By Arya Kazemi, Posted Jan 24, 2007
Sections: Intro Good Photography Shooting People General Tips The Right Camera Is There Any Money In It? Magazines & Newspapers Stock Photography Your Own Website Selling Prints & Postcards Self Publishing
People. http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikebaird/
People make one of the greatest subjects for the travel photographer but getting good shots is tough. You want subjects acting naturally in their environments but the moment you start taking photos the magic goes. A camera has the same effect on individuals as a microphone – some may become quite enthused and over-expressive, while others may clam up and simply refuse to participate.
No photos! Sometimes its necessary to ask http://www.flickr.com/photos/80417459@N00/
Some people get around this by using enormous zoom lens from a distance but then there is the ethical issue of whether you have the right to invade like that – certainly in many parts of the world, people would feel you have stolen something from then and might respond aggressively. Similarly, with guerilla photography, if you could have seen the subject react the second after the photo was taken then you might form quite a different opinion of the image.
Makes great pictures, but can be invasive http://www.flickr.com/photos/neys/
One way to get people comfortable is to take your time. Let people in the area know that you’re taking photos but be slow and tedious with your set-up until they lose interest and become natural again. Yes, this might take hours but travel photography is an art that requires dedication, not just opportunistic snaps.
When possible (or when you feel like it’s an issue) ask people before you take their photograph. If you don’t you might meet with violent reprisals and there’s certainly a kind of trade going on. Indeed, you may well be asked for money in return for the right to take a photograph, and travel photographers will encounter this in third world countries in particular. Keep in mind that you have the right to refuse to pay just as your proposed subject has a right to not allow you to take his or her photo.
Dear Road Junkies,
So you’ve read half of the book online and I’ve told you the long, complicated story of how the book was written – now the
Globalisation can mean sweatshops in Asia making your running shoes, villages in China suffering industrial pollution so we can get cheap consumer goods and outsourcing of just ...
