thanks for all the replys.. nice to see its not just me that has this daft affliction..
What makes it worse, is that even at the best of times i hate being the center of attention... allways prefering to lurk in the background unnoticed... so pulling a large DSLR out in public feels like hanging a huge sign round my neck says "LOOK AT ME IM DOING SOMETHING !!!!"
I know its all in my head.. well mostly,, lol but its still a pain..
It's not at all 'daft' and not that unusual either. What
is unusual is actually admitting to it
!
What worked for me, when I got started and was quite nervous, was ... music
. I always used to go and take photographs whilst wearing an iPod and conspicuous earphones. That way, not only was I immediatley isolated from my surroundings by the soothing music, but also anyone who might have been tempted to shout out any remarks at me, or anyone who might want to come over and chat to me (making me even more self-concious), would usually look in my direction but see that I wasn't able to hear them. When I offered no eye contact either, they would simply carry on walking away :|.
OK, this is a rather rude way for a photographer to behave, I admit, but I had a reason. I was living in a foreign country, where my ability with the local language was not strong enough to withstand a barrage of questions about photography (or much else, come to that
). It worked for me anyway.
Alternatively, if you want to get some really good 'people shots'
without feeling at all self-concious, try photographing
performers ! Street entertainers, bands at music festivals, actors on a stage, whatever ... they all crave attention and will positively
love you for pointing a lens in their direction (the longer the better, somewhat perversely
).
From there, it's only a tiny step up in confidence to start grabbing snap-shots of people in the audience (who will probably think you're from the local press, if you have enough equipment with you), followed up with a beaming smile and a nod of thanks if they happen to notice you. When I've done this, people always either smile back, or more commonly start posing for the camera and waving their arms in the air
.
So, don't feel foolish about being bashful in public with your camera - it just shows that you're a sensitive person who cares about other people's feelings
. IMHO, the world could do with a few more people like that.
Most of all though, try and have belief in what you're doing as a photographer, as this will enable you (eventually) to transcend almost any obstacle. Or so I'm told - I haven't quite got there myself yet
.
. It didn't last for long though.. Also it helps to have someone else (photographer or not) there with you if you are self conscious on your own, like it's some kind of weird validation of your actions...
".
