Photographing in crowds of people has never been my strongest point. Even though you can be pretty much unnoticeable and take shots of everything and anything, I still feel kind of too distracted by whatever is going on around me. Things are moving so fast, faces pass by in instants, noise, busy backgrounds.
You really need to be on top of your game to come away with something… Take a breath, get in the zone and keep your eyes peeled. Interesting things will happen, you just need to be ready and available.
On this sunny day I was out of my comfort zone and shooting among hundreds of people who gathered for the opening of a new big clothing shop. The queue of people stretched some 200 metres.
Graffiti artist, DJ and the Mayor of Montpellier were all present at the opening.
I didn’t stay long, maybe 40, 45 minutes. Shot around 30 images, picked these above as passable.
Thank you for checking this out!
actually this is my strong part – to shoot in masses ! 🙂
once when i called myself street photographer and shooted streets of TelAviv and Jerusalem every single weekend, i got usual and fast and today i use the same “street” technique when i shoot here and there during interesting events by request or just for my docu archive 🙂
and you’re very good at it! i think for me it also depends on few things too like: if i’m in a good mood, the light, the type of crowd/event but i try not to find excuses. The eye will lead the way
Exactly – my mood and type of crowd are most important for me. I sure you will get into this very fast !
And with my silent Fuji it will be a bit easier. Thanks my friend!
My pleasure !!
You hear the shutter click because you are listening for it. But in the city no-one hears a noisy shutter if they are not expecting to hear it. On the other hand a pretty camera is noticed. That’s my experience. I watched a guy the other day with a Leica M9 in the market doing the “pro-stance” over a puddle. I heard the shutter from over 5 metres away.
Yes i realise that i was aware of a noisy shutter. You’re right, in crowds nobody’s going to notice you however in other situations, i’d much prefer the silent shutter 🙂