Parishioner, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Fujifilm X-H2, Fujinon XF8-16mm f2.8 R LM WR, f8 @ 1/5 second, ISO 800
Not all of us are gregarious and full of confidence as we travel the world. The idea of walking up to a complete stranger and sticking a camera in their face is positively frightening – not to mention invasive for the poor person on the other side of the lens.
Photographing people is an important component of most travelogues. Sure, a trip to Antarctica might be all about penguins and seals, but for locations like Bhutan or Uganda, it’s the human interaction that really defines the trip. A strong travel portfolio generally needs some people photos.
I confess that I am not a fan of walking up to someone and sticking a camera in their face, but it depends on the circumstances. Unfortunately, shooting from the other side of the road can make a photograph that’s more like a street scene with people, rather than a portrait. However, at least we have the human element which shows facial features and clothing choices which are, hopefully, authentic to the location.
Somewhere in between these approaches is the idea of ‘shooting from the hip’. Many of the 20th century documentary photographers used this technique, at least from time to time. The idea is simple. As soon as you put your camera up to your eye (or hold it out in front of you), everyone knows you’re taking a photograph (although you might also be taking a selfie if you’re using your phone). So, if you don’t want people to know you’re taking photographs, don’t put the camera up to your eye and shoot from the hip.
This is easier said than done because we’re shooting blind. For instance, how do you frame your subject? Solution: use a wide-angle lens. How do you fill the frame? Solution: get in close to your subject. What if the camera angle is crooked or looking up your subject’s nose? Solution: accept that this is a different style of photography and embrace the haphazard results. Or maybe you can use perspective control to fix things…
With automatic exposure and focusing, it’s amazing how many of your photos will come back sharp and properly exposed, but it will take some practice to get the camera angle just right. But this is what the old masters did: practise. And we have the advantage of being able to take dozens of photos with a fast frame rate, improving our odds for success.
A quick question about your camera: when you take a photograph, does it make a lot of noise? If you are in a quiet location, like a church, then even a tiny shutter noise can sound like a drum kit and give the game away. In a busy, noisy market, almost any camera will work.
This photograph was taken from the hip as I walked past the lady reading her book. I didn’t feel I should intrude on her personal space, but on the other hand, I loved her position below the painting and the light from the stained glass windows. So using a very wide setting on my zoom, I squeezed the shutter three times as I slowly walked past her, my head looking the other way, but hopefully my camera pointing in the right direction.
The resulting image had all the information, but the perspective of the surroundings was awry, so using the perspective control or transform tools, I was able to create a more considered composition.