The Approach

[imported_JeromeL]

When photographing people on the street,in a "shady" part of town or any "dangerous areas", what's your initial approach to kind of say "i come in peace"? Is there anything you do to protect your equipment or yourself? I love candid shots but I also want to stay away from invading people's personal space.Discuss.

[Snarfy]

run fast and carry a stiff monopod?

[imported_Mark]

I use my 1DsmkII w/70-200 2.8 IS as a club - 12 lbs of FURY!!!

Just kidding, I don't worry about it. I just make friendly eye contact and walk tall - but then again I'm 6'1" and go about 280, I imagine there are easier targets than me. To add, all my gear is fully insured. If someone wants my stuff, they can have it and I'll get new stuff!

[FerrisPhoto]

What shady area are you talking about? I have gone to skid row a few times, and walked around. In and around the homeless, all you have to do is say hi to them, maybe even pull up a crate, and talk to them. They are people, and enjoy being treated as such.

The suggestion to have your gear insured is the best though. If you have insurance, who cares, it can be replaced.

[imported_JeromeL]

not any area specifically, but just i always find it awkward asking someone for a photo if they're in a less fortunate situation while im carrying 1200 around my neck. any ideas

[Snarfy]

just try to open up and get more comfortable.

and/or get a CCW permit

[FerrisPhoto]

Like I said before, they are people too. Walking up to strangers to take their pics is a function of your personality type. If you are a shy type person, it will be more difficult. Getting over the first approach is the hardest, but it gets easier each time you do it. One suggestion would be to go to a place like Venice beach. All of the street people down there are used to being photographed. Start there, and when you can comfortably walk around snapping pictures of all of those people, move on to another area, like skid row. It gets easier each time you do it.

[imported_JeromeL]

well i understand that. i just feel like im "stealing" or "taking advantage" of their situation. is there any remedy for that?

[Snarfy]

400mm lens, a ghillie suit, and a good hiding place.

[imported_Mark]

Originally Posted by JeromeL

well i understand that. i just feel like im "stealing" or "taking advantage" of their situation. is there any remedy for that?

You're not stealing, but you are definately taking advantage of their situation, the same as a photographer taking advantage of a great landscape in beautiful light. As for the "moral" question, ask yourself "why are you taking the shot?". If you are producing work intended to shine a light on their life in the hopes that it will move others to act in positive ways - what's the harm in that? If you're taking pictures if a toothless, weathered, 70 year-old prostitute in order to make a funny joke greeting card, then maybe you aren't quite in the moral "right".

Likely, they just make you uncomfortable because you don't understand their world and you have some buried guilt because you know you should be doing something to help your fellow man. If that's what it is, take the pictures and try to do something positive with them.

[imported_JeromeL]

that's a nice way to put it. im just a student so i take these photographs purely for my own work and study.

[imported_Mark]

No harm in that at all. And remember that most of our fear of "crime" is really unfounded - it's perpetuated by the evening news and other media. If it was really as bad as it seems, everyone that lives in those parts would be car-less (after all your car is guaranteed stolen there), murdered, dying in the street from starvation, or all of the above. Crime (violent and otherwise) is way lower now than at anytime in the last 50 or so years, it just doesn't seem that way if you watch the news.....

[imported_JeromeL]

good point. thanks for all the advice everyone.

[Snarfy]

Originally Posted by Mark

No harm in that at all. And remember that most of our fear of "crime" is really unfounded - it's perpetuated by the evening news and other media. If it was really as bad as it seems, everyone that lives in those parts would be car-less (after all your car is guaranteed stolen there), murdered, dying in the street from starvation, or all of the above. Crime (violent and otherwise) is way lower now than at anytime in the last 50 or so years, it just doesn't seem that way if you watch the news.....

Ironically you live in Fresno! One of the worst small-crime percentages in the states. Of course, if things are "bad" here, then we're all doing pretty damn well.

[imported_Mark]

No doubt, and I have had a car stolen before. Twice actually, the 2nd was 1 week after I got it back from the shop after the first theft. But that's what I got for driving a black Civic. I feel completely safe around here. I go downtown at night - oooooooooouuuuuuuu. Yes I do, and other than shaking the guys looking for change to buy a burrito, there's no problem. But if you watch the news, it sounds like Baghdad 'round here. Actually, I doubt Baghdad is really as bad as it's made out to be - doesn't make for good news stories.....