GETTING COMFORTABLE PHOTOGRAPHING STRANGERS
Find a few good settings for street photography techniques.
[You will have to modify/adapt this assignment during Covid19. If you can photograph strangers, do so, otherwise try to get people you know. Even if you have a small set, try to be inventive. You may also postpone this assignment to The week of Thanksgiving if you choose to use family members]
In street photography, often the fear of rejection is worse than the rejection itself, so practice asking, and practice dealing with rejection. To build your confidence, try the “5 yes, 5 no” challenge. Approach a bunch of strangers and ask for permission to make their portrait. (Also offer to send them a copy of the photo if they are willing to give you contact info). You have to keep asking until you get 5 people to say “yes” and 5 people to say “no.” You will discover it is harder to get a “no” than a “yes”. If you’ve got all 5 “yes’s” but not 5 “no’s” — you need to purposefully go out and look for the scariest people you think will say “no.”
Also try to frame your photos in different ways–POV, angle, subject (just feet?). Try to vary your techniques. Bring all photos to class for review/discussion. Take risks, don’t be afraid to create unusual or even ‘bad’ photos in an attempt to learn something or be creative. Your task is not perfection, but experimentation & learning.
Basic Camera Settings:
- Focus mode Servo (or Continuous if moving)
Setting the camera to Servo or Continuous focusing mode will allow you to capture moving and static subjects effectively. - Shutter speed 1/125sec or faster
- Aperture f/5.6 to blur the background (typical portrait); or f/22+ if you need to capture the setting behind the person
- ISO 100-400 outdoors
- Lens 50-90 is ideal for portraits
- Drive mode Single or Continuous
- White balance Auto
Purpose:
The purpose of this assignment is to help you develop courage & face rejection. In life, photography, and everything else — we are slaves of fear. This will help you face your fear head-on.
Uploading photos:
- Use jpg image (use Lightroom export with Web preset)
- Max image size for length or width= 1024 px;
- Max file size = 500K
- Max resolution 72dpi
Post settings:
- Post Title: Project6_FirstL ( First=first name, L=last name initial)
- Post format: Standard
- Post category: Project 6