Shooting a street scene

On tours I often show some examples of what you can do with slow shutter speeds, to create motion and simplicity. There is one particular image of an old guy and a boy, sitting on the pavement, observing traffic. I thought this setting had potential and I tried to capture it the way I wanted it.
What did I want? To make a photo you need

The road to the image

Around us there may be a lot going on. Simply aiming the camera and pressing the button will give you an image that contains all of that. Nice for later when you look back at your holiday memories. If that is what you want, go ahead.
But what if you want to record a better image, one that stands out, one that excites other people (too)?

Juxtaposition

Closely related to looking and including something else in the composition is juxtaposition. Juxtaposition happens when there are two or more elements in a scene that contrast with each other, or there could be one element that contributes towards the other. Combined they can create a new theme. Those elements could be anything and to see them you have to keep looking, keep thinking. Is