To ask or not to ask.

[nathan_arvold]

Should you ask peiople on the street if you can take a photo of them

or just take it with out asking.

[Steven Rowley]

Nathan, There are many posts on this subject, and it seems that the most common opinion is "not to ask" since it can ruin a photo if the person is aware they are being photographed. They'll do some small thing that doesn't look quite natural once they know you're shooting them. Like a lot of people, at first you feel like some sort of peeping Tom if you just shot people from a distance. That's how I felt at first, and I still get a hint of that feeling every so often. Dont' ask, I'd say. Just my opinion.

[Steven Rowley]

Also, if you do say something to the person, offer to send them a copy of the photo(s) of them. Give them your name, don't ask them for their personal info. Tell them to get ahold of you in x number of days and you can send it. Let it be clearly known who you are and why you took their pic. Make sure to follow through and send the photo you promise. Some people will forget to get in touch with you.

[cernuschipaolo]

My favorite type of photos are those taken on the street, so I'll draw from a bit of my experience. Note that I'm currently living in Sri Lanka and the attitude of people to images might be different from that of people in other countries, particularly European and American countries.

 

Usually, I walk down the streets with my 35-70 and shoot whenever I see an interesting person. Sometimes they don't notice (although it's rather difficult with a 35-70) and it's simpler to take the picture. However, sometimes they notice and start looking at you and smiling. That's when you have to try to work WITH the subject. Try to explain, in my case through sign language :), how you want the pose. You might waste a few shots at first, but as they start getting relaxed you can actually get better expressions than you could have at the beginning.

 

Problem with this approach is that it takes a lot of time. If you're going to try to understand your subject and speak to him/her, it's going to take time. If you're going to try several shots, it's going to take time. If you're going to have a quick chat with them afterwards, it's going to take time.

 

In a nutshell, both asking and not asking have their merits and flaws. I find that being flexible and doing a bit of both (depending on the situation, culture, etc) is the best solution.

 

Hope this helped! Paolo

[marlin_olynyk]

Nathan. In my experience don't ask because when they say no you're still

going to want that photo that you saw in the first place and then be chomping

at the bit when you can't have it if they say "no". Just don't be pushy and

obtrusive and be polite and respectable when taking people's photo on the

street and they won't usually be angry.

Marlin.

[shiva_kumar]

I never ask. I use a small inconspicuous camera with a fixed focal wide angle lens. I've noticed that it is less conspicuous than carrying a bulky camera and also people seem less intimidated by it as opposed to a bulky camera. I also try not to make eye contact with the subject if he/she/they see me trying to photograph them.

 

Also, depending on the body language of the people I am about to photograph, if I see them behaving uneasily or trying to lurk away, I leave the scene and go elsewhere before the situation turns "pickle"ish :)