Your Ideal Mindset While in the Street

I would like to know how people operate while shooting. Are you on a

mission to convince yourself that you are invisible and to get those

shots or do you relax and take whatever is thrown at you?

 

Once the technical things are second nature and I have no problem

knowing what peaks my interest, it's probably the most important

thing to me in deciding how my work comes across.

 

I hope this interests a few of you as well.

The ideal mindset is when I convince myself I am relaxed, and one with my subjects. My usual mindset is one of wondering whether I should have a pretzel or a hotdog soon.

 

:-)

 

At least while in NYC.

Blank.

depends on the hood, sometimes my mindset is "RUN"

Euphoria.

And it is strange because the only time I feel that way on the street is when I have my camera.

yea, i feel naked without mine...weird

I like the fear thing too, the edge from not being sure if I'm going to have my teeth left. Kind of the same way I feel when I shave my head - I use a blade because it has that same kind of feel. Shaves closer too...

i try to relax and sometimes i do. i try to 'feel' invisible and sometimes i do. i never try to act like a 'spy', all sneaky but hope to come off as friendly and non threatening.

I shoot with a Mamiya RZ67 ProII so there is no point in trying to be discreet with such a large camera. Last weekend was my first attempt at street photography without the prism finder. Not only did my neck not start hurting after an hour due to the extra weight, but I can be less obvious when photographing up close to people. Since most people I suppose do not know much about MF cameras, when I'm looking down the waist level finder to compose and focus, it looks like I'm just adjusting the camera in some way. Unless a camera is brought up to ones face, most people will not know you just took their picture. I was able to get a close up shot of someone who was sitting on a bench right in front of me. I just held the camera in my lap, and after taking a spot reading took the shot. He never knew he just had his picture taken.

I also try not to go out with any particular agenda. I want to keep as open minded as possible least I miss something great because it doesn't fit in with what I think I should be shooting. Last weekend though many of my pictures seemed to involve people interacting with animals. A elderly couple feeding some birds, a girl trying to pet a cat in a cage ect. This weekend I'll be shooting some more. Who knows what I'll get?

Regards,

Marc

Purposeful.

 

I don't try to hide what I'm doing - that would seem pointless. I'm not worried that others may react badly - I'm enjoying myself, why shouldn't they? Often I'll chatter with the folks I'm photographing.

Tuned in, alive, 110%

I get kind of a buzz. I breathe faster, I'm sure my heartrate goes up. My perception

becomes intensified. And from there, it's just pure flow. In the moment. People ask me

about street photography and I tell them it's a lot more like skiing than photography. The

only difference is that I'm standing still, the mountain is moving past me and my goal is to

hit as many trees as possible.

receptive to everything...adrenalin pumping....eyes, somehow looking 7 feet in front of me at the same time they are looking 20 feet down the road for the next thing....yeah, there's a fear im gonna get popped one of these days, although, its not so much the physical thing as it is knowing that any interuption I dont plan, is gonna take me out of my zone. And I do get in a zone......not a tunnel vision thing, but more a "all vision" thing

 

Then after i press the button........the whole thing of preparing for the shot, and shooting, replays in slow motion........I swear, I actually see the whole thing all over again........and then wham, back to earth and the next shot.

 

next thing that is thrown at me? not in the completely random sense....more like unconsciously planned randomization, is the best I can come up with to call it............and invisible?.nah, 6 foot 2 inches is impossible to be invisible ;o).......heh, they are probably just ignoring me............dont really care actually, ive been caught so many times its just part of the shoot anymore.

I feel naked without mine too. Well, not naked, but maybe awkward or unprepared. I shudder at what events might not take place because I�m camera-less. I look at the many photographs I have simply because I had my camera over my shoulder, the events and friends I�ve made because of my counterpart. Every time I don�t have a cam over my shoulder I feel I�m betraying or denying myself. Or not making the day the 100% that it could be. To answer the question, I feel complete and this is portrayed on the street.

I just walk and look.

I too feel a sense of Euphoria and excitement. It's as if I'm embarking on a great adventure. For a few hours nothing may happen then I can turn a corner and all of a sudden I feel like my cats do when they see a bird outside the window ---"Akkakkakkakkakk!!!" There may be a crowd of people or an event taking place or the light might be just right or even the seagulls at Battery Park flying or coming in for a landing near a tourist, then I start shooting and hope for the best. To me this is the greatest feeling in the world.

My mindset isn't much different than those occasions when I

don't have a camera with me (except I don't think, "Damn! I

should have brought my camera!"). I just try to keep alert and

stay aware of what's going on around me.

 

And in familiar territory, it's sometimes nice to have a good buzz

on . . . ; )

quote: "...it's sometimes nice to have a good buzz on."

 

Agreed, Mike--just don't rely too much on manual focus when you do. ;)

This happened to me two days ago and it's worth telling:

Walking around with my camera, in the city center there is an half pipe were skaters and bikers go. I took a shot with 28mm quite far away to frame it in the surroundings. While shooting some girls - from the top of the pipe - started waving at me. I got closer. They told me that they didn't want pictures of them to be taken.

I told it was ok for me.

 

Then another one asked why I was taking pictures. I just told that I liked it. They asked me again. I told something like "you like to stay here and play with your friends, I like to take pictures".

At this point the first one, almost angry, told "we're not playing, we're chillin'!"

After I said that "chillin'" sounded better than "playing"... they asked me for a few cigarettes. Two minutes later they were all posing for my shots.

A boy got quite jealous and asked: "if I do some break-dance, can you take pictures of me too?".

 

Well... I didn't develope the rolls yet, but usually when I interact with people, get to know them a little bit, the results are far better than "stolen" shots. Or, at least, I like them more.

 

These were my 2 cents.

Cheers,

bruno.

Extremely alert. Ready. No preconceptions.

Some interesting comments. So what is the real reason we do street photography? The rush? Are we all simply adrenaline junkies or do wish to say something with our photos? I think for me, it's a little bit of both. Sometimes I get really thrilled in the darkroom with a shot that turns out better then I would have expected. Likewise, some shots that I thought would be sure-fire winners when I took them just don't cut it.

Regards,

Marc

Open.

Bruno's comments are interesting. That's not the first time I've heard photographers say they've encountered resistance or hostility from skateboarders, rollerbladers, surfers and other so-called "extreme" sports participants. It seems odd that they're indulging themselves in a very public, showy, attention-grabbing activity and at the same time pretending they don't want the attention. Their attitude strikes me as faux cool posing.

Don't know, Lex. I would not call it hostile attitude. They told me (or better, the girls did) not to take picture. Then they started a conversation. Then they wanted to have pictures of them taken. What I didn't mention is that they were around 14-16.

This should make me feel guilty for having given them some cigarettes. But I'm a bastard.

 

What I wanted to tell were, at the end, two things.

 

1. Keep your mind open.

2. Ask before taking pictures. I think that 99% of times, when asking, you can get a better shoot than a candid one. If they say "no", well, wait for the next person to come.

 

cheers,

b.