Photographing people in the street.

Do you ask or just shoot? I had an hour in Leeds, one bloke I asked refused so I thanked him and moved on, I took one of a lovely girl but she was unaware as you get a better picture when not posting.

I was going to take one of a homeless guy who got shirty with me and I said I was not looking at him but was taking pictures of buses, which was a lie....I moved on pretending to take buses as I wanted to seem genuine.

The main thing that I am trying to get across here is that when viewing Flickr, most shots of people do not look as if they knew the photo was being taken.

Do you ask first or just shoot and hope?


These ladies I asked and they allowed me as I normally ask.

MAMF said:

Do you ask or just shoot?

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For me, this is one of those, "It depends..." questions. If I see a remarkable, but time sensitive shot, I go for it (almost reflexively). If I have to apologize later, so be it; but I've rarely needed to. I have noticed people in general seem more sensitive to being photographed these days so I'm somewhat selective about where I shoot to begin with. When I'm shooting somewhere I'm going to be "hanging out" and shooting (the dancers I shoot, glass blowers, etc.) I specifically ask if I can shoot while they do what they're doing. I prefer this method so they get used to me being there, the camera being there and once they relax and can really ignore my presence I start getting good shots.

My Golden Rule about getting candid shots is, "Don't... Look... Furtive." By this I mean I don't try to hide the fact I'm shooting someone. I may need to shoot quickly to capture the shot, but that's different than trying to hide the fact I'm shooting to begin with. If someone wants to engage me in conversation about why I'm shooting that's fine but in my experience if you look like you're being sneaky, successfully or not, you're setting yourself up for confrontation and I don't like confrontation.

Also, since I'm a middle-aged white male, photographing kids without prior consent is simply out of the question for me, even in public places like parks or playgrounds. Probably *especially* in parks or playgrounds, come to think of it. Yeah, sucks because 1) it's clearly a double-standard and 2) kids make for some great subject matter sometimes. Still, I find it easier to just dodge the whole issue entirely as a general rule. Just a personal decision of mine.

I don't ask, but if someone asks me to delete the image (happened once) I willingly do so. My reason for not asking is I want the real look because people change when they know a camera is on them.

As for kids, I will avoid this in 95% of all cases because similar to Fish, as a white middle aged male people immediately think pedophile.

One more thing, it depends on your local laws. In America, if you are in a public place then you are fair game.

Yeah I think I am nearly the same except I must not look furtive.

As for where kids are concerned it is a big no no for me as even though I am 110% innocent I feel 200% guilty so when kids are around where I want to get a good shot (in my head I am all the rage) and just want the kids to ffff off, out of the way.

Lee.

PS I sent on Flickr a request for you to join us at at MLB. https://www.flickr.com/groups/monochrome_looks_best/

I had a quick look at your Flickr site - some sensational shots that you have there.

Cheers Moab.

If someone asks me to delete an image, I go ahead and do so.


But I have two secret weapons up my sleeve.



One is.... my cameras have two card slots. I would have to delete them off BOTH cards. And two..... even if I did that, I'd swap cards out for fresh ones right after doing so, then do a file recovery on the first set of cards and get the image back.


Either way, I totally avoid any potential conflict, and still get my shot.

Whilst my wife was in a shop (Convenience store in the US?) getting groceries I took some photos of a war memorial opposite, my wife knew what I was doing as I take my camera everywhere.

Some kids were walking by so I stopped shooting, once they were gone I tried to get a good shot. (They were all crap and deleted) meanwhile my wife was in the queue to be served and the lady in front was telling the shop keeper that there was a man outside taking photos of kids.

My wife came out of the shop/store and was telling me this......I was in a rage.

"Right" I said, "I am going back into the shop with my camera and will show them every shot that I had taken"

My wife said to leave it alone and lets get on with the 70m journey home.




I have not forgotton this (This was in December) and when we go back to the coast (I know the guy and gal who work in the shop) I am going to go into the shop to get the real story across.

The shop is only in a small village and it is crappy lies like this that spiral out of control.

As I have said before, I have a disability (MS) and for me, getting out on my scooter to take photos is about the only thing that I can do these days.....(Sorry to go on and on) even today in the big (Small by US standards) city there were many people who came to offer help and helping me get my wheelchair/scooter out of the car.


Without my camera I feel that my life would be nothing, I know I ain't the best photographer in photo land but I strive to get that great shot and that is what keeps me going.

Thank-you camera and thank-you Nikon.

(Rant over)

I always ask, unless the person cannot be identified in the photo, unless it's a large crowd of people, such as NYC.

I ran into a bit of trouble there last year when I took a photo, and captured (unintentionally) two "yoots" selling water on a highway entrance ramp. They were very upset, and threatened bodily harm. Chased us all the way onto the highway. Not fun.

I take a lot of photos here in my small town (7500) and post them on the town FB or town website. Rarely get a complaint, and 99% are thrilled to see themselves. If someone doesn't want it posted, I'll remove them, or blur them out right away.

I'm thinking one of the problems you have, is the camera you are using. A DSLR is not the best choice to do street photography. You may want to invest in something more compact and even with a fixed lens. From there, you can zone focus and not have to worry about taking your time to focus. Look at some videos with Zack Arias. He is a complete natural when it comes to asking people to take photos. Though, it is not necessarily something you can learn, but it is something more built into ones personality/character. Seriously, i would look into a camera like the Ricoh GR, Fuji X100s/t or any similar camera to do street photography. A DSLR is just to obvious.

For random street photography, I typically will not ask, as it's a "shot of the moment" type of thing. If it involves a kid in any way, I will immediately reach out to the parents, though. I show them the shot, give 'em the info on my FB page, offer them a free print or high res file if they would like, and ask permission to keep/post. (I have generic release forms in my bag) If they don't agree to permission to post, I offer them a free high res anyway, then end up deleting the pic. I really need to get some business cards for this side of things, so I can be up front and identify myself in a more permanent way. I think it would make people much more comfortable, TBH. Even still, I've only shot pics of 4 or 5 kids, and I've only had one person politely decline, so I deleted the photo right in front of them with a smile and a thanks on both sides. Like the Fish, I don't try to hide what I'm doing, and my street work is usually with my D7100 and 70-300 combo, so it's easy to spot. Haven't had a cranky person yet, myself. I've had others in my same group run into issues, but because they were "slinking around" (actual quote).

Other folks, if it's one I think I'll market (rare), I'll ask to sign the release as well, or if they notice, I'll approach and explain.

I've also had quite a bit of luck in asking a few folks for specific shots, in that I haven't been turned down yet (have only asked 4 people thus far). I'm not brave enough to ask everyone that I'd like to photo for a specific look or pose yet, though, as it's an uncomfortable stretch for me. I'm sure I'll grow into it. I've run across many "photogenic" people in my wandering, so anybody that has experience in reaching out to "random models", feel free to give me some tips!

I think I'm on the other side of the fence. I don't photograph people.
Dogs, cats and other critters yes. People, no. Too much of a hassle.
I'm not a people person so that makes sense. To me anyway.

This is the first and last candid I ever took. My ex-wife and MIL.
The picture has meaning because they were estranged for 20 years.
This was one of their first visits. I love the picture. My ex wanted to have me drawn and quartered.
she thinks I deleted the image. I hung on to it. Her mom isn't in the best of health. The pic might have meaning in future years.

Your insight is right. When she is gone the daughter will try to grasp any memory she can. Only then will she appreciate that photo.

I had a similar experience with my own family members. Everyone always dove for cover and didn't want their picture taken. I got on them all one day that those that came after them would want these pictures and to delete any record of them by hiding from pictures was wrong. It remedied the problem when they realized I was right and their were whole swaths of their life missing from future generations.

Good discussion so far.

I've been playing with street photography for two years now. Got more into it this past summer.

Generally, I try to be covert and do not ask permission. I have seen interesting subjects and just asked if I could take their portrait. I always offer to email a copy to them as well. Generally this work out well.


Local construction worker on the streets of Detroit

Bob - Construction worker by Joe Lopez, on Flickr

Previous Red Wings coach, Mike Babcock jogging along the Detroit Riverfront. I asked to take a picture with him, my friend used my camera. I later cropped this image out of it

Mike Babcock - Detroit Red Wings by Joe Lopez, on Flickr

Nikon FE2 / 35mm film
Random guy at a local street fair last summer. I liked his shirt

Nikon FE2 - Don't Brooklyn my Detroit. by Joe Lopez, on Flickr

It has become very sensitive with human photo. More so for developed countries. People are more concerned of your intention.

If you are shooting scene and the person is captured, eg a tourist spot. I don't think it is fair that thy demand you delete it. Of course the frame is just that person, then we should. Sometimes it is the body language. As you shoot and he/she smile or acknowledged, the signal is OK to go ahead.

'Covert' sounds good to me Carguy.

All these I asked if I could apart from the last one, the lady in white.

I tend to avoid shooting children while I'm out and about also. Being a father of young-uns myself, I find it a bit creepy.

I ask permission when the person is aware I'm there except in instances when people are walking along a path or engaged in other activities. Melvin was sitting on a park bench and was quite nice allowing me to take his photo.



This dog is named Toby and was taken on the same day. Again I asked. Toby was so striking in his looks which caught my attention.




Took this one just the other day. I was at the park taking photos of the lake when he asked me if I'd use his cell phone to take his photo with the lake behind him. I am not the best with using cell phone cameras so when I finished, I asked if I could use my camera. Having the lake in the background made him face into the sun and unfortunately had nothing with me to cut down on the direct sunlight. However, shooting RAW allowed me to raise the shadows on his face which helped lower the contrast. Zoey with her owner Fred.



For ones like this, I don't ask.

I just finished watching this excellent video on Street Photography, take a look if you haven't already!

How to talk to Strangers: Portrait and Street Photography Lessons from Adam Marelli

https://youtu.be/kyL38-losiE

carguy said:

I just finished watching this excellent video on Street Photography, take a look if you haven't already!

How to talk to Strangers: Portrait and Street Photography Lessons from Adam Marelli

https://youtu.be/kyL38-losiE

Click to expand...

It took me two goes at it to get through it, and I may have to go through it again. He had some very good points that I had not really thought about. Thanks Joe for sharing.

I tend not to ask when I get a chance like this