Breaking the comfort zone

SnappingShark · Jul 22, 2015

This is my main problem. I'm talking about the fact that I am introverted and shy.

This limits my abilities to get the pictures I want sometimes. For example, I walk to work and I see this old guy of about 80 sitting on a chair (his own chair) in the middle of the sidewalk smoking a cigarette right down to the butt and his face has so many features and life marks on it that you can't wonder what he's done throughout his years, what he does now and where he's heading next.

You see the composition, the streetlights and storefronts behind him ever so slightly out of focus and soft, and the contrast of his face from the light in the store to the side of him as the smoke drifts away...

But I freeze and just can't always talk to strangers. I used to be better but now it's becoming more noticeable again. I walk on by.

So this past 2 weeks I've joined a photography meetup group (first meeting this Saturday), and booked myself on a workshop in Seattle in September. I'm doing what I can to break this mold and get what I want when I want it in terms of my photography.

What are YOU doing to break YOUR boundaries and get out of YOUR comfort zone?

Gary A. · Jul 23, 2015

I'm not shy ... but if I was shy and wanted to break out ... I take a camera with me everyday. And I would shoot everything. If I see a person, I'd just hold the camera up and sorta shrug ... asking for approval by gesturing.

Designer · Jul 23, 2015

I like my comfort zone.

dennybeall · Jul 23, 2015

Having been a photojournalist I use subterfuge and deceit much of the time since I'm not shooting for commercial use photos. Shoot from the hip, use a longer lens and appear to shoot a scene and shoot what I want as the camera moves past that spot.
Sometimes looking at the camera back like I'm setting a control but actually framing in the swiveling view screen from the hip.
I'm not shy but usually the best shots come before you talk to the person or group of people.
I'd take a couple shots of the old man and then go up to him and show him or talk to him.

floatingby · Jul 23, 2015

I just accept the fact that I'm shy and have difficulty accosting strangers as one of my(numerous)limitations, something that I have to work around. We have a saying in french(don't know how to translate, sorry) "chassez le naturel, il revient au galop"; I've discovered over the years that trying to change myself into something I'm not will never work, it's a waste of time and energy.

table1349 · Jul 23, 2015

Do a few nude photo shoots. Not with the model being nude..........YOU shooting in the nude! If that doesn't broaden your comfort zone then you just need to find a mountain with an empty cave in need of a hermit.

The_Traveler · Jul 23, 2015

There are really two issues here: how to get the best picture and dealing with your 'comfort zone.'
I agree with Denny Beall that the best pictures are before you talk to people and getting in position to get those pictures and actually taking them means learning some techniques that work for you.

I wrote three blog posts that deal with these points:

Lew Lorton Photography The Myths of Street Shooting - explained and busted
Lew Lorton Photography The key to successful street photography
Lew Lorton Photography The secret to taking pictures of people in a foreign country - for me at least

but, imo, the most important of taking pictures of people when they know in advance breaks down as this:

1) Using the camera as a barrier between you and the subject is deadly. The subjects sense this and they freeze. When hoping to get pictures up close, I always approach subjects with the camera down at my waist. I know what the settings are, or will need to be, and I adjust the camera before I raise it.

2) speed is crucial. Letting the camera linger at your eye also turns off the subjects because then the camera is seen as important and they start to wonder why. I raise the camera and take the picture as quickly as I can. I try to minimize the importance of the camera and the shot in my actions. I am willing to sacrifice perfect framing or exposure for the shot.

3) contact with a subject who sees you is crucial. I am not a camera with a person holding it, I am a person who has this lump of metal at his side. If I plan on taking a picture of a person who sees me, I engage them in a real manner first. I ask a question, I tell them what I am doing, I tell them why I'd like to take their picture.