Street Portraiture

freecom2

freecom2

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Pondering over things - I want to do some street portraiture, but need to work out how to get going with it. I have some 'business card' type things with my flickr link on them, but have any of you dabbled in it, and if so, what was your strategy?

I'd be shooting with the Rolleiflex and probably some Portra/T-Max.
 
Your strategy is helped by shooting the TLR.
I've tried all sorts of approaches but the one that worked best for me was to compliment them on something they are wearing, anything more personal than that....you know what I mean....sounds a bit corny or not strictly on the level.
If somebody came up to me in the street and said I had nice bone structure, beautiful eyes or a face full of character , I'd tell them to ****off..:LOL:
We all know that fablious hat she's/he's wearing ain't the centre of the shoot but if she thinks it is, its a little more disarming and the pressure is off somewhat.

That's my threepence worth...:)
 
blinkerz said:
ages ago me and fellow tper on a london meet did some street portraiture.. just randomly went up to people and asked if we could take there picture:).. Worked pretty easy.. didnt show any business cards etc..:)
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I was there ;)

not sure but I think it was Onform with you asking :)
 
Should've made it clearer - the card thing would only be in a situation if the person wanted to know if they could see it at a later date at request, and as a flickr link is usually quite long a card is often an easier way to do so rather than spelling out f l i c k r . c o m (etc. etc.)

Some interesting strategies mentioned so far, keep them coming!
 
Moo do some mini business cards, half the size of a normal business card and you can have a different shot on each card.
 
On that front, I got some very basic ones from Vistaprint. I know, I cheaped out, but I am not going down the commercial/pro route so my cards wouldn't be selling anything. Essentially it's a compact flyer more than anything!
 
I have a friend who shoots his blad, then shoots a polaroid and gives that to his subject.....I suppose its an alternative..:)
 
That's certainly an option, although I've fallen a tad out of love with my Polaroid 355 - it's absolutely humongous (the design is great, folding bellows, fold down rangefinder/viewfinder apparatus - but it's still huge compared to my other cameras) and too clumsy for my liking. The novelty of instant photography is great though, no doubt about it.
 
I'll have a look later, thanks, although seeing his "style" on a DigitalRev video puts me off - he was on the border of being obnoxious IMO.
 
Talk with the person, find out whats his mood, become a part of his routine, try to find what hes doing on location you met him, maybe its the lady going to office meeting, young lover waiting for fiance or homeless looking for some goods, and finally if you will get that "flow" maybe you will be interested to take a picture of him for him. Its about experiencing and exploring humans, not about a clicking shutter ;)
 
I've done quite a lot of street portraits while I've been down in London this year and it is all about confidence. Just ask them, if they ask why give them an explanation, at the end I always get their email address or give them one of my vistaprint cards and offer to email them the shot.

These are some good tips from Danny Santos:
http://www.dannyst.com/how-to-shoot-street-portraits/

If you haven't seen his work you should check it out, some amazing shots!
 
Some great tips on that link, thank you Rich - will all be kept in mind. Cannot wait to do this!
 
Hey Freecom2, this may be the first thread I feel informed enough to offer some advice on. This is a project I have been working on for the last 5months asking people for their portraits,

When I started I was unsure of why and what to say to the people but I found the best thing was to throw yourself into that uncomfortable situation and see how you react. Asking and not asking create different outcomes, however, I always feel that if I ask I am safer than not asking because people can say no when I ask and so I won't photograph. Once you take the exposure there's no giving it back and thats when people might get upset.

I have taken over 10rolls of film now all in the same town asking the people I see and they have all let me photograph them. Normally pleasently surprised and often interested in my project... it's been a great success.

The images have blown my expectations, and are going into exhibition this summer!

I hope you do go out and ask random people and I hope the results are as rewarding as mine have been!
 
Jay - that's fantastic insight, I really appreciate that. I plan on taking advantage of the good weather and doing it sometime this week.
 
It depends what you're doing really. I'm pretty comfortable (probably overly comfortable) just photographing people without saying a thing, it's easy enough to just walk away after you've made the exposure. But you could mean two different things by 'street portraiture'. Is it pictures of people looking at the camera from wherever they happen to be when you approach them, or is it a series of more in depth portraits, showing people 'from the inside' or whatever? If it's the former I'd just go up and ask people, simple as that. If they say no there's no harm done, if they want a copy you can carry a notebook and write down their email address and/or frame number. If it's the latter I'd approach people with a business card and all, just to make it look more genuine and to help them feel more comfortable, and spend a while talking to them. Finding out who they are. Might be best to approach people who aren't walking somewhere in a hurry, or are working or something. Independent shops are best, no sales targets to meet or anything. There are a ton of ways to approach people, it all depends on what you want really! I've got good results by shouting 'HEY YOU' or making a loud noise just before pressing the shutter. :LOL:
 
Did a few today - still surprisingly tough to ask people, and predictably got a few no's. Also difficult finding places in London that are busy enough to have people but not so busy that you simply cannot have a clean background (even at f/3.5 on a medium format lens)
 
This was one of the first shots, thanks for all the help. Any comments & critique always welcome.

 
Nice shot,
Lamppost is in a bit of an awkward position, however if this was a stranger then I understand why you didn't want to go re-positioning them everywhere!
I've actually been photographing loads of strangers on the street recently with my mamiya C3 TLR and 80mm lens it certainly does require some guts sometimes!
 
well done on this... especially in London! gorgeous image, agree with the lamppost awkwardness. We should shoot sometime!

Saw a great thread on another forum where they stick the names of the togs in a hat and they have a month to meet up and take a portrait series of their partner... hint hint TP
 
Tim, Mel, thanks for the comments. I didn't mind the lamppost too much, but obviously the depth of field means it is more distracting than I would like. But I composed with the subject off-centre, wanted to mix it up a bit.

It really does require guts, but some places just seem to be perfect and some places seem to be hopeless for getting shots. At least the TLR helps a lot in breaking the ice when asking, I don't think I would be getting anywhere with any SLR (film, digital).

On a technical note - it's Portra 160, and the Portra series really is gorgeous.
 
On a technical note - it's Portra 160, and the Portra series really is gorgeous.
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i loved that film, used to use 100 on 35mm for all my portrait and wedding work - and scanned nicely on a nikon ls3
 
etaf said:
i loved that film, used to use 100 on 35mm for all my portrait and wedding work - and scanned nicely on a nikon ls3
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Wayne, was that Portra 100T? The Portra films in their various incarnations have been all very different from each other.
 
Portra 100T
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sorry I cannot remember , just know I went through a lot of different film until i found the one which really worked well for portraits
 
blinkerz said:
bastic :wave:you have a good memory , yes it was onform :)
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I opened the this thread on the second page and first thing I thought about was that day. Then I read blinkerz comment on page 1... Lol it was a very productive day got loads of takers 15/20 of those were good portraits..

Matt
 
freecom2 said:
This was one of the first shots, thanks for all the help. Any comments & critique always welcome.
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erm a great way to chat up the girls ;) and what about "I'm producing a movie and am looking for a pretty girl for the lead part" :LOL:

BTW nice shot and what was the lens?
 
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That is a really good shot FC2 the only thing I would crit is watch the hands, I think it looks a little odd with the frame cutting through her right hand.
 
excalibur2 said:
erm a great way to chat up the girls ;) and what about "I'm producing a movie and am looking for a pretty girl for the lead part" :LOL:

BTW nice shot and what was the lens?
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I have quite a few pictures of men as well, this is an equal opportunities street portraiture thread :bonk: :LOL: thanks Brian. This was the Rolleiflex (it's always the Rolleiflex...), so a Carl Zeiss Planar 75mm f/3.5.

Knikki said:
That is a really good shot FC2 the only thing I would crit is watch the hands, I think it looks a little odd with the frame cutting through her right hand.
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Nick - yeah, unfortunately that was a mess up at composition time. Also I had to rotate the image a bit which meant I had to cut off even more of the hands than I wanted to to get a proper square. A shame, something to work on for next time (y)
 
*** This was the Rolleiflex (it's always the Rolleiflex...), so a Carl Zeiss Planar 75mm f/3.5.**

Ah! should have guessed/known by the quality of the shot.
 
freecom2 said:
Some of you may find this video interesting on this topic - although he does do quite a long introduction when taking photographs of people!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQwLQ1NDz9I&feature=player_embedded#!
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good watch... i like his introduction if you chop out some of the fluff..

Hi I'm NAME and I'm a photographer, I love taking pictures of interesting looking people that catch my eye and you fit the bill amazingly - could i spend a few mins talking with you and taking your portrait..

5-10secs if that... boom
 
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