Note: This post was originally published on January 1, 2017 on my old website.

I recently traveled to Singapore for a short trip to renew my Malaysian visa, and I was excited for the opportunity for a bit of street photography. I’ve never really been intentional about real street photography before; I usually do more of a travel photography thing where I focus on the place and buildings, but this time I wanted to try shooting more emotive photos, especially concentrating on people and moments.

Sony a7II | FE 50mm | f/4 | 1/750 | ISO 200

My Plan

Looking at photography lately, I’ve kind of started to realize that the images that speak to me the most are those that focus on people, especially those that capitalize on the “decisive moment,” as Henri Cartier-Bresson (one of the most famous street photographers) put it. In other words, I wanted to capture a moment of emotion that connects with people rather than just an image that looks pleasing to the eye.

My Plan: Black & White

The primary way I decided to focus myself on this connection was to set my camera to black and white. A nice thing about mirrorless cameras (like my Sony a7II) is that they have electronic viewfinders—instead of the through-the-lens optical variety in DSLRs—so if the camera is set to shoot black and white, the viewfinder will show black and white. I figured B&W would allow me to focus on the content of the shot while ignoring the colors. Of course, sometimes the colors are important to the meaning of an image, but I chose to focus on the actual content and moment for this instead. Also, I shot in RAW, so the images could be reverted to color in Lightroom later if it served the image.

My Plan: Aperture Priority

The other way I chose to focus on the moment was by using aperture priority mode. I usually stick to manual because I had more control, albeit at a slight cost to speed. I used aperture priority for this trip so I could again concentrate on the shot, not the settings.

Sony a7II | FE 50mm | f/4 | 1/20 | ISO 200

In the Streets

Street photography is a bit hard to get used to. It naturally feels awkward to point your camera at a complete stranger and snap their picture. But by pushing yourself and getting out of your comfort zone, you can really capture some great moments.

In the Streets: Black & White

My plan to view the world through my viewfinder in black and white was excellent. First of all, I basically felt like Henri Cartier-Bresson, creating art with every squeeze of the trigger (i.e. shutter button). Obviously it’s not as simple as just making everything b&w; the content matters. But it really did help me to concentrate on the moments and patterns that were showing up. Colors can be distracting, so I found that it was easier to see composition and lines in my potential images before I took them.

I left most of the pictures in b&w in Lightroom because I felt like color often didn’t add much to them and in some cases it detracted or distracted from the quality. Street photographers can’t control clashing colors, so b&w is a huge help in those occasions.

In the Streets: Aperture Priority

Aperture priority mode mostly worked out well for me. It was nice to be able to aim and shoot quickly if I needed to. I used it in tandem with the center-weighted metering mode rather than spot because I wanted to be able to be quick. Spot metering is good for precise metering on exactly the surface you want to expose for, but in this case, center-weighted was going to be faster for me. I wasn’t too concerned with super accurate exposure because my a7II can be pushed or pulled easily by a few stops.

Sometimes aperture priority bit me in the butt though. I used it so I could almost forget about my settings, but sometimes I completely forgot about them. My shots would occasionally come out too blurred (see below) because I didn't pay attention to what the camera set the shutter speed at. Sometimes I had a high ISO and wide aperture set for inside a temple or the MRT station, and forgot about it when I emerged into the sunlight, resulting in a super fast shutter speed. The second isn't a big deal really, but I would have set a lower ISO if I was really thinking about it.

This one was a bit blurred because I didn't watch my shutter speed. The nice thing is that street photography doesn't have to be perfect, and I actually like how the blur gives the feeling of movement. Sony a7II | FE 50mm | f/4 | 1/45 | ISO 400

Final Thoughts

I’m pretty pleased with the overall street photography experience in Singapore using this new-to-me method, and I think with more practice, I would be able to nail almost all my shots with it.

I think shooting in b&w is a really good way to concentrate on the contents of the shot. It’s easier to see lines, shapes, and patterns which are all-important in good photography. It may be a good way for a photographer to develop an eye for those things while ignoring the distractions that color can bring, but I think once the eye is nicely developed to seeing the patterns, b&w could become a hindrance since you can’t see those times when the color makes the image (e.g. a brightly colored umbrella in a sea of black umbrellas). Eventually, we should be able to fully concentrate on all aspects of emotive photography even when just looking at a place without a camera. After all, the masters of the good old days didn’t have EVFs, so they had to learn to ignore the distractions of color.

Aperture priority mode is certainly useful. I think if I used it more often, I would become faster wth it and also not just totally forget about changing my settings when I emerge from a dark place. In a more controlled environment, such as portrait photography or studio work, I’d probably stick with manual though because of the easy management of all the settings.

I’d encourage you to get out there and try some street photography. Once you get past the uncomfortable feeling of taking random people’s pictures, it’s quite rewarding. Try setting your camera to aperture priority mode and shooting that way for a while, and if you have a mirrorless camera, you can try setting it to shoot b&w (just rememberer to shoot RAW so you can change it back in Lightroom if you want to).