Let's start this blog with a question, is it right to use burst mode when shooting street photography?
I know there are many photographers who believe that its cheating and street photography should be about capturing the decisive
moment and with this I agree, but what about capturing photos like the one below:
The artistic street photo, which is all about capturing colours, shadows, etc, is it cheating to use the tools you have to capture the perfect frame, this is where I think we should use the tools that help us capture a perfect composition.
This all comes down to the fact that the camera doesn’t make a good photograph, the photographer does, at the end of the day you have to frame up the scene and if you have to use the burst mode to help with capturing the person in the right spot, then why wouldn't you use it.
Personally, I prefer to try and capture photos with one shot, for me I get more satisfaction when shooting like this, but at times a short burst really helps.
The modern digital camera has many features to help us make a great photo, the trouble is too many photographers rely on these features believing that they will make them a better photographer, the truth is you still need to have a good eye and you still need work hard to make a photo great.
Street photography is all about capturing moments and you need to know how to compose the photo and how to use the light to make the photo interesting. So, once you've framed up your shot why not use burst mode to capture the perfect moment, I mean you don't need to keep your finger pressed down taking 40 photos, just a hold down the button and take 4 maybe 5 frames if you can't capture the moment in one of those frames, then maybe the composition isn't right and for me this where I think people use the burst mode wrong, trying to make something out of nothing.
I’ll always try and capture my photo without using burst, I prefer the challenge.
For me it isn’t cheating to use the burst mode on your camera, just don’t abuse it.
Just a quick update before: I’ve been going through my photos looking for the ones I shot using burst mode and I don’t have that many. Less than 5% of my work is shot using burst.
Now some photos:
