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Lens type vs social space acceptance for street photography?

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jh3rd

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Hello All

I've recently got myself an M9 (loving it) and due to lack of more funds have plumped for a Nokton 40 1.4 as I felt this would give me a good all round lens. Not too wide not too long. (as want to use it for both portrait & street photography.)

I also recently saw a funny photo of a bus que in Norway, where each person was a standing good 2 meters from each other as.

This got me thinking about me feeling uncomfortable even with a 40mm when taking street photos in my home town about being to close but having the nagging feeling that I should be using a 28mm and get "in close'!

My town is not New York where acceptable social space is probably cms vs Meters (hence a 28mm is perfect), so me trying to get 'up close' even with a 40mm feels weird where there are only a few people in the street. I'm now thinking of selling the 40 & getting a 50 & then later a 28 for when I'm in London where it feels ok about social space and getting 'up close'

Just wondered if anybody else had this experience and any thoughts.

Cheers
 
It may sound counter-intuitive, but the way to be invisible on the street is to be comfortable on the street. Know you have as much right to be there as the people you're photographing; not in an ego-driven, legal sense, but in a communal sense. Treat strangers like family, and they'll most likely treat you the same.

Being nervous generally kills the feeling, so I always try to start off a street expedition by engaging with someone. Converse with someone here, and those over there will be more receptive.

Finally, people doing something interesting usually understand why you want to photograph them. When starting out in street photography, it's best to avoid photographing people walking along in their own private world. (Those images aren't that interesting to view, anyway.) Your example of people standing so far away from one another at the bus-stop sounds like a very humorous event; I imagine they'd understand why their picture was being taken.
 
Thx Jeff

It's more to do with an open street with 1 or 2 people vs a busy crowded street than me being nervous.

Best
 
40mm will give you another good step back. Personally, I find 50mm much too tight to give the feeling of what else is going on. Most of my favourite shots were with 28 or 35 so your 40 will give you a bit more distance.

Try it, own it, love it ,use it!
 
It is an interesting thought! Like, if you sit down at a table with three English people, they spread themselves out as far as possible, but if you sit at a table with three Russians, they all crowd close to you.

Joe
 
Thats exactly it Joe. I wonder not only has it to do with cultural social differances but also enviromental social differances, i.e city crowd vs empty beach with 2 people on it. Hence why I ask about lens length and If that has something to do with where I live and the type of photography I want.
 
jh3rd said:
Hello All

I've recently got myself an M9 (loving it) and due to lack of more funds have plumped for a Nokton 40 1.4 as I felt this would give me a good all round lens. Not too wide not too long. (as want to use it for both portrait & street photography.)

I also recently saw a funny photo of a bus que in Norway, where each person was a standing good 2 meters from each other as.

This got me thinking about me feeling uncomfortable even with a 40mm when taking street photos in my home town about being to close but having the nagging feeling that I should be using a 28mm and get "in close'!

My town is not New York where acceptable social space is probably cms vs Meters (hence a 28mm is perfect), so me trying to get 'up close' even with a 40mm feels weird where there are only a few people in the street. I'm now thinking of selling the 40 & getting a 50 & then later a 28 for when I'm in London where it feels ok about social space and getting 'up close'

Just wondered if anybody else had this experience and any thoughts.

Cheers
Click to expand...
Interesting thoughts, but you seem to assume that when you get close to someone, you stay there for enough time for them to notice you. When you have a wide angle and you use zone focusing or you have prefocused on a specific distance, you can actually get close as you pass next to them, which then does not violate their space for enough time for them to notice (except of course if it is just you and them in the street :-) ). This is one technique you can use, but it will be a bit challenging with the 40mm.

here are a couple of examples (sorry I use my own photos, but I wanted to show you some examples):

https://flic.kr/p/hVBF75

https://flic.kr/p/hVBEHE

But, I think the most important thing is to decide what sort of images you want to take. Do you really want to be close to people and create this sense of being next to them? If yes, you need a wide angle and good or fast technique. If on the other hand, you want to have people as part of the environment you are photographing a 40/50mm will allow you to do that and be a bit further away.

Here is an example with a longer lens:

https://flic.kr/p/hVAbie
 
Daedalus2000 said:
jh3rd said:
Hello All

I've recently got myself an M9 (loving it) and due to lack of more funds have plumped for a Nokton 40 1.4 as I felt this would give me a good all round lens. Not too wide not too long. (as want to use it for both portrait & street photography.)

I also recently saw a funny photo of a bus que in Norway, where each person was a standing good 2 meters from each other as.

This got me thinking about me feeling uncomfortable even with a 40mm when taking street photos in my home town about being to close but having the nagging feeling that I should be using a 28mm and get "in close'!

My town is not New York where acceptable social space is probably cms vs Meters (hence a 28mm is perfect), so me trying to get 'up close' even with a 40mm feels weird where there are only a few people in the street. I'm now thinking of selling the 40 & getting a 50 & then later a 28 for when I'm in London where it feels ok about social space and getting 'up close'

Just wondered if anybody else had this experience and any thoughts.

Cheers
Click to expand...
Interesting thoughts, but you seem to assume that when you get close to someone, you stay there for enough time for them to notice you. When you have a wide angle and you use zone focusing or you have prefocused on a specific distance, you can actually get close as you pass next to them, which then does not violate their space for enough time for them to notice (except of course if it is just you and them in the street :-) ). This is one technique you can use, but it will be a bit challenging with the 40mm.

here are a couple of examples (sorry I use my own photos, but I wanted to show you some examples):

https://flic.kr/p/hVBF75

https://flic.kr/p/hVBEHE

But, I think the most important thing is to decide what sort of images you want to take. Do you really want to be close to people and create this sense of being next to them? If yes, you need a wide angle and good or fast technique. If on the other hand, you want to have people as part of the environment you are photographing a 40/50mm will allow you to do that and be a bit further away.

Here is an example with a longer lens:

https://flic.kr/p/hVAbie
Click to expand...
Thx for that Daedalus2000. I agree that zone focusing is a way to keep quick and out of being noticed (which I do need to improve!) but still like your picture seem to show, they are busy streets with you capturing a quick shot. Like the black and white shot, if it's just you and them (as in my town!) just walking past, taking a quick shot, and then moving on is rather awkward, hence a slightly longer lens.

Agree with you about 'what sort of images you want to take', hence why I might swap to a 50 & a 28. Cheers for the thoughts & links.
 
I personally have found the 28mm and the 50mm to be a comfortable pairing. I use the 50mm for just general mooching about, but when I'm feeling in a confident, get up close and in their face type of mood, the 28mm is my personal favourite. Sadly I don't always feel this way, so the 28mm doesn't get used as much as I would like, which would be all the time ideally. I have just got the fuji 56mm (84mm) f1.2 but have not yet used the lens. I think I will find that going longer will bring up lots more issues than going shorter, either way it can take one out of one's comfort zone, which can be a good thing sometimes.

Very best

Pc
 
Thx for that. Like the idea of 'warming up' and moving onto 28.

Also think as you move from social space to social space, i.e busy market to back street, then the same lens swap could apply.

Cheers
 
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