Hard liquor and/or recreational drugs, usually.......... :0) just kidding.
Use the screen rather than viewfinder, hold camera away from you slightly
then look confused as if you're working out your camera settings but you're
actually framing and shooting away also set your shutter to silent................
sometimes I worry myself!
@triptych_angel I'd like to know the same thing!! I feel like a major tourist LOL. I often want to pull my car over and get out to take pics but I can't bring myself to do that either.
Sometimes street people looking for a hand out have stopped me to ask for money. I usually brush them off, but I can think of at least 3 occasions where I've said "I'll give you a dollar if you let me take your picture." I haven't been turned down yet!
Use caution if you decide to try this. And before you ask you had better know that you have a dollar in your pocket. Not a 5 or a 10 :)
Em, i reckon start somewhere like the zoo, somewhere you'd expect people to just be snapping away at anything... and ANYONE! LOL!
get ur courage up there in an enviroment you'd expect then head to a more public not so tourist place... maybe even try something like walking across the harbour bridge - again somewhere you'd 1/2 expect it... baby steps!
or yeah... @tolpol as paul said... drugs and liquor ;) LOL nice advice there!!
Emma, I would start at a very crowded place, where you blend in more. You have to then be able to get the camera out of the bag, or it's all for not. I would make sure that for your first few shots, you don't photograph children, as I think that's when people get most upset. I've taken a few street shots, and I love it. I plan to do many more. I don't think people really get offended as much as you probably think they do.
i'm trying to get comfortable with this too. so i am starting small, like today i took a picture in a library. but i think it will be awhile before i can take a picture of a person! i'm just trying to get use to using the camera in public
@triptych_angel Lex is busting, busting... maybe next wednesday or even this sunday?? i do love photos of some random tourists lmao theres some humdingers at the zoo ;) LOL
I have done shots for a website I am a member of where I had to attend events and do pictures of everything there. At first it was strange but to be honest they are in public and therefore they are scenery. If you think of them as part of the landscape it might help. Just a heads up though when it comes to kids you may want to consider asking the parent. Some people flip out if you take a shot of their kid especially if it's JUST of their kid! LOL! As a personal rule I ask first unless it's a large group shot then tough luck get out of my shot if you don't want to be photographed! LOL!
wow these hints are help full! i tryed to take some street shots but all i got was dirty looks from people .. :P its soooo hard to concontrate when people are looking at you and pointing .. but i think that after a while i didnt nottice other people as much..
start with a smile it usually gets a positive reaction. if possible talk to the person and ask permission almost always everybody wants to be photographed.
It's so scary isn't it?!! I did my first one the other day & I was convinced everyone was staring at me and passing comment - of course, they probably weren't, who would really care - but gosh I felt they were!
I went out with a friend from work, another 365er - I figured the strength numbers approach might work. It took me so long to get comfortable doing it, and I was constantly just holding the camera out, putting it on the ground... anything but holding it up to my eye. During the time out there, I slowly worked my way out from the tree I was hiding under and out into full view. SO, if you can find another sucker to come along with their camera - it might help! Good luck :)
Most of my shots are "street" shots. First I must tell you my feeling about street photography, when you approach someone and ask to take their shot, it is not street photography any more, you are taking a portrait. The spontaneity is gone. Be confident is what you want to do. Headphones can help and a friendly smile while you are shooting goes a long way. Hold the camera in your hand and be very relaxed, lean agaist a wall if that helps. I also am quick to take the shot and turn away from the subject or walk away. If I think they may have seen me, then I fumble with the settings as if I was not shooting at them, or follow through with more shots as they pass. I shoot with my DSLR most of the time, however if you are timid with the larger camera start out with a small point and shoot. Take on the attitude of a journalist and you are documenting a moment in time, not that you are taking someones photo. Bottom line you cannot have any shame for shooting these shots! I find that to most people I am invisible. I try to blend into the crowd or area. Know your camera really well so you can snap and move on. I have had a couple of people ask me if I took their photo and I will say yes, and compliment something about them that caught my eye, like great smile, or wonderful attire, etc. Also remember it takes a lot of guts to challenge a photographer, most will walk off with a facial expression of resentment and forget about it 10 minutes later. I am also aware of who I should and should not shoot by thier demeanor or facial expression. Just don't act suspicious!! Good Luck and most of all have fun. Hope I did not ramble on too much!! This is one of my passions. Ha! @triptych_angel
I have tried street photography a couple of times, with varied degrees of success. A busy tourist spot is a good start, lots of people with cameras. I try and look beyond the people I want to photograph as if I see something behind them, then quickly focus on them and shoot. I don't use the screen as AF is much slower, I use the viewfinder and after taking the shot move the camera down and look again beyond the person.
Have fun, it is worth it and you will get some great shots.
I like to have a friend or family member with me when I go out to take pictures. It's much easier to get lost in the moment when you have someone by your side looking out for other people and also scoping out great shots to capture. I'm much less self conscious shooting when someone is with me vs being by myself.
I've just started trying this, and I'm a TOTAL newbie. I really appreciate all the tips here. For me, I've found I'm way more comfortable with a point & shoot; when I tried to use an SLR I just froze completely. I've done some of the same things people here suggested - the "pretending I'm just checking the LCD screen" thing, the "just taking a photo of that building" thing, the "nope, looking behind you!" thing..... and then sometimes when people are lost in thought you can just take their photo and they don't really register it. But it's scary for sure!
I love street photography both to look at and to take. I ask myself first of all why I like street photography and why I do I do it and that helps me in the process. I do not like all street photography. I do not like for instance pictures of poor or miserable people that just provoke intense feelings. Poverty ,like abandoned or racked places, arises emotions instantly but I do not like pictures of the misery unless there is a purpose in taking and showing them beside making a good or well accepted picture. I am interested in people, stories and lives in my place and in other places of the world and I watch and I think as I go with or without a camera. I also love documentation and think it is very important not for myself only but for society in general and that is something that people without a journalist certificate can do as well. Taking pictures of people is one good way to document the everyday life. People in the streets are exposed anyhow so I feel free to take pictures even if what I saw might be embarrassing to the person. I will not put in public though a picture that is too embarrassing for a person.
In my little experience ( about a year of self taught photography) people might feel annoyed if caught photographed unprepared but almost always will accept it and might even be happy about it if they get an explanation with a smile, a little conversation and a promise to get the pictures. Even those who at first were quite angry and felt suspicious, embarrassed and/or angry. There were few times that people reacted aggressively when they saw me. Many more times people asked me to take pictures of them.
Still at times I am in conflict and I do not feel very comfortable to take picture of strangers just as I feel that it is not appropriate to approach them too near physically without a camera, to touch them or invade the invisible private space each has even when in public.
put a white lens on (like my canon 70-200mm f2.8L) and you're automatically from the newspaper and people wont care
it amazes me how as soon as i put that lens on i hear "oh the newspaper is here"
Don an All Black cap and head to a touristy area or the Sydney CBD and pretend you're a kiwi tourist ;) Actually the touristy area is a great place to start (I nearly always look like a tourist where we are, including Aus but I did feel a bit odd and self conscious whipping out the camera in the middle of Wellington CBD- go figure- so it really is just all in the mind I think) ...hopefully there'll be others with cameras there too so you wont stand out much. Take heaps of photos of everything from the architecture to flora and fauna and snap people while you're at it. I try to take more than one quick shot but also have resolved to just let it go when it doesnt work, its blurry etc. The beauty of digital is the delete button. Once you get more confident you can venture into less 'camera friendly' areas. An outdoor cafe where you can drink a quiet coffee, people watch and hopefully take some great street shots maybe. As for getting your camera nicked I usually wrap the strap around my wrist as many times as it will allow.
I am totally out of my comfort zone with this too. However, last night I took some pictures in Guernsey airport - it's a very small departure lounge and was heaving with people. When you look at most shot, people are so wrapped up in their own thougts that they won't even realise you are doing it - and if they do they end up moving out of shot if they don't like it of putting their head down. This "enclosed" type of shooting has maybe given me some confidence to go on the street - i'll probably start with busy open areas adn a good zoom so you can spy from a distance! I guess it's just about getting used to having the odd funny look and people thinking you're mad!
I've only tried it once so far but haven't uploaded the pictue even though I loved it (maybe I will do it soon). I took it on a public square in Frankfurt zooming in a lot because I didn't want to get to close and acting like I was taking a photo of the square as a whole. I'd love to shoot on the metro like @andrew does, but I cannot pluck up the courage, yet, because people even look at me resentfully, when I just look at them with a curious expression on my face...
- Go outside with your camera already out of its bag
- Realise that the opinion of strangers is of no importance to you at all (which is something that comes in handy in other areas of life too).
And I agree that it's a good idea to start in a place where it's not weird to have your camera out in the first place.
When I'm feeling anxious like that, I walk around with my camera in my hand. It helps me just shoot without thinking. It's obviously not a technique that's good for bad areas of a city, but walking around with a camera in general in rough areas is a bad idea :P
Write a Reply
Sign up for a free account or Sign in to post a comment.
Tweets ahoy!
Join the Group
Pin With Me
Use the screen rather than viewfinder, hold camera away from you slightly
then look confused as if you're working out your camera settings but you're
actually framing and shooting away also set your shutter to silent................
sometimes I worry myself!
I also feel that someone would steal my camera, as I've been held up before so this is something I always worry about!
Use caution if you decide to try this. And before you ask you had better know that you have a dollar in your pocket. Not a 5 or a 10 :)
get ur courage up there in an enviroment you'd expect then head to a more public not so tourist place... maybe even try something like walking across the harbour bridge - again somewhere you'd 1/2 expect it... baby steps!
or yeah... @tolpol as paul said... drugs and liquor ;) LOL nice advice there!!
I went out with a friend from work, another 365er - I figured the strength numbers approach might work. It took me so long to get comfortable doing it, and I was constantly just holding the camera out, putting it on the ground... anything but holding it up to my eye. During the time out there, I slowly worked my way out from the tree I was hiding under and out into full view. SO, if you can find another sucker to come along with their camera - it might help! Good luck :)
Have fun, it is worth it and you will get some great shots.
In my little experience ( about a year of self taught photography) people might feel annoyed if caught photographed unprepared but almost always will accept it and might even be happy about it if they get an explanation with a smile, a little conversation and a promise to get the pictures. Even those who at first were quite angry and felt suspicious, embarrassed and/or angry. There were few times that people reacted aggressively when they saw me. Many more times people asked me to take pictures of them.
Still at times I am in conflict and I do not feel very comfortable to take picture of strangers just as I feel that it is not appropriate to approach them too near physically without a camera, to touch them or invade the invisible private space each has even when in public.
it amazes me how as soon as i put that lens on i hear "oh the newspaper is here"
Whats a good lens to use for Street Photography, I had my 50mm on today which in retrospect probably isnt the best lens to use for this type of thing
- Realise that the opinion of strangers is of no importance to you at all (which is something that comes in handy in other areas of life too).
And I agree that it's a good idea to start in a place where it's not weird to have your camera out in the first place.