“Street Scenes” and “Candid Portraiture” http://ramesses.smugmug.com/gallery/6758181_RGrtK#429170796_ptzpX ) is what I feel most comfortable in. The classic technique for street photography is using a 20mm-35mm lens, an ISO of 400-800, and pre-focusing the camera and lens, which is not that critical when using a wide lens. That means mixing in with the crowd to get some close-ups. I do not like that approach because either people pose for the camera, freeze up, or worse, they do not like their invasion of privacy. I prefer to use a telephoto zoom with VR, remain back as invisible as possible.

What is street photography to me? It is very hard to put it into words or in a simple definition. It is a street scene capturing people or animals being themselves. It must have a structure with a primary, secondary and even a tertiary subjects and how these subjects interact with each other. It is not just the dramatics, but subtleties and nuisances. I also try to achieve a sharp contrast between the primary subject, the secondary and tertiary subjects, or background. In addition, there is a delicate balance that has to be achieved – the photo cannot be too complicated; it has to be vague enough so different viewers get different reactions from it or the same viewer gets a different impression, or discovers new nuisances, every time he/she looks at the photo.