Part photojournalism and part fine art, there’s nothing quite like the fast-paced nature of street photography. Being unable to predict what will happen next means having to be hyper-aware of your surroundings and ready to react with the camera at any moment. To be a great street photographer requires having a great eye for what's happening, and also for making the camera and lens an extension of your vision. Many great street photographers talk about "seeing" in a particular focal length and about setting up their camera for success. They're highly selective about their lenses often just carrying a single zoom, a single prime or a zoom and a prime lens. For modern street photographers, camera features like Real-Time Tracking and Eye AF (see how street photographers use Eye AF HERE and HERE) in Sony Alpha cameras are huge advantages.

This week we're featuring a group of street photographers who have their Sony Alpha cameras and lenses ready to catch those rare, perfect moments where it all comes together. Take a look at their work and give them a follow. If you want the chance for your account to be featured on AlphaUniverse.com, make sure you tag your Sony photography posts with #BeAlpha. And don’t forget to follow @sonyalpha for your daily dose of Sony photo inspiration.

Tag your Sony shots with #BeAlpha for the chance to be featured on AlphaUniverse.com, and follow @sonyalpha for your daily dose of creative inspiration.

Nino Rakichevich – @nino_rakichevich

Nino is a Sony Artisan of Imagery based in Malibu, California. He specializes in portrait, street, fashion and fine art photography, and on his account you’ll find a little bit of all of these things. He took the street shot below in New York City using his Sony α7R III. Learn more about the gear he uses for street photography in his What’s In My Bag article and read some of his tips on camera settings for street photography here.

Paola Franqui – @monaris_

Paola is a member of the Alpha Collective who loves to travel and tell her stories through her photos. She can be found with camera in hand, focusing on unique moments in the daily lives in villages and cities across the globe and close to home through her captivating street photography. Her incredible candids are often simple, but still manage to capture the complexity and diversity of humans. Check out these street shots she took in New York City below and watch this video to see how she gets sharp street photography portraits using Sony’s Eye AF.

Steven John Irby – @stevesweatpants

Steven is another member of the Alpha Collective and also the co-creator of @streetdreamsmag. His account is filled with beautiful black and white street photography, all with a raw and authentic style. He took the shot below in Long Beach, California. Watch this We Are Alpha video to learn more about what inspires him and check out this Alpha Universe article for more of this thoughts on street photography.

Eiichi Yoshioka – @tsukinoto

Eiichi Yoshioka is based in Japan and specializes in festival, street and fine art photography. His street photography uses interesting perspectives and angles to create a different look. Each photo grabs your attention and has you wanting to know even more about the story. See how he used light and shadow in this street photo below taken in the Netherlands to create a unique perspective. He captured it using his Sony 24-240mm f/3.5-6.3 and Sony α7 III.

Shuhei Fujiwara – @shugraphy_059

Shuhei is based in Tokyo and on his Instagram account you’ll find cityscapes, street snaps, urbex and more. You’ll notice as you take a scroll through his work that he utilizes a number of photography techniques like long exposure to create unique shots that you just haven’t seen before. He took the photos below with his Sony a7 and a combination of the Sony 12-24mm f/4 G, Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 G Master, and Sony 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 G Master.