People photography has never been one of my strongest points. I think I am just a little too scared that I will be challenged and also my creative eye just doesn't seem to function when it comes to taking pictures of people.

However I greatly admire those who can capture people going about their daily lives and activities in our cities and towns and often find these photographs extremely captivating.

I think it is the mix of the urban scene with people interacting with their environments and each other.

After all, people are very much a part of the scene in our urban environments and so can influence our choice as photographers of composition and viewpoint.

The following pages take a look at the different areas of street life and people photography within them:-

Railway Stations - These are places we all come across at some point during our working week as they are often nestled within our urban areas and are very much a part of the every day street scene.

People flood through these places and even seem to live there.

One of the biggest challenges to people photography in railway stations is the shear number of people that can flood the scene, obscuring architectural detail and background scenes.

However with patience and perseverance railway stations can allow for some intriguing and contemplative images of how we live our daily lives within the urban setting.

Street Music - Street performers can be found in most cities and large towns and provide a colourful visual aspect to our often grey surroundings.

For the photographer they are a true gift as they welcome attention and so using them as your people photography subject should not pose a problem.

Adding these colourful musicians and performers to a street scene photograph gives it a social commentary and allows a story to be formed in the viewers mind.

Learning where to place the figures in the frame can add many different nuances and narratives to an image.

Parades - Parades and demonstrations are made for people photography. In fact it is all about the people and their expression on the days events.

The trick is knowing how to encapsulate a moment without the image appearing crowded and confused and presenting a clear idea or significance to the image.

Colour and movement will play a big part in the composition and the focal length chosen to shoot the image.

Some of the best images I have seen have been in the details and not in the overall scene of the parade, again allowing the viewer to make up their own story about the street scene.

Street Markets - The hustle and bustle of street markets and the people that are a part of them make for vibrant and interesting images.

They also vary a great deal from place to place and from the type of goods they sell and so provide many different aspects of people photography.

Street markets provide a rich vein for the urban photographer as they attract all sorts of people from eccentrics, loud barrow boys, bored housewives and even trendy fashion victims.

All of which can provide for exciting and even amusing photographs.

Street Skaters - Every city of the world will have specific areas where people gather to skateboard or roller blade. They can often be very vibrant areas full of colour and energy and will provide many great photographic opportunities.

This photography project will test your candid photography skills. Not being noticed and being able to get as close to the action as possible is a sure way of shooting energetic and powerful images.

See the many various ways you can photograph street skaters within the urban environment.

Airports - Airports have there own special atmosphere, one of anticipation and excitement and also often of frustrations and anger if the plane is delayed or cancelled.

All these emotions can be captured by the photographer and not just in the faces of the travellers but also in the huge and spacious airports themselves.

Airport design is very different from other hubs of travel; they are often very imposing and grandiose.

Some might say they are even a little theatre like with all the scenes that are played out within its great halls.

A wealth of photographic material for even the most casual of photographer.

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