Photographing people

clayne said:
Keep the first shot, kill the others. Any shot with a person's back where the person is supposed to be the subject, just instant-kill unless it's notable for other reasons. I liked the perspective and light in the first shot, and I think the composition was good. With regard to the man and dog shot - when dealing with people don't ever point a camera down.

furbs said:
Mike, these are much better than my first forays into photographing people! I can tell that you have a good sense of light and composition. Having those skills in place already means you can work solely on the interpersonal aspects of photographing people.

If you believe that it's perfectly fine to photograph strangers without their permission, that will show in your confidence with your camera. 90% of street photography is in how you carry yourself. If you seem like the good-natured guy out with a camera, possibly a tourist even, randomly taking quick snaps, I doubt anyone will question you.

A smile never hurts, especially when directed at no one in particular. Hopefully you are doing this because you enjoy it!

People don't respond well when they feel like they're being watched, especially watched for an unusual amount of time by a stranger, so pointing a camera at them while you carefully focus and compose tends not to work.
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clayne & furbs, thanks for the input. My next foray will be with a smaller camera and a wider lens.

Mike
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Good for you for getting outside your comfort zone. I've been taking photos for years, and friends don't understand why I don't like taking snaps of people. I've tended to concentrate on human absence before.

Now, I am trying to take more photos of people - particularly on the street. It's not easy, and I'm rarely happy with the results, but some work really well.
 
v_roma said:
I'll throw in some (hopefully) constructive criticism. I get the sense from at least some of the photos that you were trying to avoid being spotted taking the photo so you got several photos of backs or sides of people, a couple from behind objects, etc. Even if you are going for candid photos of people vs. a more traditional portrait, you probably should work on getting comfortable shooting people and shooting them from an angle where the viewer gets a better view no pun intended. I would suggest studying photos of "masters" that shoot in the same style you are going for as a starting point to figure out what they did, whether it works for you or not, etc.

I could be totally off base here, in which case disregard all of the above.
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I actually thought the opposite of this, many of the shots are not of the backs of heads which you see so much of in street photography. And the ones where they are shot from behind, like the barber one, works that way, and would have been pretty much impossible to shoot from in front.

I think for someone who considers themselves to be weak at taking photos of people, the OP has done really well.

I'm not a portraits/people type of person, but I think it's a good collection.
 
Mike,
I like 1,2,4 and 7 (barber). Agree with what was said above.
Personally for "candid" shots I prefer a manual camera without infrared light (love the Leica M8 for these shots because most people try to figure out which camera you are using and forget that they are being photographed).
My "strategy" is to set the lens in advance as a point-and-shoot and just point for a quick shot (no focusing necessary).
You pursue less framing and perfection, but more natural, relaxed ambiance.

My humble advice:
Never ask (everywhere is a surveillance camera and we are not being asked either).
If someone gets upset, smile and just leave the scene.
Consider yourself a hunter.
 
bushwick1234 said:
My "strategy" is to set the lens in advance as a point-and-shoot and just point for a quick shot (no focusing necessary).
You pursue less framing and perfection, but more natural, relaxed ambiance.

My humble advice:
Never ask (everywhere is a surveillance camera and we are not being asked either).
If someone gets upset, smile and just leave the scene.
Consider yourself a hunter.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the pointers. I agree with never asking for most shots. If the subject is aware of being photographed the spontaneity of the moment is likely to be lost. I think taking a photo as a portrait on the street may work better with permission. I have been looking at your gallery for examples. Man, I have a long way to go to reach the confidence/comfort level where you are. I may find that I really like this!

Thanks again,
Mike
 
Photo_Smith said:
I agree with Clayne in all the years I've been taking images of people I find them more relaxed with WLF either on the Rollei or Hassie.
Just focus on their eyes look up and talk while you snap, take down your barriers and they might take down theirs..

Another tip is to look at other photographers portraits of people and take a base style from there and develop your own from that.
I like the work of more formal 1:1 portraits, August Sander, David Bailey etc I can see you like the humanist reportage school, Brassaï, HCB etc..
Click to expand...

I do not have either a Rollei or a Blad but I have recently been shooting with an NEX 5 with its rotating rear LCD. This allows me to hold the camera at chest height and look down to take the image. Essentially an identical configuration to either of the medium format cameras. And most importantly it allows me to get that camera out of my face and communicate more with the subject. So I agree it is a good way of working. The few times I used a Nikon with a similar finder I found the same. There is something about that looking down, taking a shot looking up smiling, chatting way of working that does relax people and makes for good photos.

More generally its rare that someone (a stranger) comes up and asks to be photographed. Its even more rare that the resulting image is a good one as I generally do enjoy un-posed shots. Its only happened a couple of times that I can recall when shooting street photos. Here are two such images. I especially like the color shot - it was taken with a Voigtlander 40mm f1.4. Nice lens, good bokeh. Pretty girl. The background remids me of a Mark Rothco painting. (Modern art!) But I don't think I can say that was the camera. Not that the others are not pretty too. They are. I would say all were very "sassy" confident and fun. Hence perhaps their request of a stranger with a camera.............................


Fiefy by yoyomaoz, on Flickr


Some love to be photographed by yoyomaoz, on Flickr
 
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