Creator Meets Cologne: 5 Street Photography Tips That You Need to Know

For the third event of EyeEm's 'Creator Meets' series with Canon, we headed to the Galerie Bene Taschen to hear about the work of street photographers Nikita Teryoshin and Max Slobodda. Here are the 5 essential takeaways we learned after spending a day shooting with them.

Max and Nikita inspired our Cologne creators to go out and shoot for two hours in the street. Having shared their professional insights, it was time for the creators to put into practice the tips and techniques they had just learned. Following the shoot, the gallery owner Bene Taschen, Max and Nikita reviewed the work captured on the streets.

Get your behind the scenes view of what Creator Meets Cologne looked like with our video round up here.

Your 5 Step Guide to Making Your Street Photography More Impacting

Here is your glimpse into the foundations of street photography and your practical kit for refining your own skills when shooting.

“I have the chance to create my own vision of the street.”

Merge

This has been one of the most popular topics in street photography for the past couple of years. The yuxtaposition of objects and humans mergeing into an singular being within the photo. “That’s one of the reasons I felt drawn to street photography, I had the chance to create my own vision of the street” explains Max Slobodda to our creators.

You can bring humor and irony into the everyday life. Candid street photography can present us with a view of our society that’s free from the control of its participants.

Nikita Teryoshin & Max Slobodda

Color

Color matching within your visuals plays a critical role in street photography. “You have to look for the similarities and the small color details that match in the frame” Says Nikita. “I suggest to first make a plan, let’s say you keep an eye for the color red. Go find this color in the objects and subjects you see on the streets and try to connect them.”

Nikita Teryoshin

Light and Shadow

Light and shadow, and the relationship between the two fluid elements, can have the same impact. Focus on one, and use it’s movement to tell the story you are looking to capture in a single snapshot.

Max Slobodda

Perspective

“Sometimes you have to get closer to get a completely different picture of the same subject, whereas sometimes you need to step back. As a street photographer, you have to move and try new angles” shared Nikita. If you are searching for an alternative story to tell, it’s essential that you are ready to adjust your viewpoint to find it.

“Sometimes I sit there for hours with my camera ready to shoot, sometimes it only takes minutes”

Nikita Teryoshin

Timing

Timing really is everything according to Max. “Sometimes I search for a location and I see there are great colours, light and shadows. Sometimes I sit there for hours with my camera ready to shoot, sometimes it only takes minutes.” In the same way that there is no rule for how long it can take to find the perfect shot, one single shot could be as effective as one-hundred – “It really depends on the situation.”

Max Slobodda

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