Street Manual

A field guide for street photographers.

by Luke Carey

Projects2 hours

Shop Windows

The display and the reflection.

Photograph shop windows - the display inside and the street reflected in the glass. The juxtaposition between what's being sold and the world reflected in the selling of it.

How to shoot it: Shoot straight into the glass so the display and the reflected street overlap in one plane. Dusk is best, when the interior is lit and the street still has light. Move a few inches to control what the reflection lands on, a passer-by over a mannequin, traffic across a sale sign. Expose for the brighter of the two layers and let the other sink.

The output: A series that's part commercial observation, part formal abstraction.

Camera Settings

Any. Angle to balance reflection and interior.

The Assignment

Walk a high street. Photograph only shop windows.

Free Course