Photography is all about taking action. I believe in order to improve your photography, you must do the thing itself. Walk with your camera every single day and try to make at least one new photograph. The goal is to continue flexing the muscle of making pictures.
One camera, one lens
The simplest approach to making photos on the street is sticking to one camera and one lens. Use one focal length and one camera choice for at least one year. This will allow you to develop your eyes and to find your connection to the camera itself. The more you fumble around with different lenses and cameras, the less you will improve over time.
Study the masters
I suggest finding a few books that resonate with you, and studying those books for inspiration. The goal is to learn from your masters, then kill them. You will pick up bits and pieces from different photographers from the past, and mesh them together to create your own unique voice. This is critical, because without a framework and foundational knowledge about what is possible, you will perhaps become lost.
Separate yourself from the work
It’s easy to become emotional about a particular photograph that you’ve made. In order to combat this, you must separate yourself from the work. What this means is, you allow yourself time to go through and find the exact photographs that stand out to you after a year of making pictures. This doesn’t mean you get lazy with keeping up with the archive. I suggest going through your photographs each day after your walks. This way you don’t give yourself a headache at the end of the year. Make your daily selections quickly, as it shouldn’t take you that much time using an iPad and the photos app. But at the end of the year, you want a disconnected mindset when it comes to evaluating the work. You want to make sure that you look at each frame objectively and detached from your emotional experience while making the work. At this point, you can give yourself as much time in the world to find those shots that resonate with you.
Make a sketchbook
After you’re done photographing for a year and find your selections, make a sketchbook of your best work. Use a Canon SELPHY CP 1500 printer at home and print out a selection of your photographs. If you’d like, make notes about each photograph and study them daily. Carry the sketchbook with you wherever you go and always have the work in your back pocket both physically and metaphorically.
Travel somewhere new
Once you spend your first year photographing in your hometown and flexing your muscles daily, it’s time for the real test. Find a location that you’ve always dreamt of visiting and spend one month in that location photographing and exploring. A location that I highly suggest is Mumbai, India. Mumbai is a bustling and diverse location filled with potential for you to explore with your camera. It seems like one of those cities that you could spend your entire lifetime photographing and always find new something new. You can watch some behind the scenes videos of my time photographing in Mumbai on my YouTube channel.
It’s always exciting to visit a new place and practice your photography. Don’t take it too seriously and get caught up in making good pictures. Enjoy yourself, take your time, and make sure to cherish each moment. This is why photography is so powerful. It brings us to these new places and allows us to explore with an open mind without any preconceived notions of what we will find. The combination of traveling and practicing photography will allow you to improve as you learn about new cultures and challenge yourself.