Candid people on the street shots

[inTempus]

I get a kick out of shooting pictures of random people on the street while walking around over lunch.

I have to get a little too close with my 24-70 so I decided to take the 70-200 on a stroll today. Even while zooming from across the street the subjects always spot me and I always get a pic of them looking at me. I used to feel embarrassed about it, but no so much anymore.

This construction worker from today looks kind of serious, don't you think?

 

[hankejp]

I get a kick out of shooting pictures of random people on the street while walking around over lunch.

I have to get a little too close with my 24-70 so I decided to take the 70-200 on a stroll today. Even while zooming from across the street the subjects always spot me and I always get a pic of them looking at me. I used to feel embarrassed about it, but no so much anymore.

This construction worker from today looks kind of serious, don't you think?

Good thing you used your long lens. He looks like he wants to do something else with that pole. :lmao:

 

[inTempus]

Here's another one... looking straight at me probably wondering what the dude with the huge white tube by his face is doing.

 

[inTempus]

Good thing you used your long lens. He looks like he wants to do something else with that pole. :lmao:

LOL, yeah... I was ready to make my escape. Not a happy looking man by any means.

And here I thought everyone wanted to be a model.

 

[stsinner]

Tim,

Great picture!!

But, yes, this guy looks pissed that you might have recognized that he could be replaced by a bucket of sand...

Excellent pic..

 

[stsinner]

Tim, let's see a picture of that massive lens.. I've seen it in brochures, but set a quarter or something in front of it so that I can realize it's gurth... I saw online that it has a tripod mount built in.. Gee willikers.. Only my 500 mm has a tripod mount built right in.. . That must be some massive lens...

 

[inTempus]

Sorry for the poor quality, but the only other camera I have right now is a Cybershot and I had to leave the flash off so it didn't screw the picture up.

That should give you an idea of the size. The body of the camera is pretty standard sized as far as DSLR's go (slightly larger than a Rebel or a D60).

 

[hankejp]

Saw a guy at the ski hill this past weekend with a Canon 100 - 400. Man that thing was HUGE.

 

[inTempus]

Saw a guy at the ski hill this past weekend with a Canon 100 - 400. Man that thing was HUGE.

I can only imagine!

I've been lusting for a 400mm lens. I don't think I would be walking around with it too much. The 70-200 isn't bad really. I read all these comments that it was huge and you couldn't walk around with it without causing lower back pain... nah. I lug this thing around hanging from my neck all the time and it's not bad at all.

 

[jacsul]

Great capture of #1 .
He probably thinks he did something wrong earlier in the day or that week, and now you've come to catch him in the act.... Probably ruined his lunch, his day and his week. I work in construction in NYC, If I saw you pointing that monstrosity at me while I'm working "Traffic Control" my first thoughts would be.... "Oh S#!T, What did I do Now!!!" Kudos on that one :mrgreen:

Jack

 

[brileyphotog]

I really enjoyed the construction worker pic. Those big white Canon lenses are like waving a flag at people, that's probably why they are always looking at you.

One of my favorite things to do to get "real" candids is find a lake with ducks or an interesting sculpture and sit on a bench pretending to take pictures of it and usually people take far less notice.

 

[LaFoto]

I'm happy to see how nicely your long lens separates the subjects from their background (and you focus well!!!), throwing the backgrounds into a pleasing blurriness. Though the traffic lights looks somewhat ... erm ... funny in 2, but their reflections on the opposite wall are nice!

That construction site person ... he'd have come towards you only very SLOW-ly. For sure. So no need to panic. You'd have got away even if you had weilded around the lens of your dreams!

 

[Derek Zoolander]

this is why im tempted to buy this: Spy Lens at The Photojojo Store thought, $50-$85 is a lot of dough for me right now.

 

[tsaraleksi]

Is that Indy? --or on closer look, could be Chicago?

I work downtown, I need to start taking the camera out at lunch.

My main suggestion would be that as you get more comfortable with photographing people on the street, start using shorter and shorter lenses until you're down to the 24-35 part of the 24-70. For these shots with eye contact I think that the telephoto actually works pretty well, but if you want to do anything else it will feel very remote when shot through a long lens whereas closeup is a totally different feeling.

edit: as far as a 400 goes, it depends on which one you get, but yeah, you would not be doing a lot of carrying that sucker around. The 2.8 version that I used (did not own ) had to be carried over the shoulder like a rifle or something.

 

[inTempus]

Is that Indy? --or on closer look, could be Chicago?

It's Chicago. That shot was taken HERE. I love Google Maps.

I work downtown, I need to start taking the camera out at lunch.

Downtown Indy? Yeah, I would take the camera. It's a great way to spend lunch time. I can't wait until spring hits so I can sit outside on Navy Pier and people watch.

My main suggestion would be that as you get more comfortable with photographing people on the street, start using shorter and shorter lenses until you're down to the 24-35 part of the 24-70. For these shots with eye contact I think that the telephoto actually works pretty well, but if you want to do anything else it will feel very remote when shot through a long lens whereas closeup is a totally different feeling.

Yeah, I can see what you mean. I use both lenses. I usually use the 24-70 but figured I would give the 70-200 a shot to see if it allowed me to get more candid shots... most of the time people see me regardless of how far I am away from them. I need cloaking device, but they're so darn expensive.