Learning what equipment to take.......and when

I shoot everywhere and everything ... markets, streets, parks, et al. Been doing so for decades, rarely do I get accosted and I use whatever camera I'm in the mood to use and not what I think may work best to hide what I'm doing. We all shoot differently. My philosophy is not to hide what I'm doing and to shoot with respect. (I see shooting from the hip is disrespectful and sneaky but that is my code for myself ... you need to develop your code.) Usually I shoot with two cameras and a bag. From 1Ds to Hasselblads to X100s and rarely ... I can count the times on one hand that I've even get a rude remark tossed at me. (I mostly get The Eye.) Some of the passion I have for photography is for the challenge of capturing the exceptional image. Shooting from the eye, shooting with the lenses I want makes shooting Street just a bit more challenging.

What works for me is to blend into the scene. Blending in, is as as much mental as it is physical. It is like disappearing in plain sight. It takes time to develop one's Street Sense. It takes time to develop Blending In, so until you're higher on the learning curve just shoot and walk ... shoot and walk. Don't Stalk, Don't Talk ... just shoot and walk.

Gary

PS- I just read the OP's last comment ... so while the above doesn't directly apply, it is food for thought.
G
 
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goodguy said:
Just came back from an amazing trip at the West side of Canada and US.
One of the places we visited was Portland.
Armed with the D750 and 70-200mm we went to a market, I always take a long lens for market photography, the most interesting people go to markets and the pictures I get there are always challenging and rewarding.
Of course with such a big setup I am very noticeable and stick out like a soar thumb.

Anyways at the end of the walk a young guy in his late teen or early 20's approaches me asking me if I can give him my camera for a second, I wasn't sure if to be shocked or amused from his request.
He was very persistent but of course the only way he could get my camera was by wrestling it away from me and he didn't seem to want to do that.
Continued walking still pretty shocked I get yelled out by a bunch of thugs getting comments about my camera, I felt like I am attracting too much attention so I put my gear in my bag>SNIP

I live just outside the city...you got hassled by what we call "street punks" or "street kids"...there are quite a number of these little maggots, and they are very aggressive panhandlers, many with Mexican tar heroin habits, meth habits, etc.. They roam in 3's and 4's and hit up people that look like easy marks. If you had handed the camera over, the little puke would have almost assuredly turned and sprinted away with it, to illicitly sell it later. I mean no offense when I say this: I know what you look like, and you would look out of place in PDX, which is one of **the** most homogeneous, "white-bread", and LEAST-diversified cities in America...you would most definitely be "made" as a tourist...Portland is not a diverse city, and people who live here have a look, a very casual, dressed-down look, almost shabby quite honestly. A man of your age, with an expensive Nikon and 70-200 would be a total,total,total target for these street kids. This town is racist in-reverse...it is not New York...

Despite the New York Times and its fawning articles, and the lighthearted and funny looks at Portland given in the show Portlandia, the area where you were accosted, as well as another district across the river is filled with these street kids...they pretty much "work" the streets all damned day long, aggressively panhandling, almost demanding money, food, and goods that regular, normal citizens are carrying. I myself have been accosted by these pukes on multiple occasions. They are a real nuisance.
 
In several years of shooting, have only been 'confronted' three times I can remember - and it wasn't a threatening kind of thing.
I think a big dslr and big lens just attracts too much attention and is a nidus around which something unpleasant can grow. I shoot a fair amount in Baltimore and try not to interact through a lens. When people feel objectified, they react.
 
goodguy said:
Just came back from an amazing trip at the West side of Canada and US.
One of the places we visited was Portland.
Armed with the D750 and 70-200mm we went to a market, I always take a long lens for market photography, the most interesting people go to markets and the pictures I get there are always challenging and rewarding.
Of course with such a big setup I am very noticeable and stick out like a soar thumb.

Anyways at the end of the walk a young guy in his late teen or early 20's approaches me asking me if I can give him my camera for a second, I wasn't sure if to be shocked or amused from his request.
He was very persistent but of course the only way he could get my camera was by wrestling it away from me and he didn't seem to want to do that.
Continued walking still pretty shocked I get yelled out by a bunch of thugs getting comments about my camera, I felt like I am attracting too much attention so I put my gear in my bag>SNIP

I live just outside the city...you got hassled by what we call "street punks" or "street kids"...there are quite a number of these little maggots, and they are very aggressive panhandlers, many with Mexican tar heroin habits, meth habits, etc.. They roam in 3's and 4's and hit up people that look like easy marks. If you had handed the camera over, the little puke would have almost assuredly turned and sprinted away with it, to illicitly sell it later. I mean no offense when I say this: I know what you look like, and you would look out of place in PDX, which is one of **the** most homogeneous, "white-bread", and LEAST-diversified cities in America...you would most definitely be "made" as a tourist...Portland is not a diverse city, and people who live here have a look, a very casual, dressed-down look, almost shabby quite honestly. A man of your age, with an expensive Nikon and 70-200 would be a total,total,total target for these street kids. This town is racist in-reverse...it is not New York...

Despite the New York Times and its fawning articles, and the lighthearted and funny looks at Portland given in the show Portlandia, the area where you were accosted, as well as another district across the river is filled with these street kids...they pretty much "work" the streets all damned day long, aggressively panhandling, almost demanding money, food, and goods that regular, normal citizens are carrying. I myself have been accosted by these pukes on multiple occasions. They are a real nuisance.
I think you pretty much understood what happened and how I felt.
I also think you probably understand why next time I will not be going out with the "good stuff" and will have the D5100 and a cheap telezoom lens, it will not give me the amazing results I am used to with the higher end equipment but I think with the proper technique the D5100 with a basic lens can still bring very good results.
I spent the day look up different lenses, still didn't made up my mind but that ok, I always enjoy researching equipment before I buy it.
 
In several years of shooting, have only been 'confronted' three times I can remember - and it wasn't a threatening kind of thing.
I think a big dslr and big lens just attracts too much attention and is a nidus around which something unpleasant can grow. I shoot a fair amount in Baltimore and try not to interact through a lens. When people feel objectified, they react.
Thank you for feedback, as I said though the 2 incidents were not because I was taking a picture, I want shooting at the time, I was simply approached by negative people while just walking.
Thank god I handled this situation but I did learned from it and next time I go to such a crowded place in an area I don't know I plan on having cheaper and less obvious equipment on me.
I live in Toronto, even though I walk around a lot with my big equipment this never happened to me, in most cases Canadian cities are friendly places but in places I am not sure the D5100 will come in handy.
 
A D5100 and kit lens looks just like a D750 and 70-200 to these kids. Shoot and keep moving. If you start doing touristy things then put the camera away, that is where a smaller camera is just easier to put out of site.
 
A D5100 and kit lens looks just like a D750 and 70-200 to these kids. Shoot and keep moving. If you start doing touristy things then put the camera away, that is where a smaller camera is just easier to put out of site.
Trust me D5100 with 55-200mm is far from looking like a D750 with a 70-200mm 2.8, not even close
 
Take your Canon G15.
Mrs Goodguy has that and she loves it so much there is no way I can take it away from her.
BTW for a person who has no idea what photography is she makes beautiful pictures.
 
I was at Borough Market a few weeks ago. I used a Panasonic Lumix LX5. Small, and discrete and lots of fun to use.
 
The topic (in the other thread) was about being discrete in street photography (or something along those lines), I mentioned something about just holding my camera in my hand at my side and just turning my wrist and shooting without bringing it up to my face. The joke was I could get pics of hot girls without their boyfriends noticing. A few people understood it was a joke but one did not and I was told that was not street photography and I was giving "real photographers" a bad name. :76:
hey, do whatever it takes to get the shot.
 

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