Do you take pictures of random people

MooseJam · 20-07-2007 12:13AM #1

Do you take pictures of random people on the street, do you ever get any bad reactions "oi what are you doin", do you feel self conscious taking these pics ?

Fajitas! · 20-07-2007 12:30AM

Some times I feel self conscious doing it. Never gotten a bad reaction though.

Oriel · 20-07-2007 12:32AM

Never would.

thebaz · 20-07-2007 12:34AM

yes , and i've had the odd bit of reaction .. most people are grand ... sometimes i feal like a voyeur , but really i just what to potray the world as i see it , and am not out to judge anyone ... saw a great potential today , a bunch of travellers sunbathing , it would have made a great shot .. but wasn't up to a potential bad reaction ..

sineadw · 20-07-2007 12:49AM

My two favourite shots of my own stuff have been random:

and

ok the first one was a street performer, so I'm pretty sure he knew what I was doing and didn't mind, but being a girl kind of helps

I think its up to how you feel in each situation. Its always different. I think if you feel you must its always better asking permission after the fact. Before gets you posed shots.

deaddonkey · 20-07-2007 12:52AM

MooseJam wrote:

Do you take pictures of random people on the street, do you ever get any bad reactions "oi what are you doin", do you feel self conscious taking these pics ?

yes i do, i get a huge kick out of street photography (see my film thread, i'm now using a rangefinder for it)

i get some bad reactions, mostly some giggles, some poses. I got a '**** youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!' and the finger from a romanian/gypsy/whatever the pc term this week is when i photographed her begging by an atm

personally i thought it was hilarious.

sometimes i get bunches of people asking for their picture taken, which i always do.

i love doing it though, and i've been inspired by henri cartier bresson, i think he's amazingly good.

deaddonkey · 20-07-2007 12:53AM

i feel a bit dodgy if an attractive girl is my picture

oops

il gatto · 20-07-2007 05:04AM

I do it sometimes, but usually at some sort of event. I try to use a longish lens, so you could be taking a street or landscape scene as far as anyone knows. Another sly way is to use a small aperture to keep alot in focus and then dangle the camera around your neck and take shots on the sly. Not anywhere near as good, but you can get lucky. Avoid children and women under a certain age though. Wouldn't want to be assailed for being a paedophile or a pervert. That's just the way the world thinks nowadays:(

Tea drinker · 20-07-2007 08:24AM

Yeah, I've gotten dirty looks from time to time. I sometimes ask to take a photo if it's an old guy sittin on a bench type shot, but they can say no too. Plenty more fish in the sea.

Avoid kids for sure, particularly if you are male.

The longer the lens the better, half the time they will have no idea they got snapped.

Damned Thing · 20-07-2007 11:10AM

I tend to use the camera-held-down-by-my-side-sneaky approach.

City-Exile · 20-07-2007 11:46AM

Damned Thing wrote:

I tend to use the camera-held-down-by-my-side-sneaky approach.

That's such a class picture!

thebaz · 20-07-2007 12:10PM

City-Exile wrote:

That's such a class picture!

yeah great photo, that why i got my new pocket sized p&s to get the odd sly one , but the quality ain't reliable

these guys on the bikes approached me in a hostile manner , bit of blurriness in shot
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thebaz/544831600/

in the end we reached a satisfactory outcome !

mishima · 20-07-2007 12:18PM

It's not something I'd feel comfortable doing. The potential for trouble is just a little too high for my liking.

Damned Thing - That's an excellent shot!

Stephen · 20-07-2007 12:27PM

What do you reckon would have happened if that lot noticed you taking a photo of them?

The one on the left looks like she'd eat ya.

blah · 20-07-2007 12:31PM

Stephen wrote:

What do you reckon would have happened if that lot noticed you taking a photo of them?
The one on the left looks like she'd eat ya.

Ye wouldn't even ride her into battle, would ye?

blah · 20-07-2007 12:34PM

Here's one I took, gave him a few cents afterward.

sineadw · 20-07-2007 12:50PM

One thing I caught on to recently is sitting by the big back window on a bus

If its clean enough you can get some great people shots that way. Once you're in town the traffic crawls so you get plenty of time to compose.

City-Exile · 20-07-2007 12:54PM

The amount of people who come up to me and ask me to take their picture is unreal. "What paper will they be in?" "Hello magazine, love!"

thebaz · 20-07-2007 01:15PM

it doesn't always have to be hostlie , heres one of 3 pleasant Dublin supporters ( they do exist !!!) on the way to the game

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thebaz/821569687/

i asked , theye were happy to do so, and i really like it

run_Forrest_run · 20-07-2007 02:31PM

Damned Thing wrote:

I tend to use the camera-held-down-by-my-side-sneaky approach.

what a picture indeed...mind U it would be hard to hold a D80 down by my side and take the shot without being noticed...knowing me i would drop the thing

gandalf · 20-07-2007 03:38PM

I love street photography

Damned Thing that has to one of the best captures I have seen in ages, you wouldn't have been able to pay them to have expressions like that.

Here are a few of mine.

Damned Thing · 20-07-2007 04:08PM

Thanks for the compliments, much appreciated...even if I do feel a bit of guilt for not looking through the lens and it being a guess shot.

It was taken with a 5D which is chunky enough, add a lens hood and battery pack and it's a fairly blatant bit of kit.

Think if you just stand there looking bored it simply doesn't register with people you're actively snapping.

Benster · 20-07-2007 04:38PM

Damned - class picture. All you need now is a caption :-)

The old "camera by your side" method is something I'm finding I'm doing more and more for those sort of street shots. I started doing it in Morocco as once you lift the camera up, the hands go out for a dirams automatically, very little chance of grab-shots. Vietnam was another place I did it, but it was different there, the folk weren't asking for cash (most weren't anyway) but they had a certain look, along the lines of "You're taking a picture of THIS? My normal life and you want to just take a quick snap?" Very hard to do sometimes if you have any sort of morality, I think. So I took grab-shots :-)

[EDIT - then there's the bad end of street photog - was in NYC last month and one of our group wanted to shoot a guy sitting on a blanket on 5th ave with his cats (?). guy chased him down the street, a-whupin' and a-hollerin'! I should have been videoing it!]

Stephen · 20-07-2007 05:10PM

gandalf wrote:

Love this one gandalf!

Morlar · 20-07-2007 05:12PM

Stephen wrote:

Love this one gandalf!

Yep - I was just going to say that 2nd one is class.

il gatto · 20-07-2007 07:28PM

Street performers are used to the attention and are a great subject. Love the one of the skangers Damned Thing.

SteadyEddie · 21-07-2007 12:29AM

Gandalf i love all 3 of the photos you took there....good work

prox · 21-07-2007 12:47AM

deaddonkey wrote:

I got a '**** youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!' and the finger from a romanian/gypsy/whatever the pc term this week is when i photographed her begging by an atm

personally i thought it was hilarious.

Jesus. Do you have any concept of someone's right to personal dignity? Taking photographs of the homeless and disadvantaged needs to be approached with integrity and tact.

Holding the camera in unconventional ways is a standard street photography technique. Putting a camera to your face and pointing a it at someone uninvited is a very aggressive move - you're hiding your own identity while demonstrating an intent to co-opt theirs for an unknown purpose. Yes there's nothing to stop you legally but you should understand the ethics of what you're doing before taking the shot.

magicbastarder · 21-07-2007 01:03AM

i couldn't agree more.
if someone doesn't want their photo taken, you don't take it. if you don't like that, leave your camera at home.

deaddonkey · 21-07-2007 04:52AM

prox wrote:

Jesus. Do you have any concept of someone's right to personal dignity? Taking photographs of the homeless and disadvantaged needs to be approached with integrity and tact.

Holding the camera in unconventional ways is a standard street photography technique. Putting a camera to your face and pointing a it at someone uninvited is a very aggressive move - you're hiding your own identity while demonstrating an intent to co-opt theirs for an unknown purpose. Yes there's nothing to stop you legally but you should understand the ethics of what you're doing before taking the shot.

i take it you don't ever look at a picture you see in the irish times without feeling disgusted then?

you're in the street, you're in public.
if you're in a public place you cannot expect to not be photographed, it's common sense and it's also the law. what people like and what the law is are different.
if someone wants to accuse me of being a creep and a paedophile, then fine, i can laugh it off because i know how stupid they're being

and shooting from 35 yards with a 200mm lens looks like crap and it's cheating.
street photography is a window onto society and it makes me think and it makes me appreciate people and i amn't going to stop.
Henri Cartier Bresson did it right, and he was the master, and last time i checked he didn't ask for permission before every shot.

and if anyone's that upset by having their picture taken, they're probably completely crackers anyway.

deaddonkey · 21-07-2007 04:57AM

magicbastarder wrote:

i couldn't agree more.
if someone doesn't want their photo taken, you don't take it. if you don't like that, leave your camera at home.

if you don't like your picture taken, stay at home.

Do you take pictures of random people

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