Shooting People & Dogs

Last post we talked about shooting street photography without shooting any people. This time let’s talk about shooting people while doing street photography.

There are two ways of shooting people on the street. First is candids where the subject remains unaware that you’ve taken a photo. The joy of candids is you get unrehearsed real images of people walking the streets of your town or city.

Second is images where you ask for permission. Now in Canada (with some exceptions in Quebec) you can shoot anyone anywhere in places where there is no expectation of privacy or you’re on public property.

Asking for permission does two things. First it opens you to being turned down. That happens but surprisingly it doesn’t happen as much as you might think. The second issue is you will end up with a posed image. The subject will be reacting to you and your camera. Sometimes this is a good thing and sometimes not so much.

Generally when I ask people for permission I walk up to them slowly so as not to alarm them and I engage them in a conversation where I compliment something they are wearing or carrying (like a dog) and the next thing you know I’m shooting images of them and they are smiling away.

Sometimes I pose people. Driving by the Tim Horton’s on Lakeshore Road in Oakville I saw an older man with a big grey beard standing beside a massive Harley Davidson motorcycle. I pulled over and parked the car and walked up to the man and asked is this yours? I had a big smile on my face and camera in my hands and the guy proudly said yes. I asked if I could take a photo of him and again he said yes and I got a great street image.

Shooting people just takes some practice and the willingness to have someone say no.

Here’s a good video by Thomas Maden-Passerini, a UK street photographer talking about his technique for shooting on the street.

Here’s another fun video on street photography in Manchester by Mali Davies.