Using Street Photography Techniques Inside a Restaurant Kitchen

Photography Tips  •  Street Photography

Street photography has to be one of the most interesting genres of photography. With little control over your surroundings, it is up to you to make the most interesting photo possible. Based on what kind of location you’re working in, you might either have to wait patiently or move around quickly for the right shot. In today’s video, photographer Pierre T. Lambert tries something a little different. He applies the concepts from street photography to capture scenes of a busy restaurant kitchen:

As you go through the video, you will quickly realize the working environment in the kitchen is comparable to a street scene. The chefs are all busy working on their dishes—there’s no way that Lambert can direct them. Instead, he tries his best to blend in and go with the flow. In the process, you can see that he uses quite a lot of techniques that street photographers use.

To start with, he uses compact gears that are the least intrusive. Throughout the video, Lambert uses the Sony A7C camera with 24mm f/2.8 and 50mm f/2.5 Sony lenses. He even tries to tell a story: this time, of a dish being prepared from scratch. And to portray the sense of rush in the kitchen, he shoots at a slower shutter speed, helping him add motion blur to the image and make it even more dynamic.

Even amidst the fast-paced working environment, Lambert’s creative eyes don’t miss any opportunities. He uses his phone and a black tabletop to add reflections to his shot. He also plays around with perspectives and creatively uses ovens and people as frames for his subject.

It’s really impressive to see Lambert work in the kitchen and come up with beautiful results. Where else do you think we can shoot street photography style?