Photographing in public & feeling like an idiot

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nathanp

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I'm just wondering, when out taking photographs, do other people suffer from feeling like a bit of a fool? I'm realising that I get quite embarrassed if people see me taking photos - especially if it's of something not widely thought of as being photogenic ("Why is that fool photgraphing a drain cover?").
Also, I've read a lot about people preferring rangefinders as they're more subtle/less imposing than an SLR but I think I feel the opposite - I'd imagine that people seeing someone with an SLR would think "photographer", as opposed to just wondering what you're doing with a small compact type camera.

I know deep down that I worry too much and that most people don't notice or care about people taking photos of drains etc but the embarrassment has prevented me even getting a camera out of my pocket on a lot of occassions. Does anyone else here miss shots for similar reasons?

(Just to clarify, I'm not talking about having the confidence to photograph people close-up in the street, I mean just photographing things like interesting architectural details etc)
 
Why would you care really.. if you feel like taking a picture of something and you're not running the risk of getting arrested for taking telelens photos of government buildings, then who cares what others think.
 
nathanp said:
I'm just wondering, when out taking photographs, do other people suffer from feeling like a bit of a fool? I'm realising that I get quite embarrassed if people see me taking photos - especially if it's of something not widely thought of as being photogenic ("Why is that fool photgraphing a drain cover?").
Also, I've read a lot about people preferring rangefinders as they're more subtle/less imposing than an SLR but I think I feel the opposite - I'd imagine that people seeing someone with an SLR would think "photographer", as opposed to just wondering what you're doing with a small compact type camera.

I know deep down that I worry too much and that most people don't notice or care about people taking photos of drains etc but the embarrassment has prevented me even getting a camera out of my pocket on a lot of occassions. Does anyone else here miss shots for similar reasons?

(Just to clarify, I'm not talking about having the confidence to photograph people close-up in the street, I mean just photographing things like interesting architectural details etc)
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I think you're are being rather sensitive -- but if you weren't you probably wouldn't want to take a photograph in the first place.
 
I never feel like a fool when I'm out with a camera, although I do tend to feel sorry for the photographers I spot trying to sneak a shot of me while I'm at it.
 
I think you're right about the camera choice ... an expensive rangefinder can look like a toy to a lot of people whereas a DSLR shouts "photographer!"

I watched a video of Daido Noriyaki doing his thing in the streets of Japan with his little Ricoh. I got the impression his approach would be exactly the same with any camera he used ... not at all self conscious!

I have to admit I'm also not particularly comfortable photographing in public places if people are watching me!
 
It's like anything else - feel like an idiot long enough, and you get used to it :)

And most people don't think you are an idiot. They either don't care what you are doing or find it fascinating. You become an "artist" or "photographer," rather than an idiot.
 
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take your camera out wherever you like!
as said above: who cares if 1 or 2 out of 200 complete strangers might give you a weird look. and if they start asking stupid questions just give stupid answers. :D
 
Double Negative said:
I don't know them. They don't know me. And chances are we'll never meet again... So who cares?
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I can use that argument when I'm away from home but living in a small-town, almost rural type place makes it a bit harder. If I spend a day shopping in the nearest town, I'll usually bump into a few people I know. The other issue is that I don't get much time to go out specifically to take photos - If I go out in my lunchbreaks from work there are always a lot of other work-people around.

I know really that the answer is to push through it and force myself to take pictures regardless. Eventually I'm sure I'll worry less & less about other people.
 
I found a good method is to carry the camera with a neck-strap so that everybody can see easily it. Doing it all the time (I never leave my home without a camera around my neck) will let you forget at some point that you carry a camera and taking a photo will just be lifting it to the eye and taking the shot. It becomes second nature and you won`t worry about other people`s reaction to you taking a photo any more. Only important thing is to carry a camera every time and everywhere.
 
Keith said:
I watched a video of Daido Noriyaki doing his thing in the streets of Japan with his little Ricoh. I got the impression his approach would be exactly the same with any camera he used ... not at all self conscious!
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Daido Moriyama ?
 
I watched a video of Daido Noriyaki doing his thing in the streets of Japan with his little Ricoh. I got the impression his approach would be exactly the same with any camera he used ... not at all self conscious!
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I think you mean Daido Moriyama (or even Nobuyoshi Araki) but probably Daido
 
It's a wonderful thing to feel "in the zone", where you are so engrossed in your own thoughts and perceptions that you are completely unaware of what others are thinking. (But of course, you can't live there.)
 
Keith said:
I think you're right about the camera choice ... an expensive rangefinder can look like a toy to a lot of people whereas a DSLR shouts "photographer!"
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I went through a period where I used actual toys, kids cartoon character cameras in bright colors. Having one hanging from my wrist never bothered me and never seemed to bother others.
 
i almost every time feel like a idiot. it is from various reasons one example - when i am on holiday somewhere i always feel some kind of remorse - cause i am roaming around totally free taking useless shots nothing to worry about and people in that town in the same time have a lot of work to do and many worries to solve... i know it is stupid way of thinking since it is my holiday and in a few days i will get back to my usual job in my town and be equal with those people but still i cant help myself feeling like that.
 
nathanp said:
I can use that argument when I'm away from home but living in a small-town, almost rural type place makes it a bit harder. If I spend a day shopping in the nearest town, I'll usually bump into a few people I know. The other issue is that I don't get much time to go out specifically to take photos - If I go out in my lunchbreaks from work there are always a lot of other work-people around.

I know really that the answer is to push through it and force myself to take pictures regardless. Eventually I'm sure I'll worry less & less about other people.
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Select 10 best of the best your pictures, print it in small format and do a small exhibition on the street - bus stop, underground passage, the wall at central point of the city...
Put photos at night and change location of the exhibition every few days/weeks.

My friend did it some times ago. Four exhibitions. Last was posed portraits of strangers with title 'We'. Those strangers knew who did pictures and they authorized the work. Most people from the town loved these exhibitions. People like unkown happenings like "mysterious photographer". Really.
More courage, people like pictures.

Cheers.
 
I used to feel self conscious... it goes away in time if you just keep at it. I started out feeling weird about storm drains etc like you... then that went away, but I still felt weird about shooting people... now that's almost gone away. Next step is to start asking people if I can take their portrait on the street.

The only advice I can really give you is just to act like there's no reason in the world that you shouldn't be doing what you're doing. If you look dodgy and sneaky people will notice... you can't hide from all the people all the time... and then you'll get weird looks. It's the same principle shop lifters use... if you look dodgy you stick out like a sore thumb... but you can walk right out the front door with a TV under your arm if you just look like you're not doing anything wrong (I've seen this done when I worked at an electronics store) As soon as I started brazenly taking pictures of whatever I wanted the number of weird looks dropped dramatically... there will always be a few.

As for rangefinder vs DSLR I've had mixed results... with a DSLR people do assume "photographer" but I usually get asked "why are you taking pictures of X... or what are you going to do with the pictures" if I get asked anything at all. With a rangefinder people seem to assume "eccentric artist" and ask me more about the camera than what I'm shooting at... so choose which you'd rather be asked about :)

One thing I can recommend... the greatest tool in my whole photo bag... my iPod... even if I don't actually have it on, having earphones on cuts the number of people stopping to talk to me down to almost zero... just look like you're in your own little world and people leave you alone :)
 
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