Photographing Strangers

[tsaraleksi]

The simplest thing to do is to keep the camera at your eye the whole time, swing into your shot, and keep moving, so that no one can tell what you're photographing.

 

[patrickt]

If I'm doing a shot of one or two people, a candid portrait, I usually ask. Since I shoot digital, I can click away until they get bored and go back to whatever they were doing. If it's a group shot, I don't ask. If someone indicates they don't want their picture taken, I don't. I was shooting two chess players one evening and one noticed me and waved me away. I smiled, waved back, and went on.

Actually, asking is too strong a word. Frequently, it involves holding the camera up a bit and smiling. If I get a smile back I take pictures. At a parade one day a baby was behind the bars on a window with her parents and I held my camera up, the parents smiled and beamed at the baby, and I took the picture. It isn't tough.

I'm not under the illusion that the one picture I missed would be great art.

 

[Village Idiot]

Wow, SERIOUS balls.

I would love to get into street photography, but do not have the guts. I would buy a nice long lens, stand way far back, and hope no one notices lol.

The beauty of UWA lenses is that you can have a subject where you want in the frame, and be pointing the center of the lens at something else.

But different people have different styles.

 

[FlyingFly]

When I shoot strangers in public places (such as street or park), most people are friendly and cooperate (actually they went on doing what they were doing as if they had not seen me).

On subway:
Nikon D70 + Nikkor AI 35 f/2

 

[Onion]

i like photographing in public bathrooms, you'd be surprised how many people are alright with it,