Street Photography & the Art of Seeing at the National Portrait Gallery

Street Photography & the Art of Seeing at the National Portrait Gallery

If you would rather learn in the comfort of an air-conditioned space, yet still get a lifetime’s worth of Street Photo know-how, this is the safari for you!

Washington Photo Safari is pleased to present this safari in street photography taught indoors at the National Portrait Gallery by two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist, Essdras Suarez. The goal of this photo safari is not only to help you make better images but to also help you tell stories with your images, thus creating more intricate and complex images.

By embracing the chaos of daily life and applying principles of layering, composition, decisive moments and other elements that go into making interesting images, you’ll be able to tell the story not only of the places we visit but of those people visiting as well.

During this three-hour photo workshop in Washington, DC taught by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Essdras Suarez, you learn how to see the world around anew. We achieve this by observing human interaction as well as how people relate to their surroundings. We play close attention to the quality of light as it strikes people and inert structures; thus affecting the feel of a photograph. We also capture those candid moments that tell a story of human relationships.

You need to have a basic knowledge of photography, so you must come with an understanding of such concepts as F-stop, shutter speed, WB, etc.

If you are not familiar with these basic principles of photography, we recommend you take on of our other Washington Photo Safari programs such as: “Monuments and Memorials “ or the “F Stops and Shutter Speeds” safaris, which will help you understand some of the basics of photography and the use of your camera.

You need to be familiar with your own photographic device. i.e. knowing how to quickly change the white balance, shutter speed, F stop, and ISO settings, continuous rapid shooting, and how to work on aperture or shutter priority (Tip: be sure to read the camera’s manual, if you have not already done so!)

We recommend you bring your DSLR or mirrorless camera body, a wide angle lens for great depth of field, and a telephoto lens of at least 200mm. All in-one-zoom lenses like an 18-270 or a 16-300 are very good for this type of work to avoid rapid lens changing.

Remember, this is a workshop to deepen your understanding of street photography so that you come back from your travels with unusual iconic images to share with your family and friends.

The DC photography workshop begins with a 30-minute presentation on street photography technique, followed by a 2.5-hour walk around the National Portrait Gallery during which Mr. Suarez works with each client individually in capturing unusual and artistically composed images.

“Today’s Street photography safari with Essdras Suarez was AMAZING!!! One of the best WPS I’ve attended (he’s been on 17 of them) He is a phenomenal instructor and I learned so MUCH!  Please please encourage him to continue to host WPS safaris!”

Michael McCullough

“The street photography outing with Essdras was great, lots of suggestions on looking at things differently and techniques to go along. His enthusiasm is infectious!”
Phyllis K.

“I’ve been on a few over the years. David and each of the other instructors have been amazing. Just did one on street photography, and photographer Essdras Suarez was also excellent. Very experienced, could help with various cameras, and a great teacher.” Susan B.