Street Photography: being your own critic

Up 'til now many of my photographs have been nature: flowers and animals which I love photographing particularly birds. It's quite simple. If I get a clear sharp picture of a bird it's likely to make a great photo manipulation. Although this isn't always easy it helps to have a good camera with a zoom.

Going out on the street with a device is another matter entirely! First of all it's finding an interesting shot and then getting a sharp picture without a fancy camera! I went to a place near where I catch my bus home to have a coffee. It's in a smart office building and when I came out I looked around to see if there was a shot worth taking. It was 4.30pm on a sunny day and the light was perfect. I looked and thought, 'oh my goodness, the building outside and the people sitting on the verandah are reflected on the marble floor inside, what a fantastic picture'. I snapped madly from a distance and closer to try and get the perfect shot.

When I got home I looked at the pictures carefully and perhaps have one that I like. I realised that I have to spend more time really evaluating my scene before taking a picture. In this case, I needed to get closer to the floor to get a more symmetrical balance between the outside and the reflection on the inside. If time is not an issue, I think the secret is to take a couple of pictures, really evaluate them and then take better ones.

Street photography is really forcing me to be a much better photographer.

I think I will go back and try and get a better shot on a another day.

However, on the ferry today I was having fun trying out different filters in the aremaC app which you can use whilst you are actually taking the shot.  I took this picture on my iPad and the only post-processing I have done to this picture is to crop it in Snapseed: