Out In The Street

A member of The F-Stop Gang (see FOL post of June 11) has agreed to write a guest post today. I can vouch for the fact that she knows of what she speaks! Her street photos are to die for! Here is a word from Michelle Yacavello:

I'm a city girl who loves street photography. I can spend hours upon hours walking around a neighborhood, capturing images of people, places and things, but it's the people who interest me the most. Sometimes I use my trusted telephoto lens so that I can zoom in from across the park, and other times, it'll be my nifty-fifty. I often approach my subject and ask if it would be OK to take their picture. Most of the time people enjoy engaging in a quick conversation to find out what about them interests me.

I don't look for anything in particular but - Oh, what I find when I'm aware of my surroundings -   great hair, shoes and artistic tattoos! I take only one or two shots, since I don't want to interrupt what they were in the middle of doing.  If I like what I see, I'll show them the image on the back of my camera and offer to e-mail them a copy.  After exchanging information, we both go on our way.  Sometimes I'll hear my phone ding a minute later announcing a message and it will be my newest friend asking me to send the photo.

Helpful hints when approaching people:  Be confident in your photography. If you see someone interesting, go right up and introduce yourself. Tell them what attracted you to them and ask if you can take a quick photograph. Not quite there yet? Then look for street musicians, performers, etc. In that case, carry a few bills and make a donation so you can take as many shots as needed.  If you offer to send a jpeg, make sure you do it. Carry business cards. If you're not a pro, a calling card is perfect. You can find inexpensive cards on Vistaprint at www.Vistaprint.com . If you have a little money to spare, I love moo at http://us.moo.com/products/business-cards.html, where you can create custom cards with your own images.

Step out of your comfort zone! You'll be surprised how much fun you can have if you push your limits!

{See, I told you she's great, and I always have fun shooting with her! You can see some more of Michelle's work at:    http://www.flickr.com/photos/myacovello/ Try making your own people connections and post them in our Flickr pool, marked for our monthly theme.}