The secret to taking pictures of people in a foreign country - for me at least

[gsgary]

What I am after are pictures where the real personality of the subject comes through and not the frozen face of someone taken by surprise or reacting to the camera.

One of the reasons I linked to the Bruce Gilden street shooting link...showing exactly how to come off as an utter tool; using a Leica first; second, using a Leica with its pathetic 1/50 second top flash synch speed in daylight; BLASTING innocent people with a 21mm lens and full-power flash from two to five feet away; acting like a bull in a china shop; and in general, making peole look weird; focusing-in on the poor, poorly-dressed, the unkempt, the obese, and culturally-unacceptable people, as a way to show the Freak Show aspect of the people who live in large cities. Yeah, an utter hero. The absolute antithesis of what The_Traveler is trying to discuss.

He still gets good shots with 1/50 and flash, he must be really bad to be a member of one of the most respected photo agencies in the world