Candid Portrait (In the Public Eye)

Assignment #24: Use as a subject someone whose job or activity routinely puts them in front of other people.

One step up from taking pictures of friends and family is taking pictures of the large group of people who are out in public every day. A lot of them are probably accustomed to occasionally having a camera pointed at them. Doormen, buskers, flea market vendors, and the like can all make for an interesting photo.

Squeamish about aiming your camera at someone you don't know? Yeah, me too. I appreciate this great write-up by Andrew Kantor, which, while not legal advice, addresses concerns about legality. Very, very briefly, if someone has no expectation of privacy and you're not trying to embarrass them, it's pretty much okay to take (and publish) their picture.

Legality aside, I doubt most of us want to make someone we don't know uncomfortable (or angry). That's where focusing (literally) on those in the "public eye" may help.

Keeneland Bugler
Keeneland Racetrack, Lexington, Kentucky

Exhale
Metamora, Indiana

Walking Paddock
Keeneland Racetrack, Lexington, Kentucky

Candid Portrait (Friends and Family)

Assignment #10: Take an unposed portrait of someone you know.

Whether formal or informal, posed portraiture seems like a photographic niche that's about as far from recreational photography as you can get. Proper lighting equipment seems almost mandatory as does portrait-specific knowledge and experience. Additionally, unless you're shooting someone who is either unbelievably stunning or ridiculously cute, the photos are probably of little interest to those who don't know the subject.

That said, I'm a huge fan of photos with people in them, as the subject or otherwise.

So this assignment is to take a photo of a person. To make it easy, make it someone you know. As long as you never ever try to embarrass anyone or share unflattering pictures, your camera should continue to be welcome at gatherings of family and friends.

Little Boy / Blue

Christmas Belle

Opa