In time for some Sunday shooting here is the fifth edition of my Street Photography Quick Tips. Some short, easy to read and easy to use tips that I think could help you while shooting in the streets. Today’s post is a first tip on composition – placing a hidden subject in your photo that catches the eye only on the second pass of the image, thus adding additional interest to the image.
Here, the smiling African boy holding the saw and waving his hand at me is the clear primary subject. But as you take in this friendly African Street Scene you notice the two naked feet sticking out from under the van. Now what happened here? Was another person just run over by the vehicle? Is some guy taking a nap in the shade of the van? Are these just the feet of a mechanic who is working on the van parked in front of a repair shop?
Adding an additional layer with an additional, hidden subject adds interest to your composition.
This photo was taken with my OM-D E-M1 with the mZuiko 14-150mm F4.0-5.6 Travel Zoom with 1/160 sec @ f/5.6 and ISO 250. Focal length was 90mm (equivalent to 180mm full frame with the m4/3 crop factor of 2).
Take your cam, hit the streets and find your own composition with a hidden subject. And have fun!
Marcus
Related Posts:
Street Photography Quick Tip (1)
Street Photography Quick Tip (2)
Street Photography Quick Tip (3)
Street Photography Quick Tip (4)
Great shot. I am enjoying reading your tips. You have some great photos here also.
Thanks, Joan, your feedback is so much appreciated! Marcus
I think of something like that as the x-factor – that little something extra that makes a photo go from good to great. Thanks for sharing these tips!
Thanks for taking the time to visit and comment, Jeff!
Awesome. I sure do appreciate a photo with a little something hidden
Thanks so much, so happy you like it! Marcus
Love it!
Thanks 🙂
Great shot! And good advice.
I’m guessing this is a typo: “mZuiko 14-1500mm F4.0-5.6 Travel Zoom”
Either that or wow!!!
👍😀 thanks for catching that! And thanks for the great feedback, Pete!
Soon I will be travelling again and I love street photography – great tips too – thank you!
Thanks so much for taking the time for visiting and commenting 😊🙏, much appreciated!
Weirdly what I noticed about this image was the reflective surface of the wing mirror of the vehicle and what looks like people outside of the frame, makes me think “who are they?”.
True, there is a third layer to this, I noticed it as well but didn’t write about as I thought it was too small. Good eye 👏👏😎!
You can’t hide stuff like that from me Marcus ha
those feet are the plot twist lol :))
nice capture, Marcus!!
Thanks, Alexandra 😊🙏!
Good tip!
Thanks so much for commenting 🙏😊!
Yes, darling boy indeed. So sweet! Too funny on the feet… great idea, thank you! Something else for me to do. Love it!!
Thanks, Janet 😊🙏! Have a great Sunday!
Good tip and darling boy, Marcus.
Thanks, Jane 🙂 !
I’m going with “run over by the van!” LOL
Thanks 🙂