Street/Urban photography

[KiltedArab]

Hi Rafal

In my defence to your points - which I appreciate - I was not there with the intention of shooting the girl. I was taking general touristy images and when looking at the statue, the opportunity arose and I snapped.

It was the secretive nature of my snapping that struck me afterwards, and I dont feel comfortable about it.

[jinju]

Next time dont be secretive and you will feel better;) Anyway, street photography is probably the most chalenging form of photography there is, partly because of the issues you raise. In the end, a great street photograph makes me happier than any other type of photo.

[oochappan]

Shooting people in the street can be very intimidating.
Try this once:
when a police-officer tries to intimidate you, stay calm, respectfull and with a slight joyful tone ask him if you can take his picture in the environment ....

In some countries people like to be photographed and push themself towards you for their photo, eventhough some people don't like it, you should respect that too, using your camera as a medium for a pleasant dialogue gives you often a shot with a lot more depht for yourself and it will radiate to the viewer too.

[jinju]

Yeah, it can be intimidating and thats why theres nothing as satisfying as getting a good one. I used to be really intimidated, now not really. It takes practice though to lose that shyness. Now I really dont have a problem with it. But I think it has to be done in a certain way. Not from behind bushs (or cars, building, statues, etc), not with those long telephotos and not in a sneaky way that maks people doubt your intentions. It should be done in a way where they can read from your own body language that it is just a photo without seedy intentions.