Street Photography Tip, The Stutter Step

December 7, 2010

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The Stutter Step, frequently used by many street photographers, is a simple technique doing a momentary pause or stop giving you just enough time to press the shutter and continue walking on as if nothing happen.

I use this technique a lot specially when crossing the street, like the photo above, as soon as I cross the street I pause as soon as the camera viewfinder reaches my eye, press the shutter release button, and continue moving on.

The object of the stutter step is to be able to freeze your walk, in mid-step if needed, at the same instant you click the shutter, and then continue on as if nothing has happened. If you are walking slowly while crossing the street, people behind you may bump into you because you suddenly stop for an instant while you put the camera to your eye to take a picture of someone walking towards you.

In this type of situation I mostly shoot in shutter priority, with a minimum shutter speed of 1/150 and 1/200, the higher the better, if light permits. If needed I boost my iso up to 800.

Camera Gear :

I hope you found this little tip helpful. If you have any street photography tip, I would be happy to hear them, or if you have questions or any other suggestions, Feel free to leave a comment below or send me an

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