[Aachor]

Hey all, I am traveling to Kenya and Tanzania for business in a couple weeks. Part of my job will be to capture some of the local "flavor" of the areas which we are working in. That said, I've not done much "street" photography so I am soliciting your tips and advice.

What is your normal approach for photographing people on the street and in the public space?

What is your favorite walkabout lens? What kind of focal length do you like? Zoom or Prime?

Shoot from the hip, or through the viewfinder?

Any other advice you can give me would be appreciated. I am planning on spending some time here in my hometown in the next couple days taking photos just to get a feel for things and to see if I can get "in the groove" of spontaneity/not planning all the details out/etc.

[Kerrowdown]

Kenya and Tanzania

You'll need to check out both local rules and the customs of the peoples involved, so as not to upset them unduly.

[Aachor]

You'll need to check out both local rules and the customs of the peoples involved, so as not to upset them unduly.

Thanks, yes I have consulted with our local colleagues. They will also be on hand to advise, so I should be good as long as I can rely on them.

[Kerrowdown]

so I should be good as long as I can rely on them

Local knowledge is priceless and should never be underestimated to how valuable it really is.

Also usually a genuine expressed interest of the country your in, the local reps will be only too delighted to show you all the extra non guide book stuff too.

[yucatanPentax]

In my travels experience, pointing and shooting is often not welcome wherever you are. Making a connection, via a smile, a point to the camera, a pantomimed request to take photos, seems to work best for me.

I've been in some places where I wouldn't have wanted to be caught "shooting from the hip" although that is often a technique used to capture "true flavor." Some people simply don't take kindly to having their soul sucked up by that machine you're carrying. Having a local person with you to help make connections is valuable.

By connections, I don't mean a long complicated drawn out discussion, but just a tacit acknowledgement that you recognize them as fellow humans and they've given their permission to be photographed. The more remote you go, the more important that part is. You can obtain permission to follow people around and photograph their daily activities and that works quite well.

In public areas, simply pointing at your camera and shaking your head "yes" often gets a smile and an "Ok."

As far as lenses, I've become very fond of the 18-135mm WR for travel, particularly in less developed areas. It stands up to whatever conditions might be encountered and allows instant adaptation to most types of scenes you may run across. For reach, I've been liking the Sigma 70-300mm as it isn't too expensive and always has worked when I needed it. If I had a Pentax 50-300mm WR, that would be a good replacement for my Sigma, but I don't have one.

Personally, I believe I miss too much activity switching lenses when traveling, so don't carry more than one prime (a manual 50 or the Plastic Fantastic Pentax 35). YMMV, depending on how practiced you are with getting the shots on a prime of perhaps not quite the right length within the space of the time available.

[crewl1]

I wouldn't know about the areas you are visiting but my approach is fairly close so I try to use a wide prime lens such as DA21 or FA35.
This allows capture of surrounding environment included in the shot. Also a small prime is easy to carry all day and you only need one hand to compose and shoot.
Sometimes I will have a different lens so anything to capture a shot is fine.
I prefer not using long lenses but I have gotten a couple of shots that way that would not have happened otherwise.
I have only shot in US, South America and Mexico and generally do not have any problems shooting people.
I would not know how it is viewed in other countries.

DA21


FA35


DA40

[FantasticMrFox]

Customs can vary significantly between countries and even regions, so you definitely need to find out how people react to photography.

I shot a lot of pictures when I lived in Ghana, both when out working with the NGO and when I was just strolling around my neighbourhood and town. People were generally fine, children even loved it - probably helped walking around in Red Cross attire

There were only a couple of incidents where people reacted negatively. In one case a guy got agitated when I took a picture of a bunch of goats on the street even though only parts of his foot appeared in the image and it was clearly obvious that I wasn't pointing the lens at him - think he just wanted attention In another case a woman didn't like me filming in the narrow lanes of a local market, same with the vendors in the massive market in Kumasi (the largest market in West Africa) - they didn't like photography at all. Probably had too many tourists sticking their lenses in their faces.

It seems that you are more likely to run into difficulties in larger cities, in my town and the villages no one really cared. In any case it's better to shoot through the viewfinder - it's all about being polite and being open about what you are doing. If people realise you are shooting them from the hips they are not going to be amused.

As for gear - I covered a year in Ghana (very humid during the rainy season, very dusty during the dry season) with only my Kr and the 18-55 kit (non-WR) and it went fine. A weather-sealed kit is better though obviously. If you want to go on Safari you definitely need a tele, if not you shouldn't really need anything over 55 mm. A prime around 35 mm would be great (wished I had one back then).

P.S. You can find a couple of pictures from Ghana on my 500px profile (see signature), some of them shot in the streets.

[Aachor]

In public areas, simply pointing at your camera and shaking your head "yes" often gets a smile and an "Ok."

In any case it's better to shoot through the viewfinder - it's all about being polite and being open about what you are doing. If people realise you are shooting them from the hips they are not going to be amused.

Thank you both for this- this is really helpful and encouraging.

I'm thinking now about mostly using my 18-55 kit. I have a prime I really like, but it's 50mm and that's probably a bit too long based on what all of you are saying. I'll try and have my WR 55-300 on me - in more open areas it might be nice to have the option to shoot down a street, but I do know changing lenses on the street is close to impossible.

[FantasticMrFox]

I have a prime I really like, but it's 50mm and that's probably a bit too long based on what all of you are saying.

By all means, take it! 35 mm would be ideal for street scenes and in crowded areas, but 50 mm will make for really nice street portraits.

These are three of the pictures I took in Ghana - the first one was taken with a Panasonic FZ38 Bridge camera, the last two with my Pentax 18-55 kit at 55 mm. Very similar to 50 mm, and a prime should give you even better image quality!

[eddie1960]

I've shot street with everything from 8mm (you don't even need to point at the subject with that but you need to be very close) to 200mm
In general I like wid-ish to normal (in pentax terms a 21 or a 35) but I've gotten many good street shots with the 560-55 length (they become more portraits.)
the 18-55 set to about 35 @ 5.6 AV mode (or TAV with shutter set a little higher to stop blur) is a great light shooter not the quickest focus but 5.6 is the old journo equivalent of f8 and be there. so you can even zone focus it (a little harder with the kit zoom but possible and then just raise the camera and snap)
I've shot in some pretty crap areas at one point or another and a lot of the time I'll get someone tagging along asking if I'm a reporter lol and trying to get involved. I find the truly best street shots are taken without permission, you just need to blend in to the background so hanging around and taking mundane shots and general area shots will make you invisible to the locals and then you can just shoot

If they ask to see the shot show them, if they ask you to delete it delete it (if it was a Pulitzer shot pull the card and recover later but most aren't )

The lens on my Fuji that really works for me now is the 23 and the 35 (funnily enough I find the 18 just a little wider than i'd like)

[yucatanPentax]

crewl1 (just realized how that sounds when you say it out loud after all this time! ) and FantasticMrFox have shown two great examples of differing street or travel photograhy.

So, it is up to you to decide which style favors you the most. crewl1 shows a casual click without being obtrusive viewpoint and FantasticMrFox has engaged at least the eyes of his subjects, if not their minds and hearts. Both are interesting approaches.

While I agree that tourists, travelers and foreigners are not often discouraged, dissuaded, or even disrupted in casual street photography without explicit permission, I personally like the engagement of even a non-verbal permission or acknowledgement. These are human beings, after all. I know there are differing opinions and approaches than mine and they're all of value in differing ways.

One thing I didn't see raised was the age or appearance and "feeling" imparted by the photographer. A slow-moving little old lady with a camera will be received differently than a young athletic aggressive appearing photographer. We cannot change who we are (large person, small person, etc), but we can change to non-flashy dress, casual, relaxed deportment, and engaging attitude. People sense when you see them as "different" or "subjects" rather than "friends."

Blend in and try to feel at home. Then your photography will reflect that back at you. Or at least that's been my approach.

Not all of the objections to being photographed are cultural. Sometimes, the people don't want their picture taken because they're vaguely criminal, or there are political, tribal, or other factors at play. People may be where they're not supposed to be, etc. So....

I guess the word I'm hunting for is "awareness". Know and understand the situations and circumstances under which you are photographing people. Learn as much about the particulars as your destinations as possible, and work closely with locals or guides to help you understand what people are feeling and thinking.


Anyway, I'm rambling, but you did ask...

[ChristianRock]

Most people tend to prefer a normal-wide (35mm on 135 film), but I prefer a normal or even short tele for street shooting. The wider lens, to me, includes too much of the scene and not enough of the subject. So with my APS-C camera, the two lenses I favor the most are the DA 35 2.4 (wonderful, very "journalism" type lens) and my Auto Sears 50mm f1.7 (tiny, almost pancake and great IQ). Sometimes my K 55 f2 is used because it's so sharp and contrasty at f2.
As you saw, I prefer primes, but there's nothing wrong with a good zoom. I just can't afford good fast zooms in that range. Also, I shoot from the viewfinder. When you are in a populated urban area, there's no reason not to.
In a recent Lisbon trip, my "people in the street" picture keepers were almost all from my 50mm.









Only the 3rd one was not 50mm. It was my Tokina 19-35mm at 35mm (still in the normal range).

It just depends on what you want - more of the subjects, or more of the scene, and how close do you want to get to your subjects. I prefer to stay a bit further away, so a short tele works well. But I'm probably in the minority.

[schnitzer79]

usually the smaller the camera and lens is, the easier people accept you so you can take their photo. dont pop up in front of their face with a massive 70-200 lens to take their portrait

for walkaround street photography, I usually use my 18-135 or 35mm 2.4 and most of the times I shoot from the hip if i want to go by incognito . Im not sure if you will have sufficient time there but capturing people in their work environment works very well. You can approach by asking some questions in general about their work, places of interest etc etc, basically anything other than photography. then you can simply ask if it is ok to take a couple of snapshots. if they say ok, then just take 2-3, dont take advantage just because they said yes and start taking loads of photos. but give it a little thought before you approach them of how you would like to frame the photo so you waste less time in the end.

another great thing is to become friends with locals. they usually show you around and tell you where the best places are for photography.

oh yeah, some people get annoyed with burst mode