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How do I get over the fear of using my camera in public? I got a fancy camera but I've never taken any shots with it because I'm too scared to go outside with it and use it
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Maybe mention the thoughts that accompany your fear, so we have something to go on.
Theft, damage, or just social anxiety?
If the latter, start with landmarks, tourist hotspots, or landscapes. Never be a street creep.
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>>4456713
To do street photography (ie. you're taking pictures of strangers in public):
As with everything else in life, follow these rules:
1. Be attractive.
2. Don't be unattractive.
This will get you much farther than any other advice.
Go get a haircut, wear normal and well-fitting clothing, stop saying weird shit, practice your smile in the mirror before every time you go out. You don't gotta be Chad-tier, but people should feel positive when they see you.
Then, stop giving a fuck. Just take the pictures you want.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQlTE-gREHw
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>>4456736
Well said. Couldn't be better advice. The halo effect is very real and it can work for you, too. Getting /fit/ should be top priority. Every hobby can be made better by being in shape and being pleasant to be around.
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>>4456713
Assuming this is about social anxiety bass fear consider this thought experiment. For all of the people I've ever seen in public taking pictures, I sure can't remember basically all of them.
You might think you'll be seen by lots of people in public and forever burned into their mind as a weirdo camera guy.
The reality is that you might be noticed in the moment, but you'll be forgotten within minutes.
Just think back to all the camera people you've seen in the wild, and even as someone with an interest in cameras or photography, how long did they really keep in your thoughts? I bet their mostly all forgotten, just like you would be.
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>>4456736
>I have to be pretty like a woman
wew shiggydiggy
OP just think of it like this. Eventually you are going to get old and lose all your positive characteristics and fucking die anyway. You've already been alive for some piece of time and you probably haven't recorded most of it. Just treat taking photos like a totem that ties you to the idea that you are here, you are experiencing things, things are happening
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>>4456713
Just travel. Unironically, it's way easier to do when you're clearly a tourist in a foreign country. While it may feel a bit awkward at home.
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Unless maybe you are taking close up photos of people, no one cares. Turn off the AF beep and AF light, and in a tight space, use the silent (electronic) shutter. When we go out with my wife, I take photos of her eating, and she does not notice.
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>>4456713
Something I learned a while back is if you're taking street photos, pretend like you're photographing something behind all the people. They'll just figure you're a tourist and pay you no mind within a second of seeing you looking off into the background.
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>>4456713
I just bought this tiny p&s that fits in my pocket. When I see something I want to take a photo of, I kind of frame it in my mind first, walk to where I think the correct perspective is going to be, take it out of my pocket, snap, then put it straight back in my pocket and get on my way.
Also >>4456798 zhis. People won't give a shit if they see a random tourist snapping some photos. It's a different story if you're carrying a camera bag and two bodies with giga bbc 24-120 lenses. You'll stand out and you'll likely look like an autist. But if you're 6'4 and ripped, just go for it anyway ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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>>4457517
There's a weird cultural phenomenon where Americans will consider any complicated piece of technology as 'looking like a bomb'.
I'm not really even sure where it comes from, I don't think most people have ever even seen what a real bomb looks like.
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>>4457532
>>4457511
even more generally, i think americans are suspicious and cynical about someone doing literally anything they don't instantly understand. one time i was strolling around a quiet residential block waiting for a gig to start around dusk, and snapping some front yard gardens and cars in the evening light. a neighbor came over and kinda aggressively asked what i was doing.
i think it's a combination of their personal experience data set of people doing something unknown almost always with ill intent, and very weak arts and culture education/community. in their minds, it's literally more likely that someone using a camera near them is out to *get* them somehow than that they are simply doing a creative activity. and depending on their social circles, it could indeed be the case that there are more scammers and crooks than hobbyists and artists
>>4457264
have you heard of cops before? they don't exactly need a legitimate reason to harass people
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>>4457542
Photography isn't considered art by most of the world. At the most a normal person who has never listened to a jewish professor speak thinks photography is art if it involves portraiture, set design, traveling to specific locations, shooting city scenes, etc. Not snapping shit in their urban front lawn like an HOA inspector.
Intrusive, disrespectful photography like that, taken without permission, is distinctly jewish culture. Its founders are all jews. Its big names are all jews. Its exhibitors are all jews. From winogrand to cohen to gilden, it's an entire genre predicated on disrespecting, harrassing, and mocking non-jews.
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>>4457551
sure, it's natural for them to ask what i'm doing, but the default assumption that we are doing something sinister is really sad. it bums me out both because it sours my mood when i'm just trying to make a neat image and because it speaks to the cutthroat mindset people develop here. it implies that in their experience, strangers have been more often malicious than benign. that they always need to be on guard.
i myself can't think of any way shooting a garden could harm anyone. i haven't heard any objectors give a hypothetical way it could harm anyone. the closest i've heard is 'oh you look suspicious! people might think you're up to something'. what i could possibly be up to, they won't say. but still these people will treat you with ten times the suspicion i've seen anyone give their smart phone or amazon alexa or any terms and conditions agreement.
>>4457532
can confirm i have no idea what an actual bomb might look like
>>4457594
also grim
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>>4456713
get your toes wet. You've got take a dive and shove a camera in someones face and pull the shutter.
what you do next is entirely up to you. talk to them. smile/nod at them. ignore them. pretend you were taking a pic of something/someone else.
but the point is, even if you're a gigachad attractive type, you'll still feel shy to take a pic of someone doing something that they're not expecting to be photographed doing.
Only ugly people say "be attractive" because they think its the 'missing link'. Its like the fuji owner who says "if only i had full frame, my photos would be the shit" or a Sony user who says "if i had a leica, i'd be famous".
just excuses.
There's no substitute for overcoming the bone crippling anxiety associated with photographing strangers than just pulling the damn trigger.
and you'll do it, and you'll see your pics, and hate them. they'll suck. because they're not frame right, or they're not close enough. and sooner or later, you'll start to hone in on each little area of improvement.
Before long, (or maybe a super long time, who knows), you'll be gliding over to take people's pics like some social butterfly, or violently shoving a camera in peoples' face to get the shot you want.
Your style will be your style. how you get there is up to you. Just do what you have to do. pull the fucking trigger at people.
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>>4457550
yeah but they don't. this is the stupidity of humans. they'll harass a 20 year old with a massive DSLR who is not hiding the fact he/she is taking a photo, but not worry about the guy jerkin' his gherkin' to you on CCTV to pass his time.
people are idiots.
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>>4456713
If that fancy camera you have is a nikon z8 or some big ass shit then sell it and get yourself a nice compact body like the snoy a6700/a7c2 or some fujis. big ass fancy cameras are unironically bad for street photography especially if you're an inexperienced introvert because it puts huge pressure on you and make the subjects view you as a threat. People just generally don't like having some big ass fancy cameras shoved in their faces. Dont get leicas either people will think you're a faggot
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If you're not filling the frame at 20mm then you aren't close enough.
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Seriously, go shoot a motorsports event. Doesn't have to be Bonneville, but it's a start, these people are used to having cameras in their faces. They aren't going to give you any shit and if you're like me they will ask you for a copy afterward, I have like 10 drivers I have to send pictures off to, all paid work.
You don't even need a press pass. Just show up, what's the worst that's going to happen? You mean to tell me a fat sweaty ham planet standing out in the 105*F desert with 4 cameras orbiting his fuckin gut is going to out-street all of 4chan? There aren't even any streets out there.
Just get out and do it, you don't need to be attractive that's bullshit, you think Henri Cartier-Bresson was knocking down broads with his Leica III? Shit, the classics did it and you can do, shit's not hard.
Theft? Stay out of brown town. Social anxiety? What are they going to do, dox you and call your employer and get you fired? Call the police? You're protected under the 1st Amendment, tell them to suck your dick. Are there any signs saying you can't take pictures? Fuck em! Damage? Speak softly and carry a bigger stick. Wear a strap, don't be a tourist.
You got this OP, get out there and do it.
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>>4459847
that's definitely some shit a gearfag would say, I know 5 gearfags on this board and I'm like 3 of them.
equipment isn't going to help, the classics all shot on Leica IIIs full mechanical, film and slow f3.5 50mm lenses, maybe an f2.8 35mm. if equipment is your limitation then just use your cell phone camera. you can't buy your way into talent.
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for some reason, i hate it when people take pictures, so i take spite pictures of them
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>>4459995
It was a pretty view with the sun begining to show through the rain, but I was being dragged along on a walk.
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How about this technique
>enable silent mode
>see your subject appeoaching
>point your camera, not at them, but at a backdrop you expect your subject to cross in front of you momentarily
>pretend to be shooting or adjusting camera
>actually take the photo when subject is in your frame
>hold your camera at that position for slightly longer until the subject has passed far enough
It makes it look like you're not actually photographing them but something else in the background
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>>4462071
Kind of a cop out, and reduces the ability to get a good shot. Can't react to a good moment, can't line something up on purpose without relying on the subject to be predictable.
The real hot tip is learn how to fight.
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>How do I get over the fear of using my camera in public?
You just have to recognise that literally nobody gives a single fuck about what you're doing. They've all seen cameras before. No one cares. I've set up a tall tripod in the middle of Soho, surrounded by thousands of drunk people, at night, and nobody gave a shit. Now in fairness, I'm six foot six, with a dick thicker than your sisters wrist, smell like cabbage, and I could punch the skin off of a rhino, but that doesn't mean you have any excuse to be a pussy.
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>>4459941
Basically this, just rig out your camera and get a big glass lens and everyone will love you, especially hot chix.
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>>4467594
>Become him
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Why is it always some schizophrenic asshole that confronts me when I take photos? I'd have pepper sprayed the motherfucker if I hadn't wrecked my hip getting comfortable in a bad chair. Should have brought a gun instead. I hate running.
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>>4467597
>That trigger discipline
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>>4456713
A bag that you can easily take it out and put it back. Nothing worse than having to gear up for like 3 minutes and walk around with brightly coloured default branded neckstrap with it bumbling and smacking you all day. Keep that shit in your sling bag, and pull it out when you actually want to take a photo. If you're in 'the spot' keep it out for a while. But if you're walking from Point A to Point B put that shit away.
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>>4457706
>can confirm i have no idea what an actual bomb might look like
Like a bunch of used diapers with shit and piss stains all over them, wrapped in two grocery bags of the most popular supermarket chain around and left right outside some transport hub.
At the corner of a busy street thousands of people have to use everyday to reach said hub, which is pretty dirty by itself cause you know what major transport hubs are like.
At best, the terminal itself is clean and well-guarded.
All of this to ensure that everyone will ignore it until it goes off, dealing maximum damage possible.
In other words, it's nigh impossible to tell whether something is a bomb or not.
No one fucking carries just the device itself around.
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I went to the local park, I felt embarrassed, and stupid, and my face was hot. I felt like an idiot setting up my camera. I then started taking pictures, and still felt foolish. But the more I did it, as cars passed by and so did people, I realized nobody gives a shit. Now I am comfortable with it.
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>>4456713
Wear sunglasses. I can stand people looking at me funny but it's when there's actual direct eye contact with other people that my morale starts faltering. Also, like someone else said, it's much easier when you know you're a tourist.
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In the grand scheme of things, you're just a dot among billions of dots inside a pale blue dot. When you die, do you want to look back and think "I wish I'd taken those photos instead of worrying about other random fucks think about what I'm doing"?
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>>4456713
to people who are too afraid to use their camera in public I always say this : get in a habit of taking all of your clothes off in crowded settings. There is going to be enough people that nobody notices what you are doing. You can to this once a week, even twice a week if you've got the time. Once your dick/titties start feeling cold you can put back everything and continue your day.
After about six months of doing this pulling your camera out in public should be a no brainer
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Want a cheatcode? Wear hi-vis. Grab a hi-vis yellow shirt, hoodie, or even a vest. Bonus pints if you get a few dirt or grease stains on it. People are so conditioned to ignore anyone wearing hivis that its basically urban camouflage.
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I'm practically a bit new at photography myself.
I sometimes struggle with this even though I know in my mind nobody really gives a fuck.
I'm unattractive, skinnyfat and not exactly a looker. But it's only when my hair is really unkempt that I seem like a threat to anyone. Recently I had to visit a friend and her neighbor thought I was a rapist. She was following every anti-rapist rule in the book. Kinda bummed me out.
Anyways I never try to focus or point at anyone directly. I believe it's better to practically advertise that I'm using a camera rather than try to hide it from people. I try to hold the camera at a level that it's obvious that I'm holding a camera essentially, and that I'm taking pictures.
The results are that most of the time people don't give a fuck, once I got a few looks, once I captured plenty of people looking in my general direction because I decided to go for that rather than lose a shot. About once or twice I actually got asked to take a few pictures. So not everyone wants photographers (or people like me who are just getting into it I guess) to fuck themselves. It might seem like that because smartphones exist, and most people are retarded and think they replaced cameras completely. So it's not like everyone's walking around with a camera not attached to a phone.
It does however get much easier if you have company. I guess like almost anything really. You bring a friend and it's much easier to just pop out the camera and take pictures of fucking everything. But good luck with that thing, having friends.
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>>4456717
Personally, I am struggling with the same thing and it all started with me being raped. I’m not afraid to say it.
I drive a mobility scooter, and I was taking photos late at night and got invited to a party at an immigrant housing project and I don’t speak Somali so I thought they were all being friendly.
They carried me up the stairs, leaving my scooter in the lobby.
For the next several days, I was raped by multiple men, and I found out afterwards that they were renting me out for sex very cheap.
My mobility scooter was stolen, but I luckily got a new one.
After this, I was afraid of going out at night and started photographing at schools. Which got me into legal problems.
But I’m working on myself to get my confidence back.
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I noticed when taking pictures out there with some people around that they will just fuck off.
I'm pointing my camera at a building, a set of stairs, whatever the fuck, and all I will get is "whoops sorry I'll move out of the way".
Yesterday I was taking a picture of a random building and this cute lady just passed by quickly while crouching as if I would even give a fuck about accidentally taking a shot when all I'm doing is pointing at something that's not going to move.
For as much as I dread getting someone angry at me because I took a picture of them without my permission, I don't exactly like having people apologize to me for walking, I don't own the streets.
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>>4475841
I love taking photos of subjects with people around. I like to pretend I am focusing on a building above, then take a quick shot when I lower the camera to make sure I have people, and continue looking up for 2 seconds and move out.
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>>4456713
Easy mode is to go to areas with nice landscapes and take photos. Does not have to be touristy, can be off the beaten path if you want to maintain introvert levels. Some interstates even have pull offs on scenic routes where there are fantastic overlooks or nice scenes to photograph.
Too scared to leave home? Take moon photos via a tripod. Do night shots with long exposure times. Hook your camera up to a telescope.
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>>4457542
Stranger Danger training plus you were being a voyeur. Unless there is a literal Christmas light show at said home, you should NOT be outside photographing it, there is nothing interesting there. TV and media have conditioned Americans to think you are a bad boi and need a cop-based spanking for doing that, you are clearly a gang member casing the joint to rob it for taking pics.
Plus social media is chock full of people shaming others for mundane crap. Camera out = social media whore.
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>>4494726
>have DSLR
>trying to do street but people part like the sea because they think they're getting in the way of my photos
>have to pretend i got the photo of whatever is directly infront of me so they'll actually keep walking
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>>4456736
>be attractive
No anon, you only need to not look like a creep or autistic retard. Walk around normally with decent clothes and a camera, and smile back when people react positively to the novelty of having a camera pointed in their general direction. That's it.
I admit I'm a semi-retarded beginner but that works for me regardless of gear. Last week I had tons of cool little interactions with people after taking their pictures, including cute women, they know you're a photographer if you act as a photographer.
>>4475841
I find zone focusing to be alright if you're not a leica 1/1000 powerwalking autismo, you stop, look at the viewfinder and quickly fine tune focus, bam, quick enough to avoid reactions. Or just look retarded and stick around for half a minute fiddling with your camera until avoiding you is too much of an inconvenience, I think that works too. I don't like doing >>4482890 because it feels dishonest and makes you look like a creep instantly.
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>>4494903
I live in a really big city, so there's no way they don't see big cameras on the street. Maybe people here just don't like their photo being taken or something, I don't know, but anyone non-tourist looking just seems to dodge cameras.