How do you guys do it?

[beni_hung]

75-300mm lens

 

[Vautrin]

Live free-

I don't know how they do it tonight. I am going out tonight. I won't take my 7D with me, but my smaller one. I am going to see if I can click a few pictures. I do it with my cell phone all the time.. I call it going into "stealth" mode. I don't have anything pressing to do this weekend. I may give it a try.

See I see this even weirder than taking someones pic with a nice camera, for artistic purposes. If someone took a pic of me with their cell phone, I would be less inclined to view it as an artistic mode of expression, and more of an invasion of privacy.

The whole idea of photgraphing specific random people without their permission and without them knowing is as much voyeuristic as a mode of artistic expression.

I mean, if I'm taking a picture of the eiffel tower, and I happen to take a picture of somebody standing around, OK., but trying to take pictures of people with a big lens to try and get portraits of them without their knowing is a little, well...weird at best...

 

[gsgary]

75-300mm lens

No NO NO get in close with a 28mm

 

[T-town photographer]

I have always just gone out and taken shoots. Depending on where and what I am shooting I may use a 70-210 or a 28-105. Keep in mind I am shooting film so that will make a difference on the lens for you guys and gals with a crop body.

Just go have fun with it.

Michael

 

[icassell]

Try reading javier's intro to his street-photography theme -- it might give you some ideas:

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/photo-themes/169495-capture-stranger-street-style.html

People who do a lot of this kind of photography often use small rangefinder cameras rather than big dSLR's. Leica made it's name partially by this.

If you really like this stuff, read about Henri Cartier-Bresson and look at his images.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Cartier-Bresson

 

[gsgary]

Another one for you to watch

 

[Mulewings~]

I recently read that in the US, if it's public property, you're free to shoot whatever you want.... so sidewalks and streets are fair game. I believe there have been court cases over this.

Careful with that though. Even though you have the right to shoot anywhere doesn't mean you won't be hassled by private security / ignorant law enforcement officers...

Just an FYI. I am a Security Guard and I won't say what we guard but if a person stops on the road and yanks out a camera, we will report and hassle them. These are for security reasons...

There are instances where photographers have to realize that it isn't all fair game.

That said, I'd love to shoot people in the street too, but frankly it feels a bit weird to me.
However I do enjoy seeing other photographers' work.

 

[Gaerek]

I recently read that in the US, if it's public property, you're free to shoot whatever you want.... so sidewalks and streets are fair game. I believe there have been court cases over this.

Careful with that though. Even though you have the right to shoot anywhere doesn't mean you won't be hassled by private security / ignorant law enforcement officers...

Just an FYI. I am a Security Guard and I won't say what we guard but if a person stops on the road and yanks out a camera, we will report and hassle them. These are for security reasons...

There are instances where photographers have to realize that it isn't all fair game.

That said, I'd love to shoot people in the street too, but frankly it feels a bit weird to me.
However I do enjoy seeing other photographers' work.

The thing that you must realize is that there is very little (with regards to public property) that is off limits to a photographer. I have no idea what you guard, so I can't comment specifically on that. I too, work in a security guard related field. In our documentation, photography is specifically mentioned and there is very little about where I work that is off limits to photography.

Most of the time, when someone is being hassled by security, or the cops about their photographing things, it's out of bounds. Typically, the photographer has the right to be where he is doing what he's doing. The problem is the over-zealous guard/cop/whatever, perceives that the photographer is doing something illegal, when in fact, they aren't. This is, unfortunately, a fact of life for photographers in a post 9/11 world. If you're photographing in public, you must be a bad guy staking out a target.

 

[Mulewings~]

Exactly.

 

[Vautrin]

I recently read that in the US, if it's public property, you're free to shoot whatever you want.... so sidewalks and streets are fair game. I believe there have been court cases over this.

Careful with that though. Even though you have the right to shoot anywhere doesn't mean you won't be hassled by private security / ignorant law enforcement officers...

Just an FYI. I am a Security Guard and I won't say what we guard but if a person stops on the road and yanks out a camera, we will report and hassle them. These are for security reasons...

There are instances where photographers have to realize that it isn't all fair game.

That said, I'd love to shoot people in the street too, but frankly it feels a bit weird to me.
However I do enjoy seeing other photographers' work.

What are the security reasons?

 

[Mulewings~]

Nuclear Regulatory Commission says photographers are a no-no anywhere near the place.

 

[bigtwinky]

i was walking in the montreal underground with a friend on a photo walk. we had our tripods with us, but not open. a guard came up, really nice guy, and said there are no issues with pictures, but we are not allowed to use tripods as these can be an issue to public safety.

after chatting for a bit with him, we managed to get him to show us to some places, while totally accessible, but not very obvious, that lead to great views and picture taking opportunities.

i havent run into the over-zealous wannabe cop who wants to see what you took and have you delete all of it, or wants to take your memory card from you thinking they have a right to

 

[Vautrin]

Nuclear Regulatory Commission says photographers are a no-no anywhere near the place.

See that is one of the few places I'd agree maybe photography should be a no no. Very few legitamite photographers are going to want to go take pictures of missle silos, nuclear plants, military bases, things like that. Add to that the fact that it's probably dangerous to get close enough to these things to

I'm more outraged at things like private security guards for buildings / stores stopping you.

The thing I don't understand is if a terrorist wanted to take a picture, he'd probably be sneaky (google buy hidden digital camera -- security guards have no chance). So why is someone with $2k - $3k of equiptement around their neck treated like a terrorist?

 

[DReali]

FIRST: inform yourself about the law, every country and every state has differrent regulations so ask a lawyer.
If it is legal, all you need is balls (or a general disreguard for peoples sense of privacy)! forget the 200mm lenses, tinted windows and the "stealth" tactics. If you want a good photo of a person albeit him/her being a complete stranger you need to get up close and personal!!! My personal philosophy is "shoot first, ask questions later". Never ask them for permission but let them know you are a photographer simply by doing what a photographer does, taking pictures. More people will be flattered than angry, and the angry ones can be appeased by offering to send them a print or deleting the photo, just make sure you pick the right subjects. NEVER take a photo of someone that looks like he has nothing to loose or something to prove (thugs, homeless people) without their permission first!!!! Use your own discretion, it may be an unnatural concept at first but with practice it comes. I personally have found my niche in street photography....it is the only type of photography that allows me to keep about half the pictures i take (with landscapes and such i end up keeping only about 5% of the photos i take). This is because I have learned to seek out good subjects and get close to them before pressing the shutter. You do feel reckless at first but you do need to overstep your bounds if you want to go home with more than 2 frames (my personal opinion). I use a 50mm 1.4 prime and a gripped canon 50d, nothing "stealth" about that, people see me coming, see me photograph them (they almost always look through the lens) and most of the time just keep walking. You just need the confidence to do it and people will think that "this is normal, that man is a photographer and that's his job" and they may even feel special that you chose them. Whenever asked I tell people I'm an artist looking for people with character and style (which is why i hardly ever photograph people between the ages of 12 and 30) and the conversation almost always ends in a smile. GET CLOSE, you want them to see you, you want them to know they are being photographed, you want to capture their reaction! OH and i nearly forgot.......photographing kids is sketchy, a lot of parents aren't happy when you do that so evaluate the situation and decide whether it would be better to ask the parent or just go for it and then explain. here are a few of mine:

My best probabaly (worth the cosequences): http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/black-white-gallery/181741-photo-terrorist.html

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/black-white-gallery/185755-more-strangers-part-1-2-a.html

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/black-white-gallery/185758-more-strangers-part-2-2-a.html

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/black-white-gallery/181838-loose-cannon.html

 

[gsgary]

Nuclear Regulatory Commission says photographers are a no-no anywhere near the place.

If there is a footpath outside they can't stop you