How to recognize when you have a bad /great street photography outing ?

Having a bad outing ? Here are some obvious symptoms :

– your first exposure is all white. ISO’s are still set at last night’s 1600.
– your first exposure is all black. You left the lens cap on.
– the first person you shoot starts running after you.
– the first person you shoot runs faster then you.
– you went out with a wide-angle lens but wish you had your standard lens on.
– you went out with a standard lens but  wish you had your wide-angle lens on.
– nothing interesting is happening, everybody is just damn walking today.
– you ask your girlfriend to act like she is stranger and run after pigeons  (“and please honey, don’t smile or look at the camera”)
– you start shooting some experimental stuff (and delete them straight away).
– you start shooting bikes, street signs, or worse … landscapes.

As for a great street photography outing, symptoms are much more straigthforward:

– aliens land next to you while you walk alone by the Seine River on a misty Sunday morning.
– and they took Megan Fox along.

More seriously, like many hobbies or sports, we all have bad days once in a while. It does happen in street photography too. Bad timing, lack of interesting subjects, negative state of mind, …, all these factors can lead to a very disappointing outing. Hopefully, it never lasts, so hit the street as soon as you can again, and it will get better.

As for myself, I had my bad day yesterday, about five keepers in five hours. As you can witness below, one of them was really no aliens, nor Megan Fox, but a humble nun walking down Rosario’s main shopping street. (click on picture to enlarge)

Leica M9 with 60mm Hexanon at F1.4, 1/500, ISO160

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