I also had a time when I loved being in one of the busiest streets in Madrid, in Preciados or in Gran Vaa, and with my SLR camera I spent hours trying to get a good spontaneous portrait of a pedestrian. The results were horrible. . Partly because at the time I didn’t know how to use manual mode, and partly because I was doing it so visually that the portraits I was getting were moving faces that escaped from the photo, faces covered up or turned from the other side, frowns, slaps . that sometimes he reached the goal and sometimes almost.
The time and many trips I had the opportunity to make allowed me to improve my technique and learn the strange trick that I would like to share today in this article. If you like to photograph strangers on the street, it’s today’s article to print and save. ?
- Photographing strangers on the street is a delicate subject.
- Every time I write about it I give you a few tricks because I never know if I’m okay.
- I say this because photographing strangers on the street is a subject that requires some responsibility.
- I admit that I love photographing strangers on the street.
- And I admit that at first it was very important to me that strangers took pictures of me.
- But over time it meant less.
If you’re doing this, don’t forget the following
And now I do, for advice?
A camera, especially an SLR, is eye-catching and unnatural. Its “aggressive” shape and color inevitably attract attention. Depending on where you are, try removing the camera for a long time before starting the operation. If you’re in a café, leave it on the table, let the people around you see it and get used to it. It only takes a few minutes for staff to let their guard down and start normalizing the existence of the camera.
Hey, it’s irrelevant, but one thing, when you follow this advice and leave the camera on the table, make sure other people’s friends don’t steal it. I say, come on.
If you are in the street watching people go by, do not photograph the first person who enters the frame. You can pose as a “paparazzi” or a detective looking for a particular person and create unnecessary suspicion. The best thing to do is take a picture that satisfies you and stay that way for a few seconds letting people pass in front of your camera lens. Over time, it will appear that you are not photographing anyone in particular, it may even appear that you are photographing something further back. This will help you get people back to “normalize” your existence with your camera and minimize what you do.
If you find one subject photographically attractive and want to photograph it in particular and not another, you’ll need a partner. Ask him to stand between you and your subject and pose as if you were going to photograph him. Frame your friend and try to photograph him. Defever the framing slightly and slowly, enough to make the subject you’re interested in clear and you can photograph it smoothly.
Needless to say, we don’t care if your friend is blurry or isolated. In fact, was he ever going to be the guy?
The number one trick in portrait photography is, without a doubt, to focus on the eyes, of which there is no doubt. But do it with the camera, look into the eyes of the subject you’re photographing and focus correctly. What you don’t do is look into the eyes of the person live, because that’s the only way you’re going to alarm him. Avoid direct eye contact with the person, all costs. Don’t look directly at the person, they’re not supposed to exist for you, they’re supposed to photograph something else, if you look at them directly and the person realizes, they won’t have any doubt that it’s represented. and then you lose the advantage of spontaneity.
I’m one of those who prefers to photograph with the camera near the eye, looking through the optical viewfinder, the old-fashioned way, but I also admit that this way of using the camera can be a bit “eye-catching”. With the camera’s Live View mode it is much more convenient in such situations. Besides allowing you to look bigger and better, it doesn’t seem so obvious that you’re taking a picture. Someone with a camera in hand looking at the screen can simply set it up, look at the settings or even review the photos taken at a later time. On the other hand, a person who has his eye glued to the visor can’t do anything else: take a picture!
Oh, that’s my favorite. A screen is your perfect ally to photograph strangers, having such a screen allows you to lower the camera and always be able to frame perfectly, if we go back to the café scene where you are sitting, with the camera on the table, wouldn’t you need to lift it to see the screen or do you need to sink into the chair just to be able to see the screen?When you tilt it, you already have the best possible vision (looking for a good SLR camera?The Nikon D5600 is an excellent candidate. )
As in the previous point, if you don’t have a folding camera but have Wi-Fi, you can connect it to your smartphone (usually iPhone or Android phones) and receive the camera signal on your mobile screen itself. This allows you to see the camera frame on your mobile, live and in real time, get up, turn around, look the other way, go to the bar and order a glass of water (if you’re in a café), and even take pictures from your own mobile, all without having to rely on the camera in hand.
I insist, try not to get too far away if you don’t want to run out of camera.
The less you touch the camera, the less you’ll look like a photographer, which interests you in these kinds of situations. Enjoy your shutter remotely, if you have one, and if you don’t use the delayed shutter function that most current SLR cameras have.
It is always more “normal” to see a camera in the hands of a tourist, dressed in his shirt, straw hat and sandals with socks than in the hands of a city dweller, even if we think we are in a photo taken by a stranger, we seem to be relieved that it is taken by a tourist, who knows where, why not be taken by a neighbor of the commune without us having given him permission?
A tourist seems less upset, he seems to be more forgiven. What are you going to do in the end?
So far, with this series of tricks for photographing strangers on the street, can you think of any tips you can share with everyone?Do it in the comments, and don’t stop posting this article if you find it useful, on your favorite social network: Facebook, Google or Twitter.
thank you .