3.22.2009

unaware

i took this picture of a complete stranger at the airport while waiting for some friends to arrive back from vacation. i liked how this reader sat absorbed in the news—hardly looking up to notice everything going on around him, even at one of the busiest airports in the world. so of course, i grabbed my camera and zoomed in to capture a shot. he was oblivious to my watchful eye as well my camera. it's fun to take people pictures when they don't know their photo is being taken. i played a little with the blur filter in Photoshop to get the affect. the result got a thumbs up from me.

this a first for me. i don't go around taking pictures of people i don't know. there have been many times when i wanted to ask someone if i could take their picture, because the person {or the person in their surroundings} is just so picture perfect. but i have not yet. i only felt comfortable in this case because i used my zoom lens, and i was not right in his face. plus, i feel like it is a subtle enough photo that you can not identify the person, so i felt that it was too intrusive.

what about you? do you ever take pictures of strangers? do you ask first if you do?

7 comments:

Char said...

depends...sometimes I do but one time I got a sermon from this beautiful woman about the commandment about "no graven images". it freaked me out. and sometimes if you ask, it breaks what you wanted to photograph.

Anonymous said...

I am so impressed. I want to complete the 100 strangers project but I need to grow some courage. This shot is amazing and has inspired me.

spread your wings said...

i like this photograph.
i see interesting people all the time that i wish i had courage to photograph or to ask if they minded but like Char said that could ruin the moment.
for fun i bought my daughter a spy lens that lets you take photos of people without them realizing it, but I don't think she's used it yet.

beth said...

ummm....my answer would be in my most recent post...I think you'll like it !!!

and which zoom lens do you have ?

Haphazardkat said...

I have a hard time photographing strangers. I feel its a personal intrusion...yet like you, I have often wished I was braver and had snapped a pic of a stranger sitting in a perfect setting.
I find people fascinating. :)

Sherah said...

Once Marty and I were playing around at the Bean in Millenium Park. A cute little boy was making funny faces at his reflection; he saw Marty's camera and started doing these really cute, exaggerated poses. Marty starts taking pictures of the little guy, and I'm looking around, wondering where his parents are. Suddenly, this big, burly, severe-looking man walks up and says something to the little boy. It was his dad, and I thought he was going to smash the camera over Marty's head. But then Marty showed him the pictures on the back of the camera, and both little boy and dad start laughing like crazy.

I, on the other hand, am not that brave :)

Anonymous said...

Strangers are hard for me too. Usually I just try to look like a tourist that's taking pictures of everything and hopefully they won't notice me when I aim it right at them. I've only asked a stranger if I could take their picture once - and it was a little boy who was handing out flyers downtown. I'm a chicken when it comes to adults.

Actually, I think it's better if the person isn't completely identifiable. What if it's an awesome shot and you want to submit it to a contest or getty images or a coffee table book collection? You'd have to have a model release for that person and good luck finding that stranger twice!

This is a FANTASIC shot and I love what you did with the blur. The whole composition is right on.