionally

It’s easy to stay in the comfort zone, maybe shooting from a distance and relying on long lenses to bring the action to you which is what I used to do when I first started street photography. But in my opinion the most compelling street photography is often the most intimate. Robert Capa once said the famous and often overused quote but I’m going to use it here again anyway, "If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough," and this rings especially true in street photography, though it’s to be taken with a pinch of salt, I think Capa meant this more in the realm of war photography, so you don’t always have to physically get closer, you can also get closer by paying attention to emotions, yours and those of others on the street.

As you progress through the week commit to getting closer—both physically and emotionally. You could choose a wider single focal length and stick to it for the entire week. This limitation will force you to move your feet, rather than zooming in, to get closer to the action. When you’re close enough, you’ll not only capture more detail but also create a sense of immersion for the viewer making them feel like they’re part of the scene.

As I touched on earlier physical proximity is only part of the equation. Emotional closeness matters too. Instead of just snapping shots of strangers, look for moments where you can capture real emotion—whether it’s an exasperated child sick of visiting all the tourist sites while on holiday, the quiet contemplation of someone lost in thought or lovers embracing. By the end of the week, you’ll notice that getting close changes the dynamic of your photos, giving them more energy, intimacy, and connection. Have you ever felt the energy of a scene by being right in the middle of it? Now imagine translating that feeling into your photos.

So now that we’ve explored stepping into the scene emotionally, what happens when you start layering those emotions with complex visual elements?

3. Experiment with Layers and Depth

In my opinion Street photography is at its best when it’s more than just a flat, two-dimensional representation of a scene which is where strong compositional technique comes in. To add depth and complexity, you need to think in layers. 

When you include multiple planes in a photo: foreground, mid-ground, and background - you not only give the image depth but also invite the viewer to explore different elements within the frame.

As the week goes on try to find a location that offers natural opportunities for layering. A bustling city street, for instance, might have people walking in the foreground, cars or cyclists moving in the middle ground, and towering buildings or signage in the background. Consider how you can arrange these elements to guide the viewer’s eye through the image but be careful not to overlap the elements in the frame too much.

Be sure to think about how you can use a deep depth of field to allow you to keep all the elements in focus, creating a more intricate story. You may need to raise the iso depending on the light to do this and that’s no problem, often I see photographers who are obsessed with keeping the iso as low as possible but that’s doesn’t matter in street photography. 

If you’re finding it hard to get close to people to use them as your layers, you can instead use objects like fences, poles, or windows to frame your subject within the image adding extra layers of interest in a more abstract way.

Two photographers that are known for their complex layered scenes are Alex Webb and Pinkhassov. Every time I look through their work I notice something different that I missed before and that’s extremely exciting. What if every time someone looked at your photo, they discovered something new they hadn’t noticed before? Layers make that possible.

Very often street photographers can miss how important composition is in creating powerful images so check out my composition ebook to help you get better at framing images fast.

4. Embrace the Power of Light

Lighting is perhaps the single most transformative element in photography. In street photography, where you can’t control the environment, learning to harness natural light is crucial. Different types of light can drastically change the mood of a photo—from the soft glow of the morning sun to the harsh, contrast-heavy light at noon.

Through the week make it your mission to shoot in different lighting conditions, though if you’re from the UK it might be more like 10 weeks before you get a day with half decent light. But if you can, start early in the morning when the streets are still quiet and the light is soft and diffused. This time of day is perfect for capturing peaceful, contemplative moments. Then, as the day progresses, head out again around noon, when the light is harsh, and shadows are sharp. While this kind of light can be difficult to work with, it can also create dramatic, high-contrast images that emphasize texture and form.

If the weather allows end the day by shooting during the golden hour, when the sun is low, and the light is warm and golden. This is the time of day when everything looks magical—whether it’s a person walking down the street or the way the light catches the edges of a building. 

Finally why not stay out late one night and experiment with how you can use artificial light sources to illuminate your subjects in interesting ways.

By experimenting with different lighting throughout the week, you’ll develop a better understanding of how light impacts your photos and how to use it to your advantage.

It’s important to note though in my opinion you can still make incredible photos in bad lighting conditions, but the more you get used to how light works and the ways you can capture it in your work the more you’ll be able to create compelling frames highlighting the beauty of light. 

Once you’ve explored getting better with capturing different kinds of light what if your next step was to move beyond a single frame and start thinking about the stories you can tell with your images?

5. Focus on the Narrative, Not Just the Frame

Street photography isn’t just about capturing aesthetically pleasing images - it’s about telling stories and the best stories are often found in the most ordinary moments. The way two people interact, the way a space transforms over time, or the juxtaposition of the old and the new are great ways to show a story in your photography. 

Try to shift your focus from individual, standalone frames or singular elements to building a narrative. Start by spending more time in a location with potential. Instead of snapping one or two quick photos and moving on, linger for a while and work the scene to give you a better chance of capturing a story.

Perhaps consider the environment too and how that can add or take away from your subject/s. For example in the photo below, I captured this metalworker at work in Istanbul and decided to include a lot of the environment to add more narrative and story to the image - you get much more of a sense of who this person is and what his work life might be like by seeing more of his surroundings (plus the colours and light are nice too).

You can also think about how two or more elements work together to tell a story, for example in this image below the person walking through the frame is carrying bicycle wheels which next to the sign creates a narrative. It doesn’t have to be true but you can use elements in a frame like this to convey a story or humour. 

What if every photo you took wasn’t just a snapshot, but told a wider story of a place or moment in time? Think about how powerful that can be in your work.