I love photography.  The 20 GB of photos I have taken, are enough prove that. Yet I am still an amateur, who manages to get a good shot or two once in a while. I shoot all kinds of different things, landscapes, architecture, streets and yes random people that I notice. In fact, getting a good candid shot is such a thrill, I enjoy taking them for that sake alone. I have seen discussions at Flickr and articles posted online stating that in some countries ( UK for example ) one can get in trouble for shooting random people on the street ( in the mall, at the beach ) without their prior consent. To me that seems like a very odd thing to do, even if a friend of mine once told me that he always asks for permissions when taking photos. He even states that usually people are quite happy and even pose; which I find, is a big turn off for me. I feel that all the fun is taken away and the photographs then cease being natural. A good essay by John Watson in Photodoto titled “Do you hate it when people say “cheese”?“  really illustrates my beliefs on the subject.

Now while traveling, it’s quite natural to take photos of the “locals” as those shots really tend to preserve the atmosphere. Here I would like to present a quote by Scott Kelby, a favorite photographer of mine :

“…The next time you pick up a travel magazine, take a look at what’s in the photos they publish. I can save you the trouble. Their travel photos have two main people themes: old people and children. Now, when I say old people, I don’t mean people in their late 50s. I mean really old people, and by that I specifically mean old, wrinkly, craggy-looking women whose skin looks like shoe leather, and old, hobby, crusty men with a cane wearing hats that haven’t been washed since the Korean War. As for kids, the younger the better (but skip the babies)…”

What about you? Do you think that asking people before taking a shot is the way to go?

There are many sites in which you can find tips about getting a good candid shots. Just a few examples are the article in Sublime Light - 12 Surefire Tips for better candid photographs and the 11 tips at the Digital Photography School. Following those tips you can learn quite a lot, but it’s always better to just get out there and start snapping. By the way, one can even find  some fancy tools like Etsumi Display mirror for extended flexibility when taking candid shots ( my own camera has a  swivel LCD so I don’t really need it).