How I took these candid portraits on the street...

[85mm]

I like to take candid portrait of strangers in the streets. I never ask them upfront and I also never have eye contact before I press the "trigger". This is really important as people will look different when they have seen you before. The best places are where people have to stand still. At traffic lights, bus stops, ...
You stand next to the person, point your camera at him, pre-focus and wait until they look into your camera. Then you press the button and make 2-3 photos in a row (series of photos). Since they will only look for a fraction of a second, you really have to get it. But as you have pre-focussed and you are prepared for it, this should be no problem. The only thing you have to have is balls, as not everyone likes to go that close. I normally work with a 50mm oder 85mm on a Nikon D7000 (crop 1.5) camera.

Here are some examples:


Cold Sweat... by 85mm.ch, on Flickr - Nikon D7000 - 85mm - f/4 - 1/640 - ISO 400


OO by 85mm.ch, on Flickr - Nikon D7000 - 85mm - f/4 - 1/400 - ISO 200


Power to the braves... by 85mm.ch, on Flickr - Nikon D90 - 50mm - f/3.2 - 1/250 - ISO 200


Candid... by 85mm.ch, on Flickr - Nikon D7000 - 50mm - f/4 - 1/320 - ISO 400

Maybe this is not something for everybody, but the look you get is amazing. Here are two videos I made on how it works:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eU8VU4Cdm0g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcAk07X2yiU

Best regards from Switzerland

Thomas Leuthard

85mm Street Photography
Website | Flickr | 500px

[FlyingKiwiGirl]

I'd like to see you try that in Seattle(along with many other places in the world I'm sure), you're likely to get your camera ripped out of your hands and be whopped over the head with it as well as being threatened until you deleted your images......as happened to my husband recently. He only had a point & shoot and wasn't the least bit interested in the people, more in the cityscape of Pioneer Square.

Great captures all the same, I wish I had the nerve.

[harish sutar]

Great candids..but I'll never take such risk..

[dj-dubai]

very good shot, and i like this shot you know man such a very nice shot we say old is gold

[3bayjunkie]

wow whats up with that mans teeth! that will be a famous photo someday

[Nesh108]

Nice pics, but I would not go around doing that, mostly because people might get pissed off; at the end you are stealing a pic even without any sort of discretion...

[Drolivas]

would you advice Tennis shoes as opposed to flip flops so you can run when they throw punches?

[yulchick]

Originally Posted by FlyingKiwiGirl

I'd like to see you try that in Seattle(along with many other places in the world I'm sure), you're likely to get your camera ripped out of your hands and be whopped over the head with it as well as being threatened until you deleted your images......as happened to my husband recently. He only had a point & shoot and wasn't the least bit interested in the people, more in the cityscape of Pioneer Square.

Great captures all the same, I wish I had the nerve.

Exactly my though here...I'd hate if someone just went up my face and snaped a shot without permission... but those are great, and I know that those are great because the people werent "posing" for the shot I'd never be able to do that

[momo911]

Brilliant work! I should invest in a 85mm too

[Glayva]

These are absolutely excellent. Yes, it does take nerve but the results are worth it. Very well done and thanks for sharing.