Composition of faces

[Aaron1971]

Folks,
I have been walking around with my SMC 50 taking "street" shots. I really love the idea of people as subjects and am amazed at some of the B&W out there like Colin Finlay's work. My question is how does a person get the candid face photos without imposing on the subject or looking like a stalker? Do most photographers approach their subjects first? This is important to me as I live in Japan, a culture known for it's politeness. Japan is a "target" rich environment but I want to minimize my intrusiveness. Any thoughts? I realize I could use a longer lens but man, this 50 is awesome! My only other lens is the Vivitar 135 mm I have.

[dugrant153]

I've only done it once or twice to some people... as in asking people on the street for their picture. I simply come up to them and ask them if I can take a picture.

I think it helps to strike a conversation with them too. But don't just go in for the picture. You'd be surprised how much one can learn about humanity by getting to know people through photography.

Everytime I look back at a person's picture, it brings back a conversation, a name, a history... a life story sometimes.

I'd say just be polite about it and explain about it (ie: it's just for my personal art portfolio). Sometime they'll say no, and that's perfectly okay.

[kerrowdown]

You could always pre focus in manual mode on a given distance, usually with a wide angle and stopped down a bit you can get a huge zone of "acceptable focus"

Then just shoot from the hip, just take the shot as if people were kind of in the way of what you were really shooting, great for candids.

If you really want close "one on one" always ask permission, you'll be surprised by the level of cooperation you will receive from most folk.

Also remember that depending on your final use of the image, you may require a model release to be signed.

[Aaron1971]

Thanks for the input folks. Alot of my shots are on trains/ in train stations. I was hoping to take it to the next level with some candid "portraits" for lack of a better term. I am amazed at some of the face shots you see in some photojournalist's portfolios.

[danielchtong]

Originally Posted by Aaron1971

I realize I could use a longer lens but man, this 50 is awesome! My only other lens is the Vivitar 135 mm I have.

I use longer lens - DA200mm. Vivitar 135mm is manual and too intrusive too. FA135mm , a short and fast focus lens , will do well too

These two are my favorite lens for candids



From 200mm







Daniel