Shooting people
May 13th, 2007 - 11:49am - No Comments »
Last weekend, Trav and I visited the PMA Australia Imaging Technology Expo; besides drooling over all the fancy technology we couldn’t afford, we also attended a Shelton Muller seminar on travel photography.
The two main points I took away from the seminar are relevant to photography in general:
- Get up early
- Take photos of people
Unfortunately for me, these two points are things that do not come easily to me. So, Trav and I arranged to wake early and head somewhere that a lot of people congregate, since it would make it less daunting to aim a camera at total strangers.
Yesterday, we woke early and braved the chilly morning weather and made our way to the Queen Victoria Market. I only took my prime 50mm lens with me, as my intention was to give myself no choice but to get close to my subjects.
We met up near the centre of the market, and began strolling around the periphery. While in the car park, I caught a woman’s eye and nodded towards my camera; she shouted “no photos!” a couple of times and ran in the opposite direction. Not a good start.
Fighting my natural tendencies the point the camera in a direction other than a living, breathing stranger, I persisted and continued to look down the barrel and press the shutter.
To my surprise, most people either didn’t notice or didn’t care that I took a photograph of them. The majority of the people that did notice were easily disarmed with a smile and a nod or quick “thank you”. This is in stark contrast to the reactions I was expecting and to be honest it’s much more enjoyable than using a telephoto lens to “spy” on people.
I also found it more satisfying to take candid photographs of people and thank them afterwards as opposed to asking their permission. The small number of times I asked first and the people mugged for the camera. Not what I wanted at all.
I’m thinking it might be a good idea to make a one-page website which explains why I’m doing street photography and have some good examples. That way, I could have small “business cards” which direct people to the website.
Yes, a number of people either waved me away, or shied away, or gave me gruff looks. I was even approached by a man later who wanted to know why I was photographing people and — more importantly — him. My answer “because I enjoy it” seemed sufficient.
Moving away from the market, Trav’s camera battery breathed it’s last, which stopped us from getting more experience photographing people in the street, as opposed to a busier environment. We made our way to Degraves St and enjoyed a cooked breakfast. The crispy bacon I asked for could in no way be considered crispy.
The small amount of interaction and excitement of pursuing a different style of photography was exhilarating and I can’t wait to try it again. Most of the shots I snapped were portraits, even though that wasn’t my intention, so there is a lot more room for experimentation.
Even though I’ve overcome some of the anxiety of photographing total strangers, I think I still need a few outings yet before I’ll be comfortable with this style of photography.
