Help With Street Photography

Hello fellow members,
Sunday I'm going to Antwerp and they have a market there during the time I'm there and I would like to take some photos but I've no idea how to do it so please help me.

You can see my kit on the bottom of this message so give me a suggestion, I myself was thinking on using the DA 40mm Ltd and shooting from my chest since everyone notice a camera when it is to your eyes and I want some candid shots.

Going totally the other way. If you used the 18-250 you could be far enough away for the subject not to notice the camera.

Hi Anvh the only lens you will need is the 18-250 I love it is so versatile you will not need anything else and takes great quality photos.

Maybe Barrie, the problem is that I'm not alone on the market so i don't know if i can take enough distance so that he doesn't notice me.
Don't take shooting from the waist too serious, I would take some shots like that and then bring it up to my eyes to make sure i can frame the shot perfectly. I've 8GB card and a 2GB so I can make some shots

btw I prefer primes but if you think that really isn't an option I need to lay myself by it

To be honest John I'm thinking of selling the lens, it just doesn't fit me.
It's also going to rain this sunday so don't think that f/5.6 is good enough

I agree that telephoto is a good way of doing it. Even 100mm can be enough to get candid shots if you're crafty enough, and the D-FA 100 can give a shallow depth of field.

The 40mm at chest height is a good idea, but you'll get a lot of misframed shots without Live View!

People will notice you, but may not realise that they are going to be your subject. It's all about timing and body language. Basicaly, you wait unil they are distracted by something else.

Thank you Pete, I take all the lenses with me except the 18-55 since i'm going to the port of Antwerpen also. If it doesn't work I can always switch lenses.

If it isn't that busy (it's going to rain afterall) i should be able to take more distance without people walking infront of me, that was my main concern with using a tele lens.

Ok, to be really honest, you have the ideal tool, which is the 40 and anyone who suggests that a long lens is welcome or necessary just doesn't get it. You cannot use the 40 'at my chest' - it is too tight and anyway you would be just mucking about. You are a photographer so get on with the business of making photographs.

Street photography requires a personal honesty which means being at the centre of things. Look at all the great 'street' photography of the 20th century and you will see that most of it was made with a simple camera and a standard lens, usually a Leica and a 50mm lens.

There is, however, an enormous difference between using a rangefinder camera and an SLR, the viewfinder of the RF camera shows more than the captured image and, in a sense, places you at the centre of things. The SLR on the other hand, is like watching events on TV.

Your 40mm is incredibly discrete, get in close and be sympathetic. You cannot make great photographs by hiding blocks away with a 250mm lens. Ask people if you can take their picture, this might seem hard but for the most part people will aquiesce - no one wants to pass unnoticed!

I have shown pictures on this forum where I asked people with, IMO, distasteful views to pose in the street and there was, from certain folk around here, tremendous hostility.

Make pictures which challenge! Make pictures wich change! Have something to say that might make change!

Ken

I think the trick is to look like you should be doing whatever it is that you are doing including taking someone's photograph. I can't do it but the good street photographers seem to.

A friend just goes up to perfect strangers and asks to take their photograph and gets away with it as well taking candids. He's a smooth talking devil and big too which might avoid being thumped.

When I used to do this when I was 30 years younger I would just wait, raise the camera, shoot and then move on to appear to frame another shot. But you won't use AF that way and I was using a pre focussed range finder. Shooting from the waist never worked for me and the longest lens I had was a 90mm on a full frame which is a bit longer than your 40. If the lens is too long then you'll find people get in the way and the perspective robs you of any intimacy which is key to good street shots (IMO). Cartier Bresson used a 35mm on full frame I believe.

I am trying to get my confidence back to do this again but it's not easy but I'm sure the trick is to look like you're just getting on with what you do. I didn't have the courage to take an excellent photo of an old lady looking out from a hairdresser's window this afternoon through lack of confidence. To be fair she was looking right at me and we made eye contact.

Mike

EDIT: Ken beat me to it with his excellent advice!

I would agree with 'Gartmore', but suggest you take the 18-55mm too.

I still feel this lens is under-rated.

It will give you a good range for street - shots, get in close at 18mm and take a step back for 55mm

I get that a 100 or 135mm lens helps pick out interesting subjects without getting in people's faces.

I do appreciate that a lot of great street photography is done with short lenses, but that's not the only sort.

I don't see how "Ask people if you can take their picture" and "to pose in the street" fits in with Stefans "I want some candid shots"

Take the 40, have it set on hyperfocal, so you don't have to have people waiting for you to take a picture, and have fun. Set on hyperfocal, you can take a picture in a hurry if something interesting shows up. And don't be afraid to ask people if you can take their picture. Most of them will say yes. For those who say "no", don't argue and just move on. Trying to be sneaky is the best way for somebody to send the police after you. But, if a once in a lifetime shot is showing up, just bring the camera up and shoot. Have fun.

Thank you all for your great advice, certainly Ken & Mike.

Since it is on a market I'm sure that people have other things to do then to pose for the camera. I might ask if I've the courage, i'm almost sure most will pose but after that they will go on with their thing and then i can get some candids, hopefully this works...
I really hate being at the center of attension

If someone have some photos taken at a market, please show them so that I can get some ideas on how and what. pictures say more then a thousands words they say so that would be helpfull.

I'm going to try everything out and I'm quite sure I'll have more questions afterwards since I'm going to Brussel the sunday after that

Stefan How did you get on in the market?