How to approach someone?

[msf]

Don't stutter, speak clearly, don't mumble, and look directly at the person's eyes (or focus on the bridge of their nose if that's uncomfortable for you). Doing so will make you appear confident in what you're doing, which can put people at ease. (I've noticed that if I stutter or get tripped up on my words at all, people are much more difficult to convince. Take it slow.)

Its easier said than done when you tell soemone not to stutter. : )

Don't bombard them with information. Introduce yourself "Excuse me. Hi, my name is <name>." Shake their hand if body language permits (this can be harder to judge without experience, but is something that can be learnt). "I'm studying photography." or "I'm working on a project." or "I'm looking to expand my portfolio." Choose one, and stick to it.

Thanks for this, I dont always know what to say in situations like this, but I like that intro.

 

[UUilliam]

Im just wondering what the point of this would be. for some it would be the opportunity to take the pictures of pretty girls. for others, it might be to add to your portfolio. I wonder what business/financial benifits this could lead to. Hoping they like the pictures so much, they want to buy some?

Well for me it was to put towards a portfolio and gain Experience

 

[musicaleCA]

Personally, I like doing it just for kicks. I'm not busy making money yet, and it's a chance for me to practise. And any practise is good practise.

Don't stutter, speak clearly, don't mumble, and look directly at the person's eyes (or focus on the bridge of their nose if that's uncomfortable for you). Doing so will make you appear confident in what you're doing, which can put people at ease. (I've noticed that if I stutter or get tripped up on my words at all, people are much more difficult to convince. Take it slow.)

Its easier said than done when you tell soemone not to stutter. : )

Oh yeah, I totally get that. It's the same issue, psychologically speaking, that some people have speaking publicly. You're talking to a stranger; mentally, you have a whole host of things that they could be thinking to wonder about, many negative. When you know the people, one tends to think about the possibilities of them thinking negatively about you less. That leads to nervousness and tripping over one's speech. The key is to relax, and mix in a little apathy for good measure (at least for the time you're speaking; after the fact it's good to care about being a better speaker).

 

[AlexNeo]

Some of these people will ask for $$$...How to answer them?

 

[msf]

Heres a similiar question to the OP'ers.

Im going to a car show eventually, possibly this week or next. I would like to offer my photographic services to the car owners, but I am terrible at small talk until I get to know someone, and im not good at coming up with the opening statement for this sort of thing.

Can anyone give me some advice what to say?

I was thinking something like "Hello, this is a great car, blah blah blah. My name is blah blah and I was wondering if you would like some portraits taken of your car? *handing them my business card as I ask*. If I had a portfolio of car shots, I would show them, but at this time, I dont.

Should I try to encourage them to schedule an appointment to take pictures of their car at another day/time? Or should I try to do it right then and there? I havent been to to many car shows, but the cars are normally parked close to each other, with a ton of people walking around. Problem wtih scheduling on another day is some of these people dont want their car outside if theres any chance of rain, so it might be hard to schedule a day, they may keep cancelling and trying again for better weather conditions, in the mean time Ive lost another booking time slot.

 

[PhilGarber]

Don't stutter,

Damnit. That one is a bit of a brick wall for me.

 

[PhilGarber]

Its easier said than done when you tell soemone not to stutter. : )

A fellow stutterer? PM me. No need to hijack the thread.

 

[c.cloudwalker]

Some of these people will ask for $$$...How to answer them?

That's very easy as there are only two possibilities.

1/ You want to shoot them for portfolio/art, in which case you are not getting paid and the answer is: "I'm sorry, I do not make any money off of those so I can only pay with prints." And make sure you model release reflects this.

2/ You have a place to sell the photos and you need to pay the model. So know how much you will pay ahead of time.

To be honest, for case #1 it has never been a problem. Rarely been asked for money. I also usually told the potential models straight away that they would get prints in payment for their time.

If someone wants money, I just keep going. I was looking on ModelMayhem recently because I had a possibility for a shoot and I had to laugh. Most of the models I saw there saying they don't work for prints didn't even have much in the way of decent shots to show and some were not showing much talent as models.

This is exactly like dating. Some will say yes, some will say no. It's a numbers' game. The more people you ask the more yeses you will get.

 

[bigtwinky]

Not to echo too much of what has already been said, I have had success with finding a spot that is great for pictures and then approaching someone, and telling them the truth that I'm working on my portfolio and found a great place for a portrait but I need a model and ask if they wouldn't mind helping me out.

This can sometimes lead to more pictures than just the one, but it all comes down to acting in a confident and professional manner.

 

[musicaleCA]

Indeed. Confidence is key. And HAH! I've never had anyone ask for money before when I'm just on the street. If they did I'd just say "Ah, that's too bad. Bye."

 

[JerryPH]

I was out and about in Old Montreal recently and talking to a couple of other photographers who were wondering how to approach a group of young ladies.

I just took a snap of them snapping away and left the camera up to my face until they noticed me:

Then I just showed them the above shot and asked if I could take a couple of individual and group shots... which they just fell into poses for me!

I have just started to carry some simple home made cards with nothing more than my name, email and flickr account address on it and told them that the could see their pics there within 1-2 days. I was also clear that at ANY time they were free to tell me immediately to delete the pic from my camera or off line and I would be more than happy to.

I don't know what the difficulty is.

 

[JerryPH]

Some of these people will ask for $$$...How to answer them?

You thank them kindly and move on. I never had anyone ask me for money to take their shot.

 

[musicaleCA]

Some of these people will ask for $$$...How to answer them?

You thank them kindly and move on. I never had anyone ask me for money to take their shot.

Must be an American thing. (Seriously, I can't believe that people would demand money. You're a random on the street, likely with no modelling experience, and you want to be paid? Get real. :lmao: )