taking street photography photos w/ 35mm lens makes subjects mad

[jcdeboever]

I find having an articulated screen a bit of a bonus on my Panasonic....most of the time people don't know you are taking a shot, even if they have registered your presence. I find I can sit sideways on to the subject, camera in my lap, with the rear screen folded out. here's a favourite.....View attachment 137047

I hate flip screens, I can see your point though. I need to break out my Airesflex TLR soon, I love that thing.

 

[limr]

I find having an articulated screen a bit of a bonus on my Panasonic....most of the time people don't know you are taking a shot, even if they have registered your presence. I find I can sit sideways on to the subject, camera in my lap, with the rear screen folded out. here's a favourite.....View attachment 137047

I hate flip screens, I can see your point though. I need to break out my Airesflex TLR soon, I love that thing.

Yup, I was going to say, use a TLR Or better yet, I sometimes use my Praktica, which is a 35mm camera with a waist-level finder. That confuses people.

 

[jcdeboever]

I find having an articulated screen a bit of a bonus on my Panasonic....most of the time people don't know you are taking a shot, even if they have registered your presence. I find I can sit sideways on to the subject, camera in my lap, with the rear screen folded out. here's a favourite.....View attachment 137047

I hate flip screens, I can see your point though. I need to break out my Airesflex TLR soon, I love that thing.

Yup, I was going to say, use a TLR Or better yet, I sometimes use my Praktica, which is a 35mm camera with a waist-level finder. That confuses people.

I wish I could find a good one of those. Actually, I have been looking for a waste level finder at a reasonable price for my Nikon F, not much luck.

 

[table1349]

Like @limr

NYC isn't a zoo, and it's not "scary". It's a city full of people, normal people, like you and me, just trying to live their lives.

Apparently you don't go to the Vinegar Hill area much. As for a zoo, yep New York City is a zoo as is the whole east and west coast. As for normal people, we do not have a naked cowboy with a guitar, a naked cowgirl or anyone like this person wondering around anywhere near here.

Then stay out.

Well if this is an example of that New York friendliness I believe I will.

 

[The_Traveler]

I tend not to ask permission or to try to get so close that I startle people.
My intent is to take a picture of a scene and not to be part of it or influence it.

This is more easily done if you have good knowledge of your camera and good timing.
Generally my camera is at waist level, I frame the shot in my head, raise the camera, shoot and then drop the camera.
Unless the person is looking directly at me, by the time the motion attracts his/her eye, the camera is back down again.

More important (much) to me is that the picture actually has content that has some meaning or emotion and isn't just shadows, shapes and grain.

the first two are in NYC, the third in front of Union Station in DC.

 

[pgriz]

Photographing people is not much different from photographing wild-life. You can either go for the startle reaction, or you can get them used to you to the point that they ignore you. The latter takes more time and more involvement, but in the end that investment of time can be quite good in terms of images captured. It's a question of trust.

A photographer who is a member of a photoclub that I'm in, is well known for the amazing imagery that he comes back with from his travels. He explained that his way is to become part of the community (sometimes being there for days), until they accept him as being another member of the community, and then they start opening up and revealing a lot more of themselves than they otherwise would. He recently had an exhibition of some of the images he made in places like Afghanistan, India, Sri Lanka, Kenya, South Africa, where he was trusted to capture images and moments that no "outsider" would be able to see. As he pointed out to us, without that trust, he cannot, and will not take the images. He also only uses the images that the people allow him to use - he invariably does a show for them with the images he captures, and if anyone objects to an image being shown, he takes it down.

 

[Madison6D]

It is hard to capture some quality street photography, but not so much. Nice thinking about street photography.

 

[chuasam]

Would you personally like a stranger sticking his/her camera right in your face?
i wouldn't.

 

[table1349]

Interesting perspective that pertains to this thread.
Every Photo Comes with Built-In Debt, or: The Ethics of Photography

 

[Dikkie]

Perhaps you should dress more like a confused tourist and people wont be so shocked that you took their photo?

Good advice.

I'm always dressed like a confused tourist

I also like to use a wide angle lens, so keeping things discreet is the key.

MMM, with a wide angle lens, you need to get pretty close to get people close in the picture. It's more discrete if you have a tele lens and shoot from far away, no?

 

[nerwin]

I think shooting street with a 70-200 2.8 and trying to be discrete defeats the purpose lol.

 

[Gary A.]

I think shooting street with a 70-200 2.8 and trying to be discreet defeats the purpose lol.

It sorta depends on how you use it. If you shoot down the Street at 200mm it becomes somewhat discreet.

XP1 @ 200mm

Sometimes it isn't.

XP1 @ 200mm

Sometimes being upfront with your activities is better than discretion. For me, much of the attraction of shooting Street is the challenge of shooting in a potential hostile environment. I like the heightened challenge of shooting in full photo regalia than hiding what I'm doing and sneaking wide angle shots from the hip. It is all a personal code.

 

[nerwin]

I think shooting street with a 70-200 2.8 and trying to be discrete defeats the purpose lol.

Sometimes being upfront with your activities is better than discretion. For me, much of the attraction of shooting Street is the challenge of shooting in a potential hostile environment. I like the heightened challenge of shooting in full photo regalia than hiding what I'm doing and sneaking wide angle shots from the hip. It is all a personal code.

I've only done very little street stuff because where I live but I'd feel weird shooting street with a telephoto unless I'm shooting something specific. Honestly, if I was going to shoot street, as in taking candids of people, I wouldn't even use a DSLR, I'd probably use something like a Ricoh GR because its compact and not flashy whatsoever, its very discrete. But yes, you are absolutely correct, we all have a personal code. That's what makes street photography so unique!

 

[Fred von den Berg]

Perhaps you should dress more like a confused tourist and people wont be so shocked that you took their photo?

Good advice.

I'm always dressed like a confused tourist

I also like to use a wide angle lens, so keeping things discreet is the key.

MMM, with a wide angle lens, you need to get pretty close to get people close in the picture. It's more discrete if you have a tele lens and shoot from far away, no?

Being discrete doesn't mean you have to be in a far off position, outside the scene you want to photograph, like a sniper waiting to get a clear shot. For me, it means being in close to what interests you without affecting or changing things. Have you ever watched one of those short films where polar bears or gorillas walk through a scene and nobody noticed?

 

[Gary A.]

Perhaps you should dress more like a confused tourist and people wont be so shocked that you took their photo?

Good advice.

I'm always dressed like a confused tourist

I also like to use a wide angle lens, so keeping things discreet is the key.

MMM, with a wide angle lens, you need to get pretty close to get people close in the picture. It's more discrete if you have a tele lens and shoot from far away, no?

Being discrete doesn't mean you have to be in a far off position, outside the scene you want to photograph, like a sniper waiting to get a clear shot. For me, it means being in close to what interests you without affecting or changing things. Have you ever watched one of those short films where polar bears or gorillas walk through a scene and nobody noticed?

No to the film, but yes to what you said. It is all a mentality thing, you need to blend into the street as if you belong ... ultimately, no different than a mailbox or a street lamp. When I was shooting news everyday, I developed those skills to blend into the background and become relatively unnoticed.