People in Zaandam

blond woman on the phone

Apart from pattern we also shot people last Friday in Zaandam. I started doing that after we showed each other our pattern photos. During coffee we had discussed a little about how to go about this. Some of us (me) are too shy to pull out a camera in front of somebody, one of us didn't seem to have a problem with that and most of the time she gets away with it.

boy putting in earplugs

Shooting pattern is safe in the sense that pattern doesn't walk away, it doesn't look you in the eyes or move away from you when you want to snap a shot.

tourists taking pictures of each other

What helped me this day was to stand still in one place and to just look around to see what people were doing, what and who I connected with and to just leisurely take a photo. A lot of times people are just too busy with themselves or with each other to take notice of me.

father and son fooling around

Taking photos of other people shouldn't be aggressive, you should respect the other person's privacy and space. It should be fun and relaxed. 

mother and girl on elevator

I also noticed that it makes a difference what kind of camera you are working with: a big black box with a long lens which you hold in front of your face or a pocket camera/cell phone. The first camera makes it a very serious matter and half the photographer's face is hidden behind this black box which makes it hard for the subject(s) to make contact with the photographer.

man on bridge in telephone conversation

In Zaandam I had my DLSR on me, so that is rather large in size. I tried to photograph people from different angles except from direct up front. I photographed them from above, from the side and the back just to get myself more familiar with this matter.

Natacha's hands

young family

three men on a bench

professional photo shoot

woman with blue scarf taking a photo

young couple embracing

It was very interesting and instructive to practice with this and it makes a lot easier when I am relaxed myself and not so eager to take that shot. There are infinite perceptions.
See also Pattern in Zaandam.