Street Photography Tips

Nikolai

Interesting..

andy wrote:

from yesterday's new york times
...

40 years of taking the pictures and not showing anybody.. wow.. No wonder he was taking pictures of sad and lonely..

Thank you for the article!

Angelo

andy wrote:

from yesterday's new york times

great article. thanks for sharing Andy

wxwax

Very nice story. And by the way, that settles it: artists are weird. To decide upon photography as a career, then go 30 years without showing your pics, is a tad eccentric.

Seymore

karuzo

andy wrote:

from yesterday's new york times

May 19, 2005
An Invisible Street Photographer Gets His Close-Up
By DAVID BERNSTEIN
CHICAGO - For 40 years the photographer Gary Stochl has prowled downtown Chicago, sometimes nine hours at a time, photographing street life. It is no wonder, he says, that "all of my shoes are comfortable."

On a recent afternoon outing around the Loop here, Mr. Stochl wore brown soft-leather Timberlands. They might as well have been glass slippers, ..............................."

This is one thing that I don't get about street photography. What about a model release form which I am not familier with the law related to that. However, I am sure someone might recognize them selves in a book like that, or any other similar book. Take for example the picture on the cover. Can the person on the cover page sue? I am sure they didn't look for the guy to ask a persmission prior to putting him on the cover page.

4labs

wxwax wrote:

Very nice story. And by the way, that settles it: artists are weird. To decide upon photography as a career, then go 30 years without showing your pics, is a tad eccentric.

talk about calling the kettle black

tsackmann

andy wrote:

confidence

street shooting requires confidence.. *you* are doing nothing wrong, so don't sneak around! put away that tele, and stick a fifty or thirty-five on your dslr, or set your digicam's zoom to the wider end of things, and see the scene "normally," up close and personaly. this may be strange for some of you, but i assure you it gets easier after your initial trepidation wears off. the worst that can happen is people say "no, i don't want my photo taken," and so you smile and move on!

great advice. thanks andy. I never did see a response to the questions about model releases though... maybe i missed it. or maybe it's here in another thread. i'm sure it's a common question.

thanks!

Andy

karuzo wrote:

This is one thing that I don't get about street photography. What about a model release form which I am not familier with the law related to that. However, I am sure someone might recognize them selves in a book like that, or any other similar book. Take for example the picture on the cover. Can the person on the cover page sue? I am sure they didn't look for the guy to ask a persmission prior to putting him on the cover page.

if the image is used for promotional purposes, e.g. the cover, you'd need a model release. if it's used editorially in the body of the book, or for educational purposes, then no release is necessary.

laws vary from place to place, i'm not an attorney, and ymmv. so there

ps: loads of posts here on dgrin on the subject, try the search engine, for model releases

cheers

Andy

tsackmann wrote:

great advice. thanks andy. I never did see a response to the questions about model releases though... maybe i missed it. or maybe it's here in another thread. i'm sure it's a common question.

thanks!

you're welcome! and thank you for the comments. one day turnaround, hey, that's pretty fast

wxwax

4labs wrote:

talk about calling the kettle black

:bluduh

4labs

wxwax wrote:

:bluduh

I apologise Sid you did post one pic from Yosemite

karuzo

andy wrote:

if the image is used for promotional purposes, e.g. the cover, you'd need a model release. if it's used editorially in the body of the book, or for educational purposes, then no release is necessary.

laws vary from place to place, i'm not an attorney, and ymmv. so there

ps: loads of posts here on dgrin on the subject, try the search engine, for model releases

cheers

Thanks Andy. I never really thought of searching on the subject.

aclickatatime

What lens to use?
First off, thanks for ALL the good tips and good articles in this thread. I'm very new in photography and by reading this thread has given me some new ideas. Perhaps I should give street photography a try soon.

Say, if you had to carry just ONE lens when you get out there to do some street photography, what lens would you be carrying? Could you give me some Canon examples?

I'm a beginner and I'm always in dilenmas when it comes to which lens to buy or to carry. What would be an overall good all-rounded lens for day to day photography in the city? Please advice.

Thanks a bunch!!

- yvonne

Andy

aclickatatime wrote:

First off, thanks for ALL the good tips and good articles in this thread. I'm very new in photography and by reading this thread has given me some new ideas. Perhaps I should give street photography a try soon.

Say, if you had to carry just ONE lens when you get out there to do some street photography, what lens would you be carrying? Could you give me some Canon examples?

I'm a beginner and I'm always in dilenmas when it comes to which lens to buy or to carry. What would be an overall good all-rounded lens for day to day photography in the city? Please advice.

Thanks a bunch!!

- yvonne

thanks yvonne. what lens would i use? i'd use a 35mm or a 50mm. another alternative is the 16-35 or 17-40 zooms. i like to be close, be part of the scene, intimate with the subjects.

aclickatatime

andy wrote:

thanks yvonne. what lens would i use? i'd use a 35mm or a 50mm. another alternative is the 16-35 or 17-40 zooms. i like to be close, be part of the scene, intimate with the subjects.

Wouldnt that be a little too close and it'd be hard to be discreet or hard to let the subject be more natural?

Awais Yaqub

Fine tips ! situation is diffrent here in Pakistan
once i decided to take my cam to street with my friend everything was fine untile police grabed us :cry they said dont you know in this area yesterday 3 guys were shooting Girlz with Cell phone and they were beaten by brothers of girls then massive fight breaked out.
thank God my friend at once said we are from Press (LIE) and police let us go .........otherwise for your info Pakistani police is famous for breaking DSLRs of press reporters i was happy they didn't do anything to my only W1

pyrtek

This post by Andy is what brought me to DGrin (I googled street photography).
It is a great collection of tips. I only just started to be interested in
street photography (only took 4 pics , but it's something I really want to
pursue. Thanks for your article, Andy. Oh, and you have the greatest avatar
ever.

greenplasticdave

I like your shots. This is something I'm getting into more and more but I often worry that people may get angry if they see me pointing a camera at them.

-Dave-


www.mirkwoodcottage.typepad.com/davidjamesphotography

stephenbruno

Wonderful Tips
Thank you for the wonderful tips.

What do you do about the legal issue of photographing people?

Thanks,

Stephen

Jack90210

Great thread. I've always struggled with 'imposing' myself on folks when trying to take street pictures.

Antonio Correia

Two pictures I shot in Setubal, some past saturday morning, at an open marcket of antiques.

Llywellyn

I stumbled into this thread yesterday and enjoyed reading all the tips and tricks of capturing moments on the street. Being a landscape person myself, I never really had the desire to photograph people or urban settings. After attending (and, of course, photographing) a Japanese Obon festival last weekend, however, I was enthralled by people's expressions and movements as they danced. I thought there might be something to this whole "portrait photography" thing.

So today, the morning after reading through this, I actually went out to take some landscape pictures for a class I'm in right now. I hopped over to my favorite park and noticed there were two people painting over graffiti in my spot. Usually people in my landscapes make me :bash, but I had this thread at the forefront of my mind since I had read it so recently.

I did settle in to take my planned landscape shot, cropping the two men out of the frame. Before rising from my spot, I switched my lenses, changed my aperture, and set the shutter speed (trying to follow Andy's great advice!). Then I got up and walked right up to the two guys, greeted them with a cheery "good morning!" and asked if I could take their picture while they worked. I was a bit amazed they agreed so easily! I began talking with them and casually taking pictures, lowering my camera to engage them a bit and continuing the conversation as I raised my camera again for a shot. Being a BIG introvert, I was extremely nervous, but I ended up enjoying it.

Thanks, Andy, for helping me broaden my spectrum a bit more.

Andy

wxwax wrote:

Anyone got a pass to the 'zone'?

I love this!

bradpowellphoto

Wonderful thread! If I had my choice of how to spend a day taking pictures it would almost always be street photography. I sometimes like to go into the East End of Vancouver which is a very rough area and have found that there, a good super-zoom is a must. I now use a Tamron 18-250 so that I can keep some distance if needed. I also try to dress not like a tourist but more like I am working (press) and always keep my eyes peeled for someone taking too much notice of me. It is easy to get mugged for your wallet and gear in that area. I always have an escape route in mind, ie: shops I can duck into or which street gets me to a better area quickest.

Andy

bradpowellphoto wrote:

a good super-zoom is a must. I now use a Tamron 18-250 so that I can keep some distance if needed.

I prefer to shoot with a wide angle lens, and connect with my subjects. It's much more intimate that way:


I feel that shooting street with a telephoto lens is very much like invading privacy and sniping. Your next time out, take a 35mm lens ONLY and give it a whirl

Terrence

Andy wrote:

I prefer to shoot with a wide angle lens, and connect with my subjects. It's much more intimate that way:


I feel that shooting street with a telephoto lens is very much like invading privacy and sniping. Your next time out, take a 35mm lens ONLY and give it a whirl

I assume you get a positive reaction most of the time? This fellow does not look pleased. You get major kudos for getting the shot. My fear of confrontation would keep from taking it.

djspinner2k

Andy wrote:

Here is the thing that always stopped me from taking this photo.

Do you have to have them sign a weiver to be able to sell there picture?

Cuz personal/hobby photos are fine. but in the business sense what do you do?

thats what always stopped me.