Getting Caught

H

Hopscotch

Wannabe
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I, like a lot of other people, am a Gary Winogrand and Henri Cartier-Bresson wannabe. Much of my shots from my Leica M4 are what we dub "street" photography (dare I say.. "desicive moment"?). This makes me raise my rangefinder to my eye and turn the lens towards a human subject alot. I try to be be discreet, and pre-focus with zones etc, but I never fire from the hip. It seems like a waste to me.

Most people, if they do notice, smile or turn away. Sometimes, however, people say "hey!" and get somewhat aggresive. I try my best to read these people before i raise the finder, but the best laid plans fail sometimes.

So how do you weasel out of these? I've had people ask for the roll of film before (I was in India, it was crazy...).

Sometimes I explain to them that I didn't release the shutter yet, and that i was just focusing on something near them or that zone, and to back down.

other times, I can be braver and tell them that I'm a student and it's for a project (On expression, or the town, or maybe people in flannel shirts, or bald men, or people in slippers, or any ad-lib'd category)

How do you deal with the mean streets? We can't all be as feathery as HCB...
 
Use a little bit of judgment. If on foreign soil do some homework first as to the local customs/ culture. Be discreet, be quick about it. The more you linger or appear insecure, the easier it is for someone to try to intimidate you. Know when to snap as well as when to hestitate. Know when to move on, fast.

HCB wrote about taking snaps and feeling fearful and making a quick exit.

If you like street shooting or photojournalism, melt into the environment. Dont do it with a big dSLR and a giant lens.
 
I read HCB's The Mind's Eye, and recall him saying that, I'm going back the book to find this passage now. This should be my bible.

Just today, I was at a diner and held my camera up, and somebody next to me said "oh! What kind of camera is that? Is it digital?" Me:"No, it's a Leica and tri-X" and I smile and return to my shot. he returns "Oh, I got a Nikon D40 for Christmas and am getting into all of this" etc etc. And in his friendly conversation, my shot was gone. I was "caught" but by another person alltogether. It was frustrating, but he was a nice guy, and I talked to him about aperture and shutter speed, a quick crash course.
 
People pick up on things like your acting scared, jittery, nervous, unsure of yourself. Be confident. Engage them in conversation if need be. Be friendly. If they try to tell you that you have no right to photograph them in a public place whip out your cell phone and offer to call the police to arrest you. If they act belligerant (and there are other people around to witness the altercation) walk right up close and tell them that if they don't like what you're doing they should feel free to punch you in the face. They never do.
 
Al Kaplan said:
People pick up on things like your acting scared, jittery, nervous, unsure of yourself. Be confident. Engage them in conversation if need be. Be friendly. If they try to tell you that you have no right to photograph them in a public place whip out your cell phone and offer to call the police to arrest you. If they act belligerant (and there are other people around to witness the altercation) walk right up close and tell them that if they don't like what you're doing they should feel free to punch you in the face. They never do.
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Haha! I wish I had the balls to do that!

Really, I doubt I can get away with it. I'm a really skinny, flowing blonde haired 16 year old hipster scum. Any 20something would just wail my beautiful dome-piece if I told them that. I'm more of a pacifist. hahaha
 
Suggestions to be a better street shooter: Pre focus on something the same distance and turn around in a rather slow fashion and trip the shutter, than turn to the side and act like you're photographing something that direction. alot of times by the time they do notice you, you have turned and they think you are photographing something else. Another is to act like you are focusing on something besides them and when they are looking away shift your framing quickly and shoot. I find my Contax G1 and 2 are often best for street shooting as I can focus much quicker with the G's auto focus than I can with any rangefinder and I get spotted much much less often because I dont have to fiddly with focusing like I would with a rangeifnder camera. Sometimes it is almost too easy with the Contax G's, plus the optics are stellar and compare to most other cameras the G's are pretty quiet, although not leica quiet. When I want to be really challanged I use my Keivs or Canons- Michael
 
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Act like you know what you are doing and if the subject gets in your face act as if you did not even notice they were in your viewfinder. Tell them it is a wide angle lens and sorry that they thought you were photographing them. But the first point is essential, act as if you know and belong there. Trust me, this works.
 
kievman said:
Suggestions to be a better street shooter: Pre focus on something the same distance and turn around in a rather slow fashion and trip the shutter, than turn to the side and act like you're photographing something that direction. alot of times by the time they do notice you, you have turned and they think you are photographing something else. Another is to act like you are focusing on something besides them and when they are looking away shift your framing quickly and shoot. I find my Contax G1 and 2 are often best for street shooting as I can focus much quicker with the G's auto focus than I can with any rangefinder and I get spotted much much less often because I dont have to fiddly with focusing like I would with a rangeifnder camera. Sometimes it is almost too easy with the Contax G's, plus the optics are stellar and compare to most other cameras the G's are pretty quiet, although not leica quiet. When I want to be really challanged I use my Keivs or Canons- Michael
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Some good suggestions here. I also try to follow a stealth approach to street shooting, but on occasion I've been confronted. When that happens, my usual response is simply to walk away, although if that doesn't work I would follow Al's advice.
 
Since eye contact is the part of people photography that really connects with me, I try to achieve that with my subjects, even when shooting public candids. When shooting someone in public unaware, I will watch them through the viewfinder and click the instant they do notice me. If I catch it just right, they have not yet made the connection that I am photographing them. However their gaze seems to engage the camera pointed at them. This instant of perfect interaction - making eye contact, while still in the mindset of their independent activity - is the grail of my street shooting.

Here is an example of that "busted" style:
girlatfair.jpg
 
When I take pictures on the street, been doing it for less than a year, I don't do it discreetly nor in a stealthy way. I do it openly, so I don't "get caught" doing it.

Most of the time, people just keep doing what they are doing. One or two would pose and smile. If someone look at me after I take their pictures I just nod and smile, some will smile back and some just ignore me.

If they see me before I take their pictures I usually nod and show them my camera. Kinda telling them that I want to take their pictures. And everytime they either nod and smile and continue what they're doing, or ignore me.

There were several occasions when I got this "hey, what you're doing?" look but I just nod, smile and walk on toward them as if nothing happened.

Bob
 
pachuco said:
Act like you know what you are doing and if the subject gets in your face act as if you did not even notice they were in your viewfinder. Tell them it is a wide angle lens and sorry that they thought you were photographing them. But the first point is essential, act as if you know and belong there. Trust me, this works.
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That's right, look right past them as if you're getting ready to photograph something behind them as soon as they've gone.

But also, on other occasions, 'ask' with your eyes and body language. If they say 'No' then forget it.
 
I think Bob gets it right. When I do it, I don't really try to be discrete. But I don't really get up in people's faces either. I don't try to hide my camera, but I also don't get in really close to them which probably makes me less of a photographer, but, hey, I'm not really interested in getting confrontational, I'm more interested in shots of people in their environment than in 'street' stuff [which I really like, it's just not what I do personally].

In fact, I've had some success using really big old cameras. There's something non-threatening about shooting that way -- it's not sneaky, but it's also not confrontational. People basically ignore you [or occasionally ask a polite question].

The only time I've gotten into an argument with someone it was a security guard at a shopping mall [I was photographing a parking sign outside on the public street] who got in my face and was aggressive. For the first few minutes I was pretty polite, until he told me that if I wanted to shoot in the street there I had to ask his permission. At which point I told him I had absolutely no intention of asking his permission and then waited to see what he did. He walked away.

Street photography isn't my main thing, though.

[On the plus side, I'm a 220lb guy who is an assistant instructor at a kickboxing club, so if someone really wanted to get in my face about it ... ]
 
Just noticed that first sentence is rambling! Anyway, I don't get too close, I'm not confrontational, I don't try to be secretive. Basically.
 
I actually find that using a prime-equipped rangefinder removes you somewhat from the 'creepy man with the big SLR using a huge zoom to spy on people' pile.

My choice of 35 or 50 necessitates that I'm in close amongst the people, which at the same time makes me less creepy, and less of a threat. 9 times out of 10, a suspicious look is successfully countered with a smile, and many times that I think people are protesting, all they are trying to do is engage me in conversation.

That one time out of ten, I find it simply helps to throw your arms up in a 'sorry' and make a very quick exit...
 
I use just about every method described here, often deciding on what my gut says at the moment. I try to use instinct when the approach is to be made. There are times when an in-your-face, look-at-the camera shot works better. And there are other times when a hip shot is the only means to get the shot. I feel it's best to practice each approach regularly, with the intention that when you see a shot unveiling before you, you will instinctively chose the best method without much, if any, thought.

Anyway, that's what I try to do. Sometimes it actually works.
 
Act like you know what your doing, even if you dont. I used to cut to the front of the line at Brad Pitts hipster bar and walk right in as if I knew somebody. Just made sure I wore the right rags and good-sized diamond in one ear. Im cool.

If Im gonna photograph some big shot politician and dont have a press pass, I act like it doesnt matter and walk in anyway. If your freelance you gotta have a little confidence in this business. You gotta make up your mind if your a geek with a camera or are you a Photographer, with a capital "P?"
 
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