covert shooting technique

[russell a]

Malls are not public places in the way that "the street" is.  You risk running afoul of everyone concerned, particularly in our current atmosphere of increased suspicion of furtive behavior.  Mall mangement can legally set whatever conditions they choose to.  Repeated visits will insure your cover will be blown by both mangement and your subjects.  If your mall is like many/most, your activities have already been captured on their surveillance cameras.  Your best approach, everything considered, would be to figure out a way to obtain some sort of permission from all involved and then become so frequent a visitor that you fade back into the fixtures.  Even "ruffians" have egos that a few prints might flatter.  If you are determined to continue as you have been, insure that you clearly understand your rights regarding attempts to confisticate your equipment, etc.   Be safe.  Try not to give photographers a worse rep than they already have.  By the way, review the history of street photography and decide if your target photos will be sufficiently unique to justifiy the trouble you are courting.

[russell a]

OK, having posted my sober reply, let's open up the faucet and have a bit of fun with this.  One could:

1)  disguise yourself as a senior of whatever gender you deem appropriate and, having installed a high ISO camera inside a Box Brownie (anyone remember those?) body, go around the mall talking to yourself and snap away.

2)  convince the mall management to allow you to do a series of "fashion shoots" in the mall.  Shoot the "fashion shots" with flash while catching your other shots via available light in between, thus conditioning on-lookers to assume that pictures were only being taken when the flash fires.

3)  check out the review of the Samsung 5MP camera phone Link to Review and practice pretending you are loudly trying to sell someone life insurance as you walk around the mall.

4)  cut a deal with some charity organization and the mall to collect for some worthy cause and conceal the camera in the collection box you wear around your neck.  If you don't get any good shots, at least the charity will benefit.

[Jonathan Wienke]

Al Capone's take: "You can get a lot further with a smile and a gun than you can with just a smile..."

[mikebinok]

Consider setting the zoom on wide angle, hanging the camera on a strap around your neck, and absent-mindedly stroking the camera (and clicking the shutter) at the key moment while facing your subject.

Or to be really sneaky, get a TC-80n3 (I assume it will work with your camera) and set it to take a shot every 10 seconds, or whatever, and you can shoot without touching the camera!

[jani]

The D2x isn't just more noticable than the Pro1 in that you have to actually hold it up to your eye to see what you're shooting. The lenses are bigger, the camera itself is huge, and perhaps most importantly the noise of the mirror and shutter isn't exactly discreet. If you're far enough away from the subject they might not hear, but people next to you certainly will.

And not only that, if you do the trick of putting the camera in a box or on a table top, the risk is that the sounds will be amplified.

[John Camp]

I've been doing street photography in a mall; I've been concentrating on people who might be termed assh...uh, ruffians. I'm concerned that I may be (a) thrown over a railing by one of the ruffians, or ( kicked out of the mall by the management. I've been shooting a Canon Pro1, which is quite small for what it will do, but I'm planning to try a D2X, which I should have by Monday. (I tried a Kodak SLRn, but they're not so good in low interior mixed lighting.) I've been using a newspaper as camo, sitting in a food court with a large container of Diet Coke and some food containers, just grabbing shots. So far, I've gotten some curious looks from food court cleaners, but no problems...and I would much prefer to avoid any. I don't want to ask permission to shoot, because it's always too easy to say 'no.' So...any suggestions on ways to obscure my activities?

By the way, when I started looking closely at a...ruffians, I've been reminded of the scenes in "Men in Black" in the alien reception area. If you look closely at people in shopping malls...well, you really might want to look very closely. I'm pretty sure some of them *are* aliens.

JC

[Peter McLennan]

"decide if your target photos will be sufficiently unique to justifiy the trouble you are courting. "

Excellent advice, russell, as is the rest of your post.

If the mall is such fertile territory that you can't resist, you might find that a camera with a swing-out LCD panel view finder is a better solution.  You can appear to be looking one way, but you're actually shooting another direction. I've found that people tend more to ignore you as long as you're not looking through the viewfinder.

Besides, some of the 8MP "digicams" have long zooms built-in.

[Lisa Nikodym]

I don't do street photography myself, but once chatted with someone who does and who showed me his technique for keeping his subjects happy.  He carries a little professional-looking book of small (about 3"x5") prints of several dozen of his best shots, and, when anyone confronts him, he pulls out the book and shows it to them to show them exactly why he's taking the picture and what he's going to do with it.  Usually, they are entertained by the pictures and flattered to be included in such a project, and bad attitudes go away.    

Lisa

[John Camp]

When I work with the Canon Pro1, I used the twist-out screen and even a remote control. I'd put the camera on the table, aim it at a gap in some chairs and shoot when people walked through the gap. That worked sometimes, but some of the potentially best characters were about a half-step out of the frame; the response on a p&s is problematic (I know, problematic does not mean the same thing as 'a problem,' and I didn't use it that way.) I got my best shots by just lifting the Pro1 up to my eye and firing, making sure the flash was turned off. But I'm not sure how long I could continue doing that without being noticed. I suspect the D2X will be a bigger problem, because it's a more noticeable camera. I must be leaking IQ, because I never even thought of surveillance cameras. Now I'll look around. By the way, if you go into Barnes & Noble or Borders and look at the photo books (those of you interested in nudes) you'll almost always find a video camera looking over your shoulder. Try to concentrate on looking more studious. Wonder how fast a remote trigger on the D2X would be? If there's no lag, I could put the camera on the tabletop, aimed at the gap, with the lens cap off, and shoot like I was with the Pro1...Actually, I was kinda of hoping somebody would tell me that somebody sells a mall blind, kind of like wildlife shooters have, but instead of RealTree camo, it'd be disguised as a souvenier t-shirt rack, or something...The reason that I haven't asked permission is that I'm almost certain I'd be told 'no,' (nobody ever got sued for refusing permission.) When I was a newspaper reporter I learned it's always better to get inside and get what you need, and only ask permission when you're about to be thrown out...I've been thrown out of some really excellent places...I just hope they don't try to seize the blinkin' camera...Anyway, I'll work out a series of lies to cover for myself if challenged (Jeez, I just bought it upstairs at Ritz and wanted to try it out.) But I'll tell you all something, the next time you're in an up-scale mall, look at the stage settings for the big stores, and then the characters coming and going. There are some marvelous shooting opportunities, though not of the Moon Over Half-Dome variety.

JC

[directory]

not necessarily covert, but it helps slightly right angle adapter at camerafilters.com. if you're into people not knowing you are photographing them.

--B

[caerdruagh]

The D2x isn't just more noticable than the Pro1 in that you have to actually hold it up to your eye to see what you're shooting. The lenses are bigger, the camera itself is huge, and perhaps most importantly the noise of the mirror and shutter isn't exactly discreet. If you're far enough away from the subject they might not hear, but people next to you certainly will.

[d2frette]

- Visit often as someone mentioned, so that security recognizes you and hopefully deems you as harmless.

- Being too discrete will make it look like you are trying to hide something. Looking covert will definitely get you kicked out. Keep the camera in plain sight, perhaps hung around your neck. When you see something of interest, take the photo, and avoid chimping. I don't think people mind too much if you take their photo, but if they see you chimping, my gut is that will turn them off to the idea.

- Dress sharp.  It's a reality that dressing well commands a higher level of respect - it shows professionalism. A tie probably isn't necessary, but I'd go in a nice pair of slacks and a button up shirt over jeans and t-shirt.

- Have a well thought out answer if security asks you to leave.  Having a small, professional looking portfolio may do the trick. If they insist you leave, politely ask how you (and from whom you) may get permission, and then leave. It is private property.