Some new street candids

jani20032003 · Post by **jani20032003** » Wed May 13, 2009 8:55 am

I took some new shoot. Do you guys have some good advice how to hide a camera and take shoots ? The spy cams are not good because the quality is poor, the HQ and HD cameras are too big to hide. Or do you simply ask the girls if you can take some pics ?

Babylove · Post by **Babylove** » Wed May 13, 2009 1:17 pm

jani20032003 wrote:I took some new shoot. Do you guys have some good advice how to hide a camera and take shoots ? The spy cams are not good because the quality is poor, the HQ and HD cameras are too big to hide. Or do you simply ask the girls if you can take some pics ?

Now that's an excellent question, Jani. I've found the answer for you via Yahoo! Answers. This should help you out some.

This is a really good question. I was kind of wondering the same thing myself. You actually don't have to get permission to take pictures of people as long as they're on a public street, and as long as you don't use the pictures for commercial purposes. There's nothing "weird" or "creepy" about it at all. Street photography is a completely legal, accepted genre of photography. But still, it's tricky to get candid pictures.

The closest I've ever come to getting candid "street photos" was when I was at a lake in the mountains. I love taking landscape photos, and so at first I was mainly just interested in taking pictures of the lake. But then I just decided to try to get a few candid pictures of people walking along a trail that went around the lake. I took the pictures from a distance (not with a telephoto lens, just a normal aspect 55mm lens). No one seemed to notice me at all. So I'm sure there is a good technique that photographers use. If you take the pictures in such a way that you don't draw attention to yourself, most people are so distracted that they would just be walking along and going about their business and they would never even notice that you were there.

If you want to get closer pictures, that will be more tricky. You'll have to find a way to do it without bothering the person and without them noticing. In some cases, it might just be better to ask their permission. Be prepared to get very different answers...some people will be perfectly fine with it and might even have fun, and other people might get a little freaked out and refuse.

One thing that might help is to make a business card, and just explain that you're into photography as a hobby (or you could even say it's for a photography class or something). Offer to email them the pictures. Just be friendly and tell the truth. I think any reasonable person will be ok with it. I mean, if someone just came up to me and was just honest and said they were into photography and wanted to take my picture, I would be perfectly fine with that.

By the way, what Joe T said about getting permission to take pictures at a public park, or that people might call the police is completely WRONG. I will say again, that according to the law, you do NOT have to get permission from someone to take their picture as long as you don't use it for commercial purposes. You don't have to get permission to take pictures of people in public places... public streets, public parks, etc. You DO have to get permission to take pictures on private property, but not public property. Also, you have to be careful because not all public places are actually public property. Just because a place is open to the public, that doesn't always mean it's actually public property. A shopping mall is open to the public, but it might actually be private property. Generally, public property means places that are municipally owned by the city or local government...streets, public parks, etc. That is considered the "public square" and you can legally take pictures of people without their permission, because they don't have a reasonable expectation of privacy. That's the law.

And this might help clear things up too...

http://www.krages.com/phoright.htm

"As the flyer states, there are not very many legal restrictions on what can be photographed when in public view"

Still, you'll just have to judge whether you can get the pictures without bothering them and without them noticing. It might be better in some cases to just introduce yourself and ask permission.

There you have it. If you have any other questions about taking candid photos, go to Yahoo! Answers, Google, or any search engine and type in "how to take candid photos". By the way, your candid photos of the faceless ladies and their hosed legs are impressive. Keep up the fine work, and next time, use ImageVenue to post your photos. The link is below. Thanks for sharing the photos with us, and GOOD LUCK.

http://users.imagevenue.com/hostflash.php

jani20032003 · Post by **jani20032003** » Wed May 13, 2009 2:41 pm

Hi Babylove

Thanks a lot for your long answer and the explanation.
It's clear now. I think I gonna use different practices.

jani20032003 · Post by **jani20032003** » Wed May 13, 2009 2:46 pm

first pic

jani20032003 · Post by **jani20032003** » Wed May 13, 2009 2:48 pm

Babylove · Post by **Babylove** » Wed May 13, 2009 8:13 pm

jani20032003 wrote:Hi Babylove

Thanks a lot for your long answer and the explanation.
It's clear now. I think I gonna use different practices.

You're quite welcome, Jani. Anytime.