Developing your confidence

As I move on to the section 2 of this course we are now photographing people unaware. I have done Street Photography before in a a small group of people and certainly photographed public events.

Here we are asked to reflect on our confidence and how we feel about photographing strangers. In general I am still very nervousness and lack confidence. I perceive my image holding a DSLR, especially with a big lens, to stand out and that everyone is looking at me. I may well draw more attention to myself, but I do not think it is as bad as I feel. To counter this I have discovered that moving about from place to place is best and gives me more unanimity.

For me taking photographs of strangers falls into 3 categories:

1.  Those who do not know I am taking there picture at all. This is the easiest group but the downside is that I don't tend to get great images especially for individuals, usually because it is done from a distance. I have since discovered that close up with a wide angle lens you can take images and the subject does not realise that they are in the frame, very useful.

2. Those who DO realise at the time you are taking there picture. This is the hardest group and I feel it is an invasion of privacy and sometimes I get that look too....just quickly move on is the response. Good images can be obtained here and I have found that this is easiest in a mass event with lots of people to hide in....

3. The final group is asking someone you do not know to take their picture. For most I think this would be the hardest group, ironically for me it is not. Engaging with people is part of my everyday work life and I have found that talking to people and explaining my studies is well accepted. After that trust has been established it is easy to ask to take an image and the results can be the best. Below is such an example when out on the streeets of Brighton.

Assignment Feedback

Finally Assignment 1 was complete and today I have received the feedback.

If I were to be honest I think that the points made in this report were spot on. The main problem being in framing and background distractions. This is indeed something I need to concentrate on though I do feel that I am becoming more and more aware of this but it is not second nature. Sometimes I get carried away and only see the subject and forget the backgrounds.

Also looking for additional elements or people to make a portrait more interesting is something I do tend to miss, in the following it was suggested that perhaps the right hand was playing with a phone and that would have made it more interesting.

The best image of my submission was the following which was well received. It was processed in a 1950's style which works well, but again I was let down but a rather cluttered background and didn't even notice that I have clipped a shoulder. The natural light here works well and to compensate a little.....

Some good reading material is also referenced I will endeavor to read this, though I have many books still to read from Christmas....