1.
Keep your camera battery charged and carry that sucker with you everywhere you go. You never know when a perfect photo-op will pop up. You could be waiting in a boring line at a grocery store and boom -- you see that magic moment when a shot presents itself. Don't get caught unprepared when these moments occur. They're like shooting stars. Miss 'em and they're gone for good.
2.
Shoot different angles of the same shot. Don't just snap a pic head on with a centered subject and call it a day -- that's totally textbook. Instead, get creative. Get funky. Let the angles you shoot help convey the mood of the photo. For instance, shooting up from a low angle makes your subjects look big and imposing, so it's a good angle for taking pics of cops, athletes and other big bad dudes. To make someone look smaller and more vulnerable, hold your camera above a subject and shoot down.
3.
Get close. Now get even closer. Don't be a wuss when it comes to filling up that viewfinder. Some of the best documentary photographs are super cropped and totally in your face, so don't forget to play around with your zoom function to focus on the meat, not the side salad.
4.
Highlight the most important part of your shot by putting it in the foreground and let the background expand on the story you're trying to tell. For example, a shot of two kids playing doesn't say much, but if there's a big factory in the background spewing out toxic smoke, you've just told a whopper of a story with just one shot.
5.
Learn to be a keen observer through your viewfinder. This means not only paying attention to what works in a photo but to the distracting junk as well. Of particular note: beware the accidental unicorn shot. This happens when something in the background -- a pole or a building -- sticks up right behind a person's head like a unicorn horn. Don't ruin an otherwise great shot by accidentally turning your subject into a mythical pony.
6.
Photograph contrasts to tell a story. A group of elderly people at a baby shower. Nuns chowing down on greasy pizza. A bouquet of flowers in a pile of garbage. All of these things tell a larger story and make your brain buzz they way a documentary photo should.
7.
Practice composition by just sitting somewhere and looking through the viewfinder as the world rolls by. Pay attention to what moves in and out of the frame and let the perfect image compose itself while you watch.
Learn from the pros. Look at photo collections by some of the world's best documentary photographers to see how they do it. Study the composition, the way they show mood and tell a story through their shots.
Don't be a pushy paparazzo. Be mindful of people's privacy and respect when someone doesn't want her picture taken.
