One for the road with Lucy Hamidzadeh

Use depth to drive focus

“Good street photos are brought to life so much more by framing, beautiful use of light and an awareness of depth and perspective,” says Lucy. “Create depth by incorporating intruding elements into your image that can create a separation between your midground, foreground or background. Having these layers results in a photo that is more compelling in its storytelling.”

Lucy’s thoughts: “The beach was a bit rocky, and instead of having to scramble closer and risk damaging my gear, the 28-400mm lens allowed me to just sit from a distance and zoom in, because the woman was quite far away. I used the sea and rocks to create layers, which framed the subject and added a sense of mystery as to what the subject looked like. I was really surprised by the bokeh I got from zooming in, which also helped to capture the sparkle of the sea.”

Work with the weather

“Weather impacts street photography, but it doesn’t ruin it – you simply get a different look,” Lucy says. “Low light on sunny days gives you a soft look. Harsh light on bright days results in high-contrast photos, and the golden hour creates long, magical shadows. If you want cinematic images, take pictures in the rain, fog or on a gloomy day. I actually love taking pictures in the rain – the city becomes a shiny, neon-lit playground!

“Genoa is amazing, but the old city is quite dark because of the narrow alleyways, which translated to quite depressing-looking pictures, and I wanted to convey that feeling of la dolce vita. I found that by heading to the beach, where the lens was amazing, even in the bright midday sun.”

Lucy’s thoughts: “This shot (above) sums up life on the Italian Riviera for me. On one level, you’ve got the sea, on another level you have the parasols and people playing cards. And because the sun was high and bright, which can make for very tricky lighting, it produced shadows that created another level. I try not to go below 1/250 secs shutter speed because the people and the sea were moving, and, if you go any lower, you’ll get blur, so here I’m at 1/500 secs, and my aperture is quite high, so everything from the people to the sea is sharp.”

Find meaning in the mundane

“With time, you’ll start noticing the little details when walking the streets with your camera,” says Lucy. “Always be on the lookout for patterns, textures, characters, lighting… anything that catches your eye. When you see something, go and investigate, or wait and see how the situation plays out. This is why the NIKKOR Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR is so good. It’s the perfect all-rounder. It’s light and easy to hold, and you can quickly switch from short to long focal length without screwing another lens on to your camera. That means you’ll not risk missing a moment because you’re fiddling around changing primes. Trust me, I’ve been there!”

Lucy’s thoughts: “I was taking landscape shots of the whole town set inside the cove, and usually if I just had my 85mm or 50mm I would have had to go really far away to get all of it in the frame. With the NIKKOR Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR, I was able to capture all of it, with all the colourful houses. Just then I noticed a woman pop her head out from one of the buildings and, because I had this lens, I was able to zoom right in, focus and press the shutter. I couldn’t have done that with my other lenses. I would have missed the shot. And there's just something about Italian washing!”

Place the viewer in your photo

“Make the viewer feel like they could be there,” advises Lucy. “Start by neatening the frame by blocking off busy parts of the scene. This creates a more minimal composition, so now the attention is on your chosen subject or point of interest. Changing up your perspective also helps, simply by altering where you take a photo. So rather than always shooting at eye or chest level, shoot from the ground up or looking down from a height. Experimenting can show a scene in a completely different way.”

Lucy’s thoughts: “I love how this image builds layers, tells a story and almost puts the viewer into the image. I was quite high up on a hill, and I took a photo of just the swimmers on their own, and it looked still, like a picture postcard, but by adding the couple who are looking down at the swimmers and the sunbathers, it builds the story. Having that zoom allowed me to focus on the women in the sea. My aperture was quite high, because I wanted them to be a little bit sharper and create a bit of a blur of what was going on around them.”

Capture from afar to build confidence

“To include a human element, you’ll need to learn how to deal with people, read body language, know when you’re welcome or not, and how to approach someone for a photo,” advises Lucy. “However, if you’re nervous about getting close to people, this is a great lens to begin with because it offers such an impressive focal range in a relatively compact lens. You don’t have to be close to capture faces or hands. With this lens, it’s like eavesdropping on a conversation and then capturing somebody without them being disturbed. In the photo below, the focal range gave me that freedom to take quite a few of photos of the subject in landscape and in portrait.”

Use Autofocus Continuous (AF-C) to follow your subject

“The 3D tracking is perfect if you want to capture lots going on, but for me, I just love AF-C mode because I can select someone that I think looks great, and it sticks to them,” says Lucy. “I can follow them the whole time, and just wait for that perfect moment to press the shutter. The capabilities of the stabilisation, especially photographing from a distance, is just so good, too.”