I am very new to photography and I have a question about taking pictures of people. How do most of you go about taking pictures of strangers, especially if they are the focus of the picture? I think that in most circumstances I would ask them if it is ok to take their picture, but in certain circumstances may not feel too comfortable asking them, say for example a group of hoodlums? What do you do?
Depends on the circumstances. I believe the law on the subject (In the US, at least) is that if it is in a public location under conditions where there is not a reasonable expectation of privacy, then it is ok.
If I snap a candid of someone, and am where I can approach them, I will ask if it is ok, and offer them a card with my e-mail and web addresses. Sometimes I hear from them asking for the pics to use on the their personal web pages. If the person is unidentifiable, I feel ok in using it even if I can't get to them to ask.
I am extra careful with pics of kids, though. People are naturally protective. I did have a case where I was snapping some jetski riders halfway across the lake one time and all of a sudden this woman was yelling at me to stop taking pictures of her underage son. The other jetski rider was his grandfather, who was fine with it, and probably rolled his eyes over his daughter's tirade at me.
No reasonable expectation of privacy on a public lake, and completely unidentifiable.
i probabaly should have asked this man if i could keep his photo(i snapped it just a few seconds after walking up to the monument). he even walked right passed me after i took it, but i was really nervous and didnt. but according to what steve said its fine since it was in a public location. lucky me, its a good photo. i would have really liked to send it to him though
i take photos of surfers all the time, and typically they come up to me to find out where i'm going to post them. in that situation, they get really excited that someone might have a decent picture of them. as far as hoodlums go, i don't know, that's risky business. maybe bribe them with beer and smokes? more spray paint? hoodlums like that kind of stuff, right?
i took a few pictures of this group of street performers, and they just asked me to send them copies when i could. but they never emailed me and i didn't get their info, so i can't :( i did, however, throw 5 bucks in their hat
it's usually no big no deal to photograph strangers on the streets here in germany. today i was shooting at a reflected light spot and as was only looking through the waist level finder one guy walked up to me asking if i just took a photo of him, because if i had he would have to smack me on my head right now...lol
just recently i started a little project that includes finding people on the street that dress individually, kind of like that face hunter guy does and asking them if they would mind to have their photo taken. usually with artsy people as they are they will gladly agree.
In new Orleans I have the opportunity to takes lots of pictures of street performers. I will always throw some cashin there hats or boxes though. I think it would be rude not to. Also, I find when you give them cash they get more lively and usually play or perform more for the camera which makes for better shots.
On the other hand if it's just random people I just take the shots and if someone asks I just tell them that I am an ameteur photographer and if it bothers them I would stop. It can get hairy sometimes though when you talk about the hooligans situation. Check ok my entry in the candid challenge. I was taking shots of some kids skating but off in the corner there were some older guys ( around 25-30) that were drinking and kinda staring me down. Some them were skatinin the same area that I was taking shots in. They never bothered me but I could here them snickering and watching me. They were probably just watching me because it's odd to see someone with a lensed camera taking pictures.
I'd say if the situation looks threatning don't do and remember that a tripod can make a good weapon in a pinch.ii
Usually I just snap away and nobody minds, if they even notice. I've been given some weird looks but have never had anyone tell me to stop.
Though there was one incident that, in hindsight, could have ended up differently....
There's a park next to City Hall that is a hangout for street people and druggies. We were passing through and stopped to take shots of the neat fountain when I saw 3 guys who looked interesting. One, sitting on a bench, had a skateboard and flamboyant clothing, and the other two were in an eclectic mix of well-worn items.
I took a few shots from a distance, noticed the sitting guy glance over at one point, then after a minute or two he stood up and they started away. They split up, and the boarder looked back over his shoulder at me, still clicking.
When I got home and looked at the shots they clearly showed that I'd been shooting a drug deal. The shot of the guy looking straight at me from the bench shows the actual hand-over as one of the others takes the packet from his outstretched hand. Ummm... I think I might have gotten kinda lucky that day.
