Taking pictures of random strangers.

[mortar]

I'm really new to photography but on few planned outings in public I've noticed a couple very interesting people that would've made nice subjects.

How do you approach this? Do you just snap away, do ask, what do you do here.

[Foxbody]

I just snap away, I've never had anybody say anything to me. If they asked me to stop I would though.

[Picture North Carolina]

Be careful, tho. I was in a downtown environment doing an architectural job (not even people) when a guy walked by me and loudly stated "Take a picture of me and I'll kill you." Looking at him one could see he was clearly in the "I just escaped from prison and am itching to kill somebody" club. Be careful. Learn to read body language.

[Tim Speciale]

When i was interning for The Daily Iowan at the University of Iowa, a professional photographer named Danny Wilcox Jr. acted as a photography "coach" volunteering his time to help guide us.

One of the first things he did with me and another intern was take us to the street and watch us photograph strangers. He wanted to see what our comfort level was with this. At the time, it wasn't very good...i must be honest.

So to prove a point he grabbed my camera and started walking up to people and photographing them from about a foot away. The point wasn't so much to get a good photograph from his end, he was just trying to show me that people don't always care as much as you might think.

You have to obviously keep safety in mind and a Big Ten Campus might have a different attitude towards a young artist than say the streets of Chicago.

Here are a few examples of what you can get when you just relax and start clicking away.

With this first one, this guy was out on the street every weekend (probably still is) singing and playing the blues. I started by just listening to him, as i enjoyed him. Then i began to bring my camera, and eventually struck up a conversation. Soon, i was able to get close and he hardly noticed. There are some situations where you have to build trust to get what you want


This was just some guys dog who came up sniffing to me so i went up clicking to him. We exchanged jokes and went on our way. Sometimes, the situation allows for you to do just that


The next two are from a very interny assignment at The Daily Iowan. The morning of football games, as you can imagine, are very crazy and they send out one or two photographers to capture the crazy. This requires you to go out there and just take pictures of...whatever. It can be very difficult initially as you don't really have much of a goal other than to get whatever it is people are doing.

Interacting with strangers who are drinking can be difficult (usually made a little easier by participating in the activities).

Some situations allow you to interact with the scene and capture more intimate photographs. In both of the below cases, i didn't know anyone here but i presented myself as fun loving as they were to me.



This picture, i acknowledge, doesn't look all that impressive but i like the back story so much that it has become one of my favorite pictures.

I received a call late that evening from my editor that i had to go take some pictures of a political rally. The rally was suppose to be huge as a local state senator was suppose to show up to rally democrats for the upcoming presidential election.

I got there and it was horrible. Not only was it freezing and windy, but i was cranky. Why? Because only about 5 people showed up. The senator never showed, and the event was a flop. The people were somewhat agitated and i think embarrassed as i was there photographing it.


I realize that these aren't exactly "street photographs" but it's still applicable. No one situation is the same, but it's important to try and think about how you need to interact with the scene to get the photograph you're looking for.

Hope that helps...

[stathunter]

I agree with Tim -- people really do not care as much as you think. Most people enjoy getting their photo taken and some go out of their way to get in front of the camera. There are those that are not comfortable -- just read the body language.

Typically most people don't care or even ask who are you taking them for. Many will assume you are with the local paper and start giving you their name or ask will you take a photo of my granddaughter for your paper.