Tell me about your stealth street shooting technique

[israel_alanis]

Hi Arjay, I usually don't hide, the more normal side of the pass of people is easier for me to take pictures of them.

1 .- I shot even I don't hold camera at hip.
2 .- usually hold the camera with my right hand with finger ready, a pre-focus 3.4 meters with a range of 2-7 meters with f8, or pre focus of 2.5 meters and 1.6 -4.5 meters of range.
3 .- I'm not sure I have a good coordination with the camera, but I usually use a 40mm allowing me a good range of accuracy, when using 75mm I turn to see in a discreet and fast way the person I want to photograph, I locate where it is and after I look my camera trying to direct it to where I remember is my subject. Sometimes the pictures taken of 1 to 3 meters many times already as placing the camera. Some time if I detect good mood I shot in front just putting my camera in front of them.:s
4 .- I live in Mexico City, and here people do not walk slow, so usually use 100 or 250 speed, when slow places such as parks, trucks, shopping malls, etc, I can shoot up to 50 speed.
5 .- I use my beautiful Robot Royal and canonet. SLR D90,D300.
6 .- Many of the economic lens of the SLR's do not have specified in focus ring distances in meters or feet to make pre focus. in this case I have to trust the camera's autofocus is ideal, but in my experience even with a D90 to D300 autofocus sometimes fails for light conditions and you can lose a good photograph. If your lens is marked distances, the ideal is to make a pre-focus in combination with an f to have a good range of focus without problems.
7 .- Zone focus forever.
8 .- If you use Canon or Nikon will use long servo autofocus focus, is a good tool to follow your subject.
9 .- The truth I do not why, but I always use a single AF point.

Arjay Greetings.

 

[Renzsu]

Just as a note, shooting from the hip has its merits besides being less conspicuous. I'm a pretty tall guy, so whenever I shoot regularly I have to think about lowering myself a bit, otherwise it may look a bit like a top down photo. Shooting from the hip can be a nice reminder for me to keep this in the back of my head and to see the benefit of changing your own perspective on things.

regular:


vs from the hip:

 

[furcafe]

Ditto. Big events & festivals, especially those involving drinking large quantities of alcohol, are some of the places where being super discreet/stealthy/sneaky is hardly necessary.

I just stand there and take photos, it's a festival they will expect a photographer

 

[Arjay]

Alpacaman, your message made me chuckle! Indeed, even if I take pictures stealthily, I maintain a smile on my face, because there's no guarantee that I will not be uncovered. Actually, yesterday this happened to me twice:

'Did you just shoot me?'
'Yeah , because you look great'
'Oh really? Well, then that's ok. have a nice evening!'
'And you too.'

Oktoberfest & crowds... you won't be the only one with a camera so why not attach a flash to your D300 and fire away? May as well go all out and be a Bruce Gilden for a day.

Hm. Last night I saw someone using his Leica R SLR with a flash Gilden-style. Actually, I found his way of shooting quite disruptive with the flash and all.

Israel, after doing a series of stealth pictures, the sun had set and there wasn't enough light to go on using my technique. Interestingly, the experience of shooting that way was so reassuring, that I continued into the night, taking my pictures the normal way, and I still had fun. However, I didn't dare to get as close as I did when I photographed stealthily (1 to 1.8 meters for stealth shooting).

Renzsu - I love your pictures, especially the second one. I often look into yourt Flicke because I can learn from the way you take your pictures.

 

[PatrickONeill]

[...] so why not attach a flash to your D300 and fire away? May as well go all out and be a Bruce Gilden for a day.

I got to try that sometime, the state fair is coming up.. hmmm. :angel:

 

[Paul Luscher]

Not much to add to the above, except to say that this is where a manual focus camera works best--I usually zone focus and use a fairly small aperture which gives me enough depth of field to ensure a sharp photo. Usually use a wide angle or 50mm lens.

 

[jky]

I got to try that sometime, the state fair is coming up.. hmmm. :angel:

A friend whom I occasionally shoot with uses a flash quite effectively in his street photography. It adds another dimension to the photo I believe and I've become quite a fan of it lately...
A fair would be a good place to start I'm thinking as there will be plenty of people with cameras around.
Stick a 28mm lens + flash + focus at 4-6 ft & fire away!

 

[maddoc]

Judging from your first photo you found your way ! 🙂

 

[jbielikowski]

f/8 and you have it! only problem is what Renzsu mentioned, with wide angle everybody look smallish.

 

[furcafe]

Yes, but in crowded environments, you'll be very close to other people, so they won't be small (unless you're using a superwide).

f/8 and you have it! only problem is what Renzsu mentioned, with wide angle everybody look smallish.

 

[Cron]

when using my RF - normally not stealthy or from the hip;
when using my CLux, I usually carry it inside my right hand (!) and shoot in this way during walking without using the screen or change the holding! This tiny little thing gave me some nice pics this way!

Have fun on the Oktoberfest!

 

[ampguy]

+1 here

+1 here

If I were older, and lived in the part of the world where you do Arjay, and saw you shooting 45 deg away from where you were looking, I'd likely think you were a Gestapo agent.

But then after realizing it's 2010, probably just calling the police on you for spying or being a perv 😛

Hi Arjay, I usually don't hide, the more normal side of the pass of people is easier for me to take pictures of them.

1 .- I shot even I don't hold camera at hip.
2 .- usually hold the camera with my right hand with finger ready, a pre-focus 3.4 meters with a range of 2-7 meters with f8, or pre focus of 2.5 meters and 1.6 -4.5 meters of range.
3 .- I'm not sure I have a good coordination with the camera, but I usually use a 40mm allowing me a good range of accuracy, when using 75mm I turn to see in a discreet and fast way the person I want to photograph, I locate where it is and after I look my camera trying to direct it to where I remember is my subject. Sometimes the pictures taken of 1 to 3 meters many times already as placing the camera. Some time if I detect good mood I shot in front just putting my camera in front of them.:s
4 .- I live in Mexico City, and here people do not walk slow, so usually use 100 or 250 speed, when slow places such as parks, trucks, shopping malls, etc, I can shoot up to 50 speed.
5 .- I use my beautiful Robot Royal and canonet. SLR D90,D300.
6 .- Many of the economic lens of the SLR's do not have specified in focus ring distances in meters or feet to make pre focus. in this case I have to trust the camera's autofocus is ideal, but in my experience even with a D90 to D300 autofocus sometimes fails for light conditions and you can lose a good photograph. If your lens is marked distances, the ideal is to make a pre-focus in combination with an f to have a good range of focus without problems.
7 .- Zone focus forever.
8 .- If you use Canon or Nikon will use long servo autofocus focus, is a good tool to follow your subject.
9 .- The truth I do not why, but I always use a single AF point.

Arjay Greetings.

 

[Arjay]

Ah yes ampguy - I had already been waiting for your comment. Oh yeah, we Germans, ve haf our vays ...

 

[russelljtdyer]

Not Always Appreciated

Not Always Appreciated

Arjay,

I took the badly composed photograph below of a church in Amsterdam about six years ago, before I bought my first decent camera. To take the shot, I had to walk about 100 meters to the right, cross a small bridge over a canal that runs in front of the church (but it's not in the shot), and then back 100 meters to get lined up with the church again.

A guy who is in the shot--I'm not sure which--saw me taking the picture and yelled at me. I didn't realize he was talking to me at first. So he jumped on his bike and raced across the bridge and caught up with me as I walked off. He threw down his bike and demanded to know why I took his picture. I told him that I didn't take his picture, intentionally. He was pretty angry and ready to belt me. I showed him the photo on the camera's LCD and offered to delete it. He said reluctantly that it wasn't necessary since his image was discernible, but that he didn't like people taking his picture.

Sometimes people get very upset. I'm glad it wasn't a film camera. I don't know what I would have done if he couldn't see that the image of him was too small.

 

[Arjay]

Ampguy, if you take pictures of anything else on the street than cats, you will sometimes have to resort to working inconspicuously. If you were informed, and had done some reading about street photography, you would know that working stealthily isn't something that's reserved for secret services or perverts.

I suggest you do some reading before you display your national prejudices:

Street photography for the purist (the classic by Chris Weeks. PDF file)
Michael David Murphy's 'Ways of Working'
Will Gunadi: Street Photography Deciphered
Markus Hartel: Street Photography Q&A
Jean-Pierre Bucciol: Concise Handbook of Street Photography
Petteri Sulonen: Telephoto is for Cowards

 

[ampguy]

Hi Arjay

Hi Arjay

I posted quite a few links to my street photo galleries in another thread, did you miss them? I'm sure they are not as good as your stuff, but I certainly do like shooting out on the street, but not hiding it, nor annoying people in any way.

Peace, brother.

M6, cron 35 v4:

I asked this guy if I could please take his photo, he readily agreed:

I noticed he was smiling above, not the way I had previsualized the image for the decisive moment, and requested politely if he could stand and not smile for a brief second, he complied, and I got the photo I wanted:

and that's just one example of a win-win situation, everybody's happy, no stress, no sneakiness, no paranoia, no hard feelings, no drama, no violence.

"Don't stop believin' hold on to that feeeliiing .... "

Ampguy, if you take pictures of anything else on the street than cats, you will sometimes have to resort to working inconspicuously. If you were informed, and had done some reading about street photography, you would know that working stealthily isn't something that's reserved for secret services or perverts.

I suggest you do some reading before you display your national prejudices:

Street photography for the purist (the classic by Chris Weeks. PDF file)
Michael David Murphy's 'Ways of Working'
Will Gunadi: Street Photography Deciphered
Markus Hartel: Street Photography Q&A
Jean-Pierre Bucciol: Concise Handbook of Street Photography
Petteri Sulonen: Telephoto is for Cowards

 

[Nikkor AIS]

I was shooting on the street and a couple was watching me work and we started talking. They were laughing about how I handled the situation.
Some guy riding his bike across the street whom I had just captured with the 35 Summilux and the Leica M7 and motor was kind of
bitching and nodding "no" to me not to take his picture after the fact. I'm so used to it, I just ignore them.
Unless they get close enough to touch me. Or as I was telling this couple, I act confused. It's not that hard for me.

But lately I'm trying to be more connected and less confrontational. I still shoot without asking but now I spend the time to talk
to the people if "they" want to. When they get past the surprise of being photographed and see I'm such a good guy,
there is no conflict whatsoever.

And I photograph some really interesting folks. It's funny, when you get past first impressions, even the rough-looking types are okay.

You've got to treat everyone with respect.



































All taken with Nikkor 28 1.4 @ 1.4 on D3

I really think the most important thing is being confident, knowing your gear and not fiddling with controls on the camera.
Pre-visualize and have the camera set before it's pointed. Don't hesitate. Anticipate the moment and it's yours.
A warm smile and a little nod go a long way in avoiding conflict and keeping street shooting fun.

 

[Arjay]

Gregory, thank you for giving a positive twist to this thread! 😎

 

[Nikkor AIS]

Thanks Arjay.

I'm kind of going through some heavy **** in my life right now, so I'm trying my best to keep it positive in "all" aspects of my life. For a couple of years, I really struggled with the negativity of street shooting from some people. Now I barely notice when I'm given some grief. It sounds cliché but I just keep moving forward, and in the short time I had to shoot today, I really think I got some killer shots. It's so cool shooting film and not knowing😛.

On a personal note, I really think the sneaky stuff is counter-productive to the big picture of "street shooting." As of late, I'm working this one corner and I'm starting to see some of the same faces. Before, they were rather standoffish. Now, I'm getting nods and smiles. Very cool.

While I'm not above shooting from the hip, I think there is an honesty to working in close and being up front when shooting. Don't get me wrong, I want spontaneous unstaged photos. I'm just more "open" and far more approachable than I used to be.

When I started shooting street, I was fearless. I really feel like I'm getting that feeling back. In fact, I'm there.

"Better days ahead'

I've said it more than once. It takes guts to be a street photographer.

Here are a couple from my archives.

 

[silverbullet]

The solution is easy:

Just shoot people who can't see you....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36573929@N00/sets/72157625031362422/

Second tip: I look like a tourist. Minimum 3 cameras hanging around my neck, Bahama shirt and Birkenstock sandals are a must plus chewing gum...