Sion said:
What are your secrets in street shooting?
I plan to get a compact digicam, hang it from my neck at chest high and use a IR remote shutter release. Would that work?
If you are doing street shooting why do you need to go so far as to hang your compact digicam at chest level and using an IR to trigger it. heheh...
Okay here is why that is not a good idea. If you are walking, that swing motion will make it hard for your autofcus to "focus" and there is also your walking pace that produces varying swing rate of the camera which will nab you more blur shots then sharp clear shots. If you set the shutter speed higher to avoid blur...you might get underexposed shots. As the camera is swing from your neck, you are not able to control or observe each shot's composure and setting before you snap a shot.
And as for using your IR...as most camera with IR triggering feature goes..you need to aim your remote at the front of the camera. That means you will be seen by other as someone who keeps pointing a device at your camera and chest I think that is pretty a giveaway that you are tryign to take someone's picture but in a sly way. You might as well just hold your camera up your eye to aim, steady yourself, compose the shot and shoot. Learn to get over your shyness lah. heheh.. Just shot....but of course if you are out shooting the fairer sex then that would be abit tricky I guess. Don't ask me... I am not at all into shooting candid pictures of pretty prancing female or even males for that matter. hehehe. But I bet a really long lens would help in those instances hehehe... well not becos you want to take offensive shots but sometime with a long lens you catch people more at ease and natural.
I love shooting people in general against a scenery setting, or some interesting old or new building, skyline scene..etc. Yes you still do get eyeballed by people but that is something you will have to get use to. It is your body language that will get them to trust you or with the wrong body posture they might end up thinking you are some pervert taking cheeky shots or just invading the privacy of someone's private moment or establishment. I think the more self conscious you are about doing it, the more uncomfortable you make those around you feel. The fact that you are using a compact digital camera already does not sit well with some folks. With a SLR or DSLR at least you can be seen more as a professional or serious hobbist from what I gather from others I speak with or have seen reactions to them. But use a mobile phone cam or some small dinky camera ( even if it is an expensive PnS) people just get the feeling you are those nosy or very amatuerish person that just like to pop a camera out and shot something of questionable subject. But that does not mean you can;t use a simple compact camera to begin your photographic hobby! hehhe..Just tell you that is how people can relate to those situations lah. Just persist if you believe in your hobby! For a period I was going around with a Sony S70 which was a compact 3.1 megpixel camera shooting around Chinatown, East Coast parks...and othe events. So I know what it felt like.
For me there really is no big secret to street shooting. The only secret I think there is for me is maybe I try to hide my shyness within myself and not show it and try to be as serious about my shooting as I can but yet remain calm and as interactive as possible with people around me when I shoot. For me as I mentioned, like to shoot sceneries...so wide lens are my favorite I hardly draw out my long telephoto zoom to shoot 99% of the time. But there are those who I know use nothing but long lens as they are shooting more distance objects. I guess they are more into portaits of people from a distance. I sometime even bring alongwith big tripod when I shoot. Heavy but it is worth it when you get a scene that would really benefit from it...and if it does not? Well the extra weight is good exercise for my legs...so I get a good walkabout workout and some nice pictures to bring home.
And yes, sometime you do run the risk of being told to stop shooting them or you get a very cold look that might seen to break into a fighting scene heheh...but that comes with the territory of street shooting...well treat them as "war stories" to tell your fellow photographers here or some coffe shop get together heheh...
