Developing your confidence

9/6/14

The aim of this exercise was to develop confidence in photographing people outside without them suspecting that they were the subject.

The course material suggested an area where there would be lots of people engaged in activity.

My feelings when planning the activity?

I am quite happy to wander around a bike meeting and take photographs of racers and teams because they almost expect people to be interested in them. There are hardened fans who ask racers to autograph their photographs at every meeting, and during my final exercise for TAOP1 I began to start asking if I could take someone's photograph. I was happy at this level because it is expected that people will take photos.

I decided to go to Newark, a local market town which attracts visitors because I could hide behind the mask of being a tourist. I expected there would be plenty of opportunity in the market for shopping, window shopping, coffee shops, people meeting, relaxing, dog walking etc.

At first I felt quite conspicuous. I had taken my 70-300mm zoom lens because it was black compared to my grey 70-200mm. The lens hood is fairly long and I became conscious that people could see me if I was shooting at the 300mm end. I wanted to get the uncomfortable feeling out of the way so I decided only to use this lens and see what results I achieved and how it made me feel.

My feelings during the activity

I was apprehensive at first. I carried my camera in my hand and decided to always pull the lens back to 70mm after the shot so it didn't look as conspicuous. I went into town for about 10am thinking that the shoppers would be in full swing by then and it wouldn't be too long before they met people or went for coffee. I was clocked by a few people, so I smiled at them or aimed the camera at an old building or view of the market square / castle so that it wouldn't look so obvious that I had taken their picture. I don't think they minded because I was not challenged or confronted. By the end of the session I felt more comfortable.

Points to consider

• Time of day would be important for more activity and different types of activity. At 10am there was no-one in the parks, no-one in the lock on the River Trent, and most of the activity was shopping. By 12, a few people were resting in the parks. The coffee shops started to fill up. 
• Look like I am busy looking at something else or engage in conversation if I have been spotted. Smile.
• Being a Monday there were several retired people around. People would be different ages if I did this at a weekend.
• Safety
• Focal length
• Composition

I took about 75 photographs, looking at people in different situations. I have narrowed my selection down to my favourite 20; some I think were more successful than others.

All images Canon 5D mark 2 full frame ISO set to 200, f8 evaluative metering

Conversation

1/125 300mm

Two gentlemen conversing on the town bridge at Newark. This is usually busy but it was fairly early in the morning and the antiques market was not being held. Taken from the tow path and looking up at them, I pretended I was looking at the view of the castle (behind them) and my gaze fell upon them. I initially thought the image should be cropped - I left it as it was because it gives them space to continue their conversation. Image feels fairly balanced with the two men in the middle of the bridge and the colours are harmonious. The chap in the blue tshirt contrasts with the scene making him the focal point. I like the facial expression of the man in the suit.

Challenge - Avoiding cars and pedestrians in the shot. How long could I wait for without being noticed? I took three images and then they moved on.

Success - I think so

1/125 115mm

Spotted a dog walker who met a couple as I was walking under the archway of the bridge. Their conversation was about over from the body language. Took a couple of images before the middle man walked away.

Challenge - composition. cropped the top of the bridge. Footpath railings detract from the image and lady's head is slightly cropped.

Success - partial

1/800 190mm

Looked up and there were two men having a chat. I think the chap on a bike saw me so I took one image and moved on. Composition would be better without the lamppost and if one could see all of the man on the railings.

Success - no

1/250 100mm

A group of people having a chat in the pedestrianised road. Took two photos as I didn't want to attract their attention. I like the engagement of all the group. The facial expressions show they were all involved.

Would work better perhaps if the focal length was longer as the people in the background and to the side would be cropped or blurred. Image needs rotating slightly.

Success - partial

Sitting on a bench

1/250 300mm

This man sat on the bench for a long time. I took his photograph from a couple of different positions. This had the best composition. I cropped this slightly. The man is sat on the thirds with feet facing into the frame. The colours are complementary. It has a sense of peace about it. I like the man's facial expression. 

Success - Quite successful. When viewed at 100%, the man's face is not quite in focus. Unseen.

1/250 300mm

I like this image too of a younger chap sat on a bench - almost the modern equivalent. I cropped this slightly all the way round. The chap is again positioned on the thirds. I think the image should be rotated slightly so it is straight and again at 100%, his face is not quite sharp. Skin tones look a little overexposed.

Success - Quite successful. Unseen.

1/160 300mm

I liked this image because the couple were sat together on the bench with legs crossed, one reading the paper and one staring ahead. I felt their position within the frame was ok and their facial expression was interesting. 

Success - yes

1/50 70mm

This lady was sat on a bench reading a book. Sharp image, skin tones ok. I worried that she was so engrossed in her book her handbag could be stolen.

Success - yes

1/80 70mm

This chap was very anxious. I had walked around the castle grounds about three times observing his body language and decided that I would take his photograph with lots of space around him to give the viewer an idea of what he was looking at. From this angle I was not in his field of vision, although he had probably observed me. His position did not alter so I assumed he was comfortable with it.

Success - yes

Shopping

1/250 85mm

I stood behind a wall observing the customer as his body language was very expressive. The stall holder lowered his apple from his mouth and relaxed as the customer spoke to him. 

I cropped this image because I took it landscape but there was too much distraction from the gesturing man.

During my walk round the market, people saw me and looked at the camera but did not challenge me. I did not  feel too uncomfortable about this.

Success - yes

1/200 300mm

Window shopping - too cluttered. Composition was not good. Need to look at better vantage points.

Success- no

1/250 100mm

This pair of shoppers were engaged in conversation. They did notice me but it didn't stop them from conversing. The distracting feature is the lady behind. This was the best shot I had of them. I had pretended I was taking the shot of the shops. 

Success - partial

Coffee shops

1/800 135mm

One of my worries was how to achieve the coffee shop image without drawing attention to myself or disturbing guests. I visited Nottingham looking for coffee shops in the market square. There were none. So I decided to give it a go in Newark although I felt they would not be busy quite early in the morning. My first attempt was a little cluttered. I was able to crop off the passer by on the right hand side. I find the man's head distracting.

I like the lady's body posture. She is not expecting anyone to join her and from this side she was unaware of me.

Success - partial

I moved to another coffee shop.

1/400 120mm

1/320 165mm

  This lady was enjoying a coffee and looked engrossed in it. I walked past, then walked back again and she hadn't noticed me. By shooting from here, I was able to take 3 shots. I didn't want to intrude on her space. By cropping in tighter image was more about the lady than the empty coffee shop tables.

Success - yes

Waiting

1/125 300mm

 I spotted these three ladies all waiting for something such as a lift home. I liked this image. I shot it from across the road as I was walking past, so at 100% it is not quite in focus. I want to know more about why the lady on the end is not engaging with the middle lady who is taking an interest. I am not sure whether the lady on the right saw me.

Success - yes

1/60 140mm

 Three people at the bus stop. Perhaps not as engaging as the last image. I should have cropped in closer but I wanted to show that this was a bus stop. I think it would work with a tighter crop. I was intrigued as to why the lady in the middle was resting her head, although when I returned to my car, the temperature was 25 degrees C, so it was hardly surprising.

Success-partial

 Walking

1/800 200mm

 I stood on the bridge where people often take photos and waited for people to walk or cycle across. I wanted to explore how uncomfortable I felt if people knew I was taking an image with them in it and how easy it would be to speak to anyone. I had watched this lady walking some distance and eventually she crossed the bridge. I stayed put and shot at different focal lengths. She knew I was there and chose to ignore me. I liked the colours and composition in this image. At 100% her dog is not in focus.

Success - yes

1/500 210mm

 I was observing people walking away from me too. I felt comfortable with this image.

Success - yes

Working

1/80 70mm

I started observing action with this man replacing a bolesha beacon. His work colleague stood up and saw me so I smiled and moved on. By the time I took this my confidence had grown so I wasn't too concerned about being seen.

These are not presented in order. I have groped them so I could compare like for like and see what my learning needs are.

I think I achieved the aim of the exercise. My confidence grew and I began to think about composing the shot in my head, put the zoom lens back to 70mm and start picking out 

interesting people.

Need to watch zoom at full extension even though it has what canon call a 3 stop image stabiliser, I still have some images where they are not quite sharp.