You are not a good photographer
If you find asking yourself “How can I be a better photographer?” then you, my friend, are asking the right questions. That is what you call having a growth mindset; ‘those with a growth mindset see intelligence as fluid; something which will increase and flourish through hard work, grit and resilience. When people believe they can get smarter, they realise that their effort has an effect on their success, so they put in extra time, leading to higher achievement.’
Street photography in Glasgow
When we set out to dip our toes into street photography we didn’t realise the amount of growth we would experience in just one day. Me and my photographer friend decided to challenge ourselves to be out of our comfort zone and what better place than in the heart of a city full of characters and architecture. The decision was made to explore Glasgow city as this would be seen by a fresh pair of eyes. We quickly had a pit stop for a burger and coffee before we set out into the concrete jungle.
Free lightroom preset below
“If your photographs aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough”
- Robert Cappa
After some exploring the surrounding side streets we took the plunge to face the public and make them the focus of our story. We also limited ourselves to one lens; one that would immerse us into our subjects. the choice was made to use our prime 35mm. No zoom, no shortcuts, no pretty bokeh to save us.
Yes, we were fish out of water. We tried to get creative by framing people through obstacles but we still needed to get closer and make them the star of the show rather than hide behind objects. I know street doesn’t have to be about the people but we wanted to really push ourselves and capture in a way that wasn’t natural to us. The best thing about the human mind is that when you do something often enough it becomes less intimidating as your mind takes less notice of it (well that’s what we kept telling ourselves).
“Quit trying to find beautiful objects to photographs. Find the ordinary objects so you can transform it by photographing it”
- Morley Baer
“Which of my photographs is my favourite? The one I’m going to take tomorrow”
- Imogen Cunningham
So get out there with your trusty 35mm and immerse yourself with everything that unfolds around. Stand in the middle and just look around, take it all in. It will feel awkward to start with but then you will conquer it and will hide less behind your camera (Well at least that’s how I felt). Good luck and thank you for reading.
If you love this look you can give it a try yourself with this free lightroom preset. If you would like to explore more free presets go to here.