Help needed on Street Photography using film...

i am quite shy and retiring , but when i get hold of a camera i change.

my main photos at the moment is street photography. i have found that how you approach poeple affect wether you get you photo or not. I usually do some candids then . ask them for a close up after.

Street photography in my opinion is capuring the moment, Posed shots dont carry the same appeal to me.

be confident but (not pushy) and trust your equiptment.

Cheers Steve
 
steve_lyt said:
i am quite shy and retiring , but when i get hold of a camera i change.

my main photos at the moment is street photography. i have found that how you approach poeple affect wether you get you photo or not. I usually do some candids then . ask them for a close up after.

Street photography in my opinion is capuring the moment, Posed shots dont carry the same appeal to me.

be confident but (not pushy) and trust your equiptment.

Cheers Steve
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street photography is a personal outlet for me, I have tried portraits and abstracts and stuff like that and while I love them I still weren't feeling the emotion and excitement...I then realised about street photography and since then I've never looked back.

street photography is my personal thing while portraits and stuff is more of making money from my photography.
 
Don't beat yourself up about it TBY. I can't think of anything less pleasurable than street photography personally, it doesn't float my boat at all so I don't do it.

if I were you I'd put something in for this round and forget about it. Spend your time photographing something you'll get pleasure out of rather than pain.
 
TheBigYin said:
My main problems are...

1) how the hell do I get photo's and not get some leg-dragger wanting to try and deck me? I've tried already and after 8 frames, 3 threats and one guy trying to take my camera (he failed, and probably has a slightly sore foot where I stamped on it with my full 19+ stone) I decided that I wasn't doing it right!
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That's unfortunate :(

I've only tried it once, with a 50mm lens on full frame in the city of Glasgow and amazingly managed to pull it off with no problems from anyone. Tips I have read on here, and used...

When you take a photo, don't take the camera away from your face straight away, or if you do, look past the person you just shot and show 'interest' in a distant landmark etc. Don't forget, 'normals' think that any camera with a 'sticky out' lens has enough magnification to see footsteps on the moon, so in all honesty they'll probably not be too concerned about you photographing them. Ignorance really is bliss...

You could go with the 'overt to be covert' approach. If you have an ID card of some kind with a photo on it, clip it to your shirt. People will see it, and may think 'press photographer' - and if questioned by some nosy parker you can just point to it and say you're with the press. Most people won't bother reading the card properly and should leave you alone. If they don't, you can politely ask them to give you space and/or walk off. Simple psychological trickery like this works wonders... humans are such gullible creatures!

If I were you, I'd also aim to use quite a low f/ number. This will mean you can stand a bit further back to keep yourself comfortable, but still blur the background.
 
check out this guy
his street photography is amazing,and he has alot of interesting ideas
http://www.dannyst.com/

Ive found street photography difficult also, i live in a country that has a tense security situation, so standing in a street, in a same position for a while can make u look suspicious, and shooting people makes it even worst.
but its a nice feeling when u manage to get a good photo, doesnt happen that often with me, but its a slow training process i guess.
I wishi can give you tips, but am learning it also, and this forum has been quiet helpful. Goodluck, and take care!!
 
Quack18 said:
check out this guy
his street photography is amazing,and he has alot of interesting ideas
http://www.dannyst.com/

Ive found street photography difficult also, i live in a country that has a tense security situation, so standing in a street, in a same position for a while can make u look suspicious, and shooting people makes it even worst.
but its a nice feeling when u manage to get a good photo, doesnt happen that often with me, but its a slow training process i guess.
I wishi can give you tips, but am learning it also, and this forum has been quiet helpful. Goodluck, and take care!!
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great link !!!

where do you live then ? :thinking:
 
You are spoilt for street photography in London to be honest, firstly because there are so many interesting people around, secondly because no-one cares if you stick a camera in their face.
 
Ambermile said:
I thought the "as most of you *in here*... " lead in was enough to keep it in there?
Me too Arthur... still - their ball, their rules

Whatever, as Andy said, point and click and keep pointing as they walk past, or just move round as if still looking for a shot. Helps if you have a Hexar in stealth mode mind :D
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I'll have the Industar 61 on the fed - nearest I've got to a disposable camera that'll double as a weapon - any trouble and I'll drop it on their foot :lol:

karmagarda said:
...since I bought the D300 it's become a lot harder. I'm nearly full sure the shutter can be heard from Canada...
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Another reason not to use the EOS-3 - has to be the loudest shutter/mirror clang I've ever heard! Made the mistake of taking it to try shoot birds @ local mere, one shot and it cleared the lake for half a hour! I wasn't Mr. Popular in the Hide :(

Arkady said:
I bumped into a local photographer last weekend who just happens to be one of the best 'street' photographers I've seen in a while...we chatted about this and that.
Here's his website page for his street images (or unterwegs as we say over here) taken in Germany and Portugal. Unfortunately the site is in transition and some of the best images aren't displayed at the moment.

http://www.gisbertkoerner.de/serie_ruhrgebiet.php?pic=1

Just because it's 'street' doesn't necessarily mean it has to be candid or without the participation of the subjects...I think where people are going wrong on this is that they're treating the exercise as a guerilla campaign...

Spend a half hour talking to the subjects and you're less likely to be intimate with that broken Beck's bottle...
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Great Link Rob, and point taken about talking to the subjects - don't think i'm likely to have the time to spend to work that way, but it's certainly something i'd feel more comfortable with than the ambush or lurking approaches. Plus I'd probably end up getting to help 'em empty the Becks bottle :)

Well - I've certainly got some food for thought, and i'll be employing a couple of variations on your suggestions on the rest of the roll that's in the FED (and maybe another one if I'm not already in the lock-up :shrug:) before taking the following advice...

Kev M said:
Don't beat yourself up about it TBY. I can't think of anything less pleasurable than street photography personally, it doesn't float my boat at all so I don't do it.

if I were you I'd put something in for this round and forget about it. Spend your time photographing something you'll get pleasure out of rather than pain.
Click to expand...

Thanks to everyone that's posted their thoughts - i'm away to run a roll of film, and then forget about the whole horrible process forever!
 
One method I've used in the past, and the method I'll probably use for the comp, is to set up all setings before hand i.e hyperfocal manually, and just shoot from the hip. Using a wide lens and shooting in busy areas always gets something. From just walking around constantly for a few hours, I've managed to get lucky quite often and have always felt totally inconspicuous (you see something interesting but will it hold up technically can be very exciting). Guess this could only work shooting digital though. Good luck, may the bravest person win! ;)
 
Just to round this thread off - I did manage to get something I liked in the end. Taken in the middle of a heavy rainstorm, where people were far too concerned with getting from A to B whilst staying as dry as possible. Just noticed this lady looking wistfully at the tropical island sunset "muriel" on the travel agencies window, and that was it... Pity it was so dary and miserable I had to rate the HP5+ at 1600 rather than its normal 400, but I don't actually mind the grain in this shot.

Anyway - a big, big thankyou to everyone who offered advice, suggestions and support - I tried to embrace the whole experience, and I'm glad I've done it, if only so I can honestly say "Tried it, Didn't like It, Don't need to do it Again. Ever. EVER!" In the end it wasn't a technique or hardware problem - it was all down to the Nut behind the Lens :) I guess because I hate having my own photo taken so much, when people come up and remonstrate with me for taking theirs, my first reaction is to say "you're right" and pull the film out of the camera. Maybe I should have staged a photo of a friend/relative for the competition like at least one entry is at the moment :shrug:

I'm now away to take KevM's advice from #43, get out on my bike, and see if I can find something I can shoot for the current Film Challenge :) At least I won't need people in that shot :lol:
 
Congrats and I like the photo. I would have just written off that month as a bad one if I had been taking part but damn good preseverence on your part!
 
And one final "thread from the dead" moment - the votes are in, and amazingly enough, 6 people voted for me. Not a massive score, but certainly 6 more than I thought I would get at the outset, mainly due to the good advice and support from you kind people. So, once again... THANK YOU EVERYONE!
 
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