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How to get over your fear and approach strangers to photograph them

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No matter how many times this subject comes up, it’s always extremely uncomfortable for a great many photographers to approach people in the street. Whether it’s the feeling of being perceived as weird or simply being rejected, a lot of people are afraid to just walk up to people and say “Hey, can I make your portrait?”.

It’s something that photographer Jamie Windsor‘s struggled with, but he’s determined to get over it. So, he reached out to fellow photographer and YouTuber, Pablo Strong, to ask for some help to get over that fear and learn how to approach people in the street.

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Is it okay for street photographers to take photos of private messages?

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This week Business Insider ran a story that covered images taken by a street photographer, of people’s private phone messages. That photographer was the highly respected Jeff Mermelstein, someone who has a long list of celebrated work. Whilst all images were taken in public places, they do contain a level information that the subjects may not want the world to know about. Whilst no law has been broken, it could be argued that this is a lack of respect for a person’s privacy, raising the question – is it okay to photograph people’s private messages?

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The GDPR – how bad is it for photographers?

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The EU has a new data protection law, the so-called GDPR, the General Data Protection Regulation, or as we Germans like to call it: “Datenschutzgrundverordnung” (Gesundheit!). The rules took effect on May 25th and so far it’s pretty chaotic: in the EU we cannot reach some newspapers in the outside world because they cannot comply with the new rules.

A guy in Austria is using the law to file $8.8 billion dollar lawsuits against Facebook and Google. Hundreds of bloggers have taken down their sites, fearful of the possibility of serious fines. Internet light bulbs have stopped working properly. And photographers are being targeted, too.

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Take your night street photography to the next level with these helpful tips

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Night street photography presents a lot of technical challenges that some photographers avoid it altogether. However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t push yourself and try it at all. Remember that anything is possible with the right mindset… and the correct settings. In this Pierre T. Lambert‘s latest video, he shows you a few tips to increase your chances of getting killer street shots at night.

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How to approach strangers on the street to shoot portraits or video

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Street photography is a weird genre of photography. So many want to try it, but they’re afraid. Afraid of rejection and potentially hostile reactions. There are two schools of thought when photographing people in the street. The first is to just shoot, and worry about consequences later. Legally, that’s fine in many parts of the world. The latter is to obtain permission first and then shoot the photo.

There is the argument that asking takes away the spontaneity. What you saw and wanted to photograph ceases to exist. But it becomes something else. A street portrait. That, too, can be a great thing. In this video, photographer Jim Rogalski shows us how he approaches strangers in the street, even in other countries where there are significant language problems.

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These street photos perfectly illustrate what the Decisive Moment is

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Sometimes, a great photo is all about the Decisive Moment. In his work, Oslo-based photographer Pau Buscató illustrates exactly what it means. He takes photos in the streets of different cities, capturing amazing, once-in-a-lifetime coincidences. With a great eye for details and perfect timing, Pau creates amusing photos you don’t see every day.

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Photographer captures complete strangers as they connect in front of his lens

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Have you ever asked a complete stranger to take their photo? Have you ever felt connected with someone you’ve never seen before? It can be strange, right? New York-based photographer Richard Renaldi focuses his project Touching Strangers around these situations.

Richard finds random strangers in the streets and poses them like they’re family, friends or even partners. The result is an incredible series of photos which shows the connection we can form with others even though we’ve just met.

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Kai’s top reasons why 40mm is the ultimate lens for street photography

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What is the best street photography lens? Is it 50mm, 35mm, or perhaps 28mm? Well, maybe it’s something in between. In this video, Kai Wong grabs a 40mm pancake lens and hits the streets on Pancake Day. He gives you a few reasons why 40mm can be the best for street photography, so let’s see if you agree.

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Photographer captures amusing coincidences on the streets of New York

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For the past decade, photographer Jonathan Higbee has been photographing the streets of New York. In the chaos of the busy city, he manages to capture the fleeting moments of perfect coincidences. Thanks to his keen eye for these moments, he has created a series of photos that show fantastic and amusing coincidences.

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