Archive for November 2010
First and foremost, this blog is about candid photography. If you ask the subject for permission, no matter how you do it, the person has time to get ready for the picture. The photographer can get an interesting and excellent artistic result, but this cannot be considered candid.
If you’re worried about privacy invasion, law-breaking, possible confrontation, or other problems, don’t do candid photography. There is no other solution. It is the same as driving a car or traveling. You can get a ticket, be mugged or just get into a bad accident. Photographers have to use common sense and accept the risks.
After you’ve made your shot, please, feel free to talk, ask permission, and give business cards or anything else to resolve a possible conflict.
Sometimes you can be pleasantly surprised from your “victim’s” positive reaction.
These pictures illustrate another point. Even a person, obviously seeing a lens directed at him, creates genuine expression of confusion. This interesting case deserves a separate topic.
Related topics
I bought this lens a couple of years ago to take pictures of architecture and landscape. In the last two weeks I’ve tried it for my candid street photography. This is the widest lens I have and it requires a very close range to the subject to take a picture. Don’t even think about using the viewfinder and autofocus. The mode of operation is “point and shoot”.
This is not a small glass, but when you are very close to the person it is hard to conceal your intentions anyway.
The lens is fast. I often use it wide open. I don’t think that a faster lens would be useful. When you are in a range of six feet or less, it becomes a shallow depth of field. This makes the misfocus problem more pronounced.
For more pictures go to Shooting with Pentax 14mm f/2.8
Related topics
The Rules and Myths of Candid Photography: Wide angle or telephoto lenses
Many bloggers and experts like to say that you should use wide angle lenses because they require being close to the subject. This makes street shooting a “fair” game. It seems dishonest to use a telephoto by hiding from a distance.
Hunters have the same debate when choosing a weapon. They will argue that it is valiant to select a tool that will give their victim a chance to escape.
However, we are photographers and our goal is to make great images. We are not in a contest with people on the street or with each other. The choice of lenses is governed by artistic considerations, feasibility, or convenience, not by some superficial notion of machismo.
Often I use lenses from wide to short telephoto, including small zoom. On occasion I have fun with my old long telephoto 60-300.
I don’t toggle lenses during shooting. My choice is based mostly on my current mood and situation. If I am in doubt I use a “normal” 31 mm (with 1.5x crop factor).
I don’t use a long telephoto because being far from the object (using small view angle) makes the depth of perspective compressed. But sometimes this compression is an important part of the composition.
Wide angle lenses allow the photographer to be very close to the person. Photographers can invade the personal space of the subject before getting a chance to use the camera’s viewfinder. This may require shooting from the hip or belly. Do not frame tightly in order to have latitude for rotation and cropping.
Use any lenses that you think are most appropriate for your situation. Don’t concern yourself with artificial rules that many candid street photography experts try to push.
Related topics
Pentax 14mm f/2.8 for Candid Street Photography
Pentax 70 mm f/2.4 DA Limited for Candid Street Photography
Candid Street Photo 