Photographing people while traveling

[nkflyers2005]

Through reading this blog and many others, I see so many great pictures of people in other cultures all over the world. Some of them explain the technical side of the photo, but I rarely see any info on how one goes about getting pictures like these. Are they just taken as you see interesting looking photos? Do you try to talk to the people first? How do you overcome the language barriers in other countries when trying to get photos?

I am going on a few trips to Turkey and Thailand soon (and have been to a few other places already) and while I love getting photos of the local architecture, landscape, etc, I would love to get some of the people who live there.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[OsmosisStudios]

Originally Posted by nkflyers2005

Are they just taken as you see interesting looking photos? Do you try to talk to the people first? How do you overcome the language barriers in other countries when trying to get photos?

Yes, sometimes, easily. In that order.

Most of my photos are simply what I see in the moment and can capture in the time it takes me to swing my camera up from my hip to my eye and snap a shot off. Depending on what the subject is I usually have a framing in mind and get it right away.

I'll sometimes approach people first and ask, especially when there's a very visible cultural issue that may arise (Aboriginal australians, for instance). Other times, I snap away and dont bother: this helps capture the spontaneity and natural feeling of the moment. If I like the shot, I'll usually show them and ask for a yes/no.

Language barriers can be an issue, but for the most part people know what a camera is. If you gesture to the camera and look inquisitively, you'll either get a nod yes or nod no. When asking people afterwards I just go for a thumbs up or down.