Too Shy to take photos

  • Thread starter Thread starter whiteflyer
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petemc said:
I was always asked if I was working for the local paper or the BBC when I had my Canon A70 digital compact.
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But even Italians who have never met you think you work for the BBC!

Michael.
 
I was at a Rally the other week and found a flou'ey jacket and long lens I could get anywhere. There were model planes flying on an airfield runway & I just walked through the barriers and up to the runway.
 
To be honest, i feel a bit silly walking around my local town with my camera loooking for things to snap, i feel like a right wally actually.

but i dont let that stop me from going out, although i am quote concious about what other people are thinking i carry on anyway.
 
I've started running my life by a new mantra......

"What's the worse that can happen?"...then "If that DOES happen...I'll handle it?"
If I'm out with my camera, and someone sees me...what's the worse that can happen? They might think "What a wally" and walk off.....

Can I handle that? Of course I can! I'll never see them again anyway.

What if they SAY "Haha! You look a wally!!", can I handle that? Yep! Just chuckle and carry on, ignoring them (Or even a funny retort might be in the offing)

They could confront me and ask me what I'm doing...Can I handle that? Of course! I can reply with "Taking photos, I'm a photographer".

If you repeat the mantra to yourself "Whatever happens, I'll deal with it...I'll handle it", life suddenly becomes much easier.

Have a read of a book by Geoff Thompson, called "Fear, the friend of exceptional people". It's not necessarily geared towards taking pictures in public of course, but more about the phsycology behind fear, and how it controls us. We have a fear of rejection, of confrontation, of failure, and it teaches you how to overcome it, really easily :)

On the same lines.....You see someone you want to photography....You want to ask them...Whats the worst that can happen? They say No!...lol Can you handle that? Of course you can.
 
Agreed. I've had beer, a salad and stones thrown at me before now for casually being out with my camera. So having someone say "No" isn't really that bad :)
 
Marcel said:
I've started running my life by a new mantra......

"What's the worse that can happen?"...then "If that DOES happen...I'll handle it?"
If I'm out with my camera, and someone sees me...what's the worse that can happen? They might think "What a wally" and walk off.....

Can I handle that? Of course I can! I'll never see them again anyway.

What if they SAY "Haha! You look a wally!!", can I handle that? Yep! Just chuckle and carry on, ignoring them (Or even a funny retort might be in the offing)

They could confront me and ask me what I'm doing...Can I handle that? Of course! I can reply with "Taking photos, I'm a photographer".

If you repeat the mantra to yourself "Whatever happens, I'll deal with it...I'll handle it", life suddenly becomes much easier.

Have a read of a book by Geoff Thompson, called "Fear, the friend of exceptional people". It's not necessarily geared towards taking pictures in public of course, but more about the phsycology behind fear, and how it controls us. We have a fear of rejection, of confrontation, of failure, and it teaches you how to overcome it, really easily :)

On the same lines.....You see someone you want to photography....You want to ask them...Whats the worst that can happen? They say No!...lol Can you handle that? Of course you can.
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Great post!

petemc said:
Agreed. I've had beer, a salad and stones thrown at me before now for casually being out with my camera. So having someone say "No" isn't really that bad :)
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You're not helping :D
 
petemc said:
Agreed. I've had beer, a salad and stones thrown at me before now for casually being out with my camera. So having someone say "No" isn't really that bad :)
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But that was for being you, nothing to do with your camera :D
 
petemc said:
Agreed. I've had beer, a salad and stones thrown at me before now for casually being out with my camera. So having someone say "No" isn't really that bad :)
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LOL - sorry pete, its just that I've never heard of anyone being attacked with a salad before!:lol::lol:
 
mwoody said:
we clearly need the full story on this!
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There is no full story, Marcel's just having a laugh :p The actual full story that I was talking about was standing at the side of the road taking long exposures and some muppet threw a McSalad at me and missed.
 
A McRocket? They don't do those in Manchester, what are they, a McDonalds ice lolly? :D
 
Just an update to this, I got accreditation for the Manchester pride festival this weekend and boy does having a media pass swinging round your neck make life easier. I had no problems at all asking and taking any shots I wanted. In fact later on it became hassle with people asking to have their photo taken.:lol:

Maybe it was just the have a good time type of event that helped.
 
whiteflyer said:
Just an update to this, I got accreditation for the Manchester pride festival this weekend and boy does having a media pass swinging round your neck make life easier. I had no problems at all asking and taking any shots I wanted. I fact later on it became hassle with people asking to have their photo taken.:lol:

Maybe it was just the have a good time type of event that helped.
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I bet this did help, nice one.

However, would there be anything wrong with making ones own 'pass'...? Just get one made with Official Photographer for <insert your name/company name here> and a photograph, cut a hole in it and put some ribbon through it and around your neck - you'd be able to take pics anywhere and not breaking the law!!

:)
 
T shirt or not, there is a threshold to cross when taking photos of public.
The confidence is needed without the need to point to a logo before.

I did a 'project' some time ago to break my fear of walking up to people. A very simple idea that really did the trick.

redchair

I live in Belgium, native tongue of English so walking up to people and asking them (in Dutch) if I could take a shot of them was really scary. By using a prop, in this case a chair, there was immediately an extra point to taking the photo, they were distracted by the idea, rather than some weird sounding dude with a camera.

Now I really have no problem with this type of photography, it's part of my job now so a good thing I'm not people-shy anymore.

Oh, and yes. the T-shirt idea is good. I do wear one, polo with logo on right chest and over the back. People do look and ask.

Also.. something I notice, if I'm doing an event, I usually start off with a 70-200, picking out candids. People see you milling about, smiling at people as they suss what you're doing. Then I go in with a 17-55 for some close quarters work. Once you start, people will actually ask themselves to have their photo taken.
I did 10 days of street festival in Ghent last month, huge snowball effect of people seeing me taking pics and effectively lining up to get theirs taken too.

Good luck in bridging your fears, it is a big step for some people.
 
theMusicMan said:
I love the idea of a red chair - great idea.
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Which has annoyingly been done in a really good way :( :D whiteflyer I'm sure the pass did help you to feel more at ease but I'm sure that because it was a friendly happy atmosphere thats why you were able to get shots. At an event like that who's going to be shy? :)
 
whiteflyer said:
Just an update to this, I got accreditation for the Manchester pride festival this weekend and boy does having a media pass swinging round your neck make life easier. I had no problems at all asking and taking any shots I wanted. In fact later on it became hassle with people asking to have their photo taken.:lol:

Maybe it was just the have a good time type of event that helped.
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Nice :thumbs:

So how did you get accreditation? :D
 
most people are vane and happy to have photos taken."you look realy cool , can i take a pic?" works for me .i seldom get a refusal , and an " ok , thanks anyway" if refused.and a smile as you walk away doesnt upset anyone.
i go to biker rallies with some real tough looking guys n gals but seldom get anyone object to their photo taken.if your taking photos of hells angels , you REALY DO need to ask first.
 
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