Shooting People without being a creep

Quad wrote in post #9560369
It may be a waste of disk space to you but a pretty girl all dressed in bling bling smiling for the camera with a sign in the background that says "Porn Flakes" has to raise a smile even in your cold Canadian heart.

I was wondering if anyone was going to catch the sign. Pure luck on that but a nice outcome nonetheless.

ssim wrote in post #9561848
I was wondering if anyone was going to catch the sign. Pure luck on that but a nice outcome nonetheless.

Yes luck is a big part of it all but one thing I have noticed the more you do (street) photography the more often you are the object of instances of pure luck. It is not just a matter of volume either your ratio of shots you got hit by luck vs the rest goes up as well.

Yes, luck indeed!

Interesting thread for me to read - I'm making an infrequent trip to NYC at the end of the month, the first for me since getting more serious about photography. I'm traveling light, and only there a day, so I was planning on my 7D with 50mm prime only (maybe my 28-75mm f2.8 Tamron), and spending some time in central park or times square, just shooting people.

My intention is now to simply shoot - if anyone looks at me, try the hat tip and smile in thanks - and if anyone approaches me, give them a business card and offer them a free print of their photo. I'm a big guy, it's a big camera, it's hard not to be conspicuous, so why try and end up looking odd!

Buy and wear a shirt that has some sort of way showing that you are a photographer

About half of my candid shots are taken while I'm in the car at a stop light or in traffic, so that usually eliminates the possibility of a confrontation. And IMO a small sized Telephoto is the way to go as far as not being noticed.

NeoSoulPhoto wrote in post #9568044
About half of my candid shots are taken while I'm in the car at a stop light or in traffic, so that usually eliminates the possibility of a confrontation. And IMO a small sized Telephoto is the way to go as far as not being noticed.

Good way to have an accident, and your more open to attack when sitting in a confined in a car.
Note: rolling up the window doesn't help.
People notice even stares...

Matt-l wrote in post #9546646
IMO its all part of street photography. If you're shooting people in the streets you'll always get a glare back its just the way it works.

Exactly. Gotta be quick. Sometimes though Matt, glances are nice.

blackhawk wrote in post #9568197
Good way to have an accident, and your more open to attack when sitting in a confined in a car.
Note: rolling up the window doesn't help.
People notice even stares...

sure I'm gonna have an accident while not moving.

NeoSoulPhoto wrote in post #9568451
sure I'm gonna have an accident while not moving.

Well, it is kinda creepy though...the whole drive-by-shooting bit.

NeoSoulPhoto wrote in post #9568451
sure I'm gonna have an accident while not moving.

It's tedious to do, and when I do it it's because someone caught my eye... here's one from a stop light.

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Another technique you can use is to use a medium tele lens like the 135L, and crop, crop, crop! (Which I can do with my 5DMKII)

Nicksan that first group (3 of them) made you... that's when you acknowledge them with a smile and a nod.

blackhawk wrote in post #9568628
Nicksan that first group (3 of them) made you... that's when you acknowledge them with a smile and a nod.

Actually, so you would think!
But I wasn't standing anywhere close to where they could just single me out. I was amongst a large crowd ready to walk across the street. (Remember, this is NYC...and Time Square at that) If they made it obvious that they "made" me, then yeah, I would have waved and smiled, or give them a thumbs up, which is what I usually do.

Here's another one where I was most likely kneeling down looking like I was taking a photo of the pretty cherry blossoms...The couple seemed distracted enough that they probably weren't going to notice. And they didn't...

nicksan wrote in post #9568671
Actually, so you would think!
But I wasn't standing anywhere close to where they could just single me out. I was amongst a large crowd ready to walk across the street. (Remember, this is NYC...and Time Square at that) If they made it obvious that they "made" me, then yeah, I would have waved and smiled, or give them a thumbs up, which is what I usually do.

Yep. It looks to me that Yankees Hat Guy is looking camera right and his girl is looking camera left. MAYBE the guy behind them made you, but I'm guessing not. That's what's so great about NYC...it's definitely easy to get lost in the crowd.