newbie needs advice on taking candids

[capturekon]

I'm new to photography and I really don't know what I'm doing 99% of the time. So I was wondering if anybody out there could share some tips on how I could go about taking pictures of people in a crowded place, like a shopping center, or a town square, or a train station, places such as these. I feel very hesitant and tend to hold myself back from a fear of getting scolded by people I'm taking pictures of. I mean, I don't want to have to go around sneaking all the time and hope they don't see me, or if they do, hope they don't think I'm some idiot sleazebag paparrazi-wannabe. I really want to get great candid shots, where I won't have to hold myself back too much. I don't wanna have to ask permission every single time I want to take their pictures, for I feel that that may lose the essence of the candid photograph. Thanks in advance for your advice!

[pathfindar]

A good thing to do when you are beginning is start at some places people are always taking pictures. There are probably some tourist attraction type spots in your area or things that you will almost always find some photographers at on a nice day. Take some pictures of the attraction and then just start shooting around.

When you are out doing candids, don't just shoot people, but start out taking pictures of other things in the area- buildings, cars, streets, etc. As people see you taking pictures, you get more like part of the landscape and you can get more natural pictures I think. Also, use a telephoto lens.

If I want to take a picture of some people sitting at an outdoor cafe, I will take some pictures of the area first. Then sometimes I will focus on something close by and use my other eye not on the camera to watch the scene I want. When it looks natural, I just move the lens to that scene and shoot.

Sometimes it is not people that don't want photographed, but people who think I may be with the newspaper and start moving in front of my camera and pretending to do something because they want their picture taken. I am going for natural, so I don't want the staged shot.

I have rarely had people say anything while taking pictures. I had a guy ask me if I took his picture last month and wasn't sure if he was going to object or not. I was taking pictures in a small town after a snow fall just walking down the street. A business owner was shoveling snow in front of his establishment and when I got there asked me if I took his picture. I said yes and that I was taking pictures of all the snow and he didn't say anything else. He may have wondered if I was from the newspaper or someone going to complain about snow in front of his store

Usually if someone asks, I will tell them yes and ask if they would like to see it. Speak confident and natural. I tell people that I teach photography and like to take pictures to use with my students, which is true, but if I wasn't I would say I was a student working on my photo skills or an assignment. I don't want to get into explaining artistic pursuit unless a person would have a genuine interest. I even offer to send them a copy if they have an e-mail address. If someone really objected to being photographed, unless there was some special about it, I would delete a photo. I also only take pictures of people in the public view and try to not infringe on anyone's privacy.

I also dress appropriate and usually wear a photo identification card from work which indicates I am not trying to hide who I am. I also don't try to photo only kids or women, which would be creepy- my interest is in a "slice of life" type candid as well as landscape, buildings, etc.

A lot of it is how you conduct yourself and your attitude. A place I thought I would have a lot of problems is doing a job for a summer day camp. I shot pictures at the public pool of their kids and I thought certainly someone would wonder about a guy at a pool with a camera. Once again, I wore an identification card and I knew a lot of the names so tried to used them when photographing the kids so people would know I knew the children I was taking pictures of. The pool manager said one person did ask him if I was with one of the groups at the pool and when he told them yes there was nothing else said. That was the assignment that made me the most nervous. I would never go out and shoot non-job somewhere like a pool or anywhere that was mostly women or children.

In my case, I also carry my business card with my studio information and website on it. Sometimes, people start talking about photography and you can get a job out of it.

[sheila]

I take a great deal of candids and street photography and I highly recommend the Zigview angle finder. This is their UK website

http://www.zigview.co.uk/

It takes awhile to get used to the view in the LCD but once you have got the hang of it, its priceless! My gallery of candid street photography is here

http://www.pbase.com/sheila/streets_of_sydney

I bought the original version which does not have the bells and whistles of the newer version (and quite a bit cheaper).

Cheers
Sheila