Dean Bradshaw

Photographing People: Just do it!

Posted by Dean Bradshaw | Filed under People Photography, Techniques, Travel Photography

Photographing People – Strangers – People who aren’t models.

This is probably one of the biggest hurdles many photographers find themselves having to face, especially those interested in pursuing travel photography, photojournalism or street photography.

I don’t profess to be an expert in the subject, but I am fascinated by the topic and over a series of blog posts, I will endeavor to offer what I have learnt about shooting strangers, particularly in a travel context, after a reasonable amount of time spent photographing people in Africa and Southeast Asia.

My first piece of advice, and probably the most valuable is: “Just do it”

Yes, there are many profound lessons to be learnt from Nike’s well known slogan!

Seriously though, doing rather than thinking about doing is often one of the keys to success, in any field now that I think about it, but also in photographing strangers. Getting outside one’s comfort zone is probably the biggest barrier one needs to overcome in photographing people. Don’t worry, the more you do it, the easier it will become.

Tags: people photography, portrait, technique, Travel Photography