Managing your expectations as a street photographer
This is something we discuss at length on my workshops and I think it’s a really important facet of how we operate as street photographers.
The danger is that we go out onto the streets, filled with enthusiasm and optimism, and expect to come home with a card full of keepers. Let me knock that one on the head right now: it’s not going to happen.
I’ll let you into a secret. When I go out shooting for myself, if I come home with just one or two good shots, I’m as happy as can be - even after a long shift of 15 hours on the street. Sometimes I come home with none - and guess what? - I’m just as happy; I’ll have walked 30,000 steps, taken in lots of fresh air, drunk numerous cups of coffee and maybe a beer or two, done lots of people watching and had a few nice conversations - and this amounts to a great day out for me. No keepers? No problem.
When I started out as a street photographer I would sometimes feel so much pressure to get great images that a kind of creative rigor mortis would set in and I would start to freeze up and become anxious about ‘failure’. It took me a few years to realise that low output is the norm and that I should re-calibrate my expectations.
One way to become more productive and to stay out of the doldrums is to use projects to organise your street shooting. I’m always working on a number of projects (it’s currently nine) and this means that I hit the streets with a real focus and a sense of purpose. I’ll write more about this in a future newsletter but if you’re new to street photography projects please check out my YouTube video here.
I’m sure that if you asked any of the great masters of street photography about their expectations they would say that a couple of pictures a month would be more than satisfactory. If it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for you and me.
My advice is to relax, slow down and observe and you’ll find that, over time, plenty of serendipitous gifts will come your way and you’ll be a happy snapper.
