I should know: Strange is my…surname. [Awkward pause where nobody laughs.] Anyway, this is an area of photography in which I have been trying to stretch myself the past few months. I had a certain style of doing things for many years, and recently, I thought it wise to extend my tool kit of people photography. How do I approach strangers to take a photo? And honestly, how do I get the photo I want, the photo I picture in my head, and still show respect?
The old stand by for me is to do everything short of actually asking somebody if I could take a photo of them. Sometimes, I did get the tacit “ok” with eye communication, and that is fine, but more often than not, by the time the approval came, I had already shot the shots I really wanted. It all depended on the situation.
I am not trying to take advantage of anybody, but firmly believe that in most cases, the best moments are spontaneous: the best smiles, the most fun, the real person behind that face. Those are the moments I want to capture. There is more to it, though.
It is all about trust. The best situation is when the people know you already. Everybody is comfortable and they do not really mind you picking up the camera every once in a while and shooting around. Just this past Sunday, I was able to catch some great shots of kids lying around on the floor, relaxing on each other, and just spending a lazy Sunday afternoon. When I picked up my camera, none of them flinched. They knew me, trusted me, and had nothing to prove.
Similar to this is a situation where you are no necessarily known (not personally, anyway), but you are trusted. You are the photographer of the event, and they all know it.
So, what about all the other situations, where you are not known and trusted? Well, it still comes down to trust, of course. I mentioned the knowing look; you meet eyes, they know you are taking photos of them, and it is clear they have no problems with it. Go for it.
Recently, on occasion, I have been asking people if I could take their photo. I do this in situations where I cannot sneak anything. It is either ask or just not take the photo. So, I have been using this more and more just so I can get used to still catching a natural image even though they know full well I am shooting. For me, it is just different, and I want to get better. So, I am looking for opportunities to use this new tool.
A lot of this photographing strangers business has to do with naturalness. If you act like paparazzi, you will be treated so. If you respect their space, their life, and maybe even have a little conversation here and there, people will most likely warm up to you. If they do not, respect that too, and move on. And speaking of, if somebody really has an issue with a picture you just took, go ahead and show them the photo and delete it in front of them, if necessary.
And on the topic, use those LCD screens to your advantage. A lot of the time, people do not quite know what to think. When there is obvious nervousness, immediately just go up and show them the shot. The majority of the time, seeing they are not heinously ugly or that you have not manipulated them in any way, they will smile and be pleased that they just had their photo taken. And if it was a particularly good photo, well, all the better. Too few people out there have good photos of themselves. You might even end up e-mailing photos to them.
I guess to sum up my thoughts, there are no rules. It is not a do this and do that kind of thing. Respect people. Be natural and friendly. That will take you a long way.
