coffee-and-paper How do you take pictures of people in the market? You know markets all over the world are much the same. Whether in Europe, or Africa or Indonesia, or the Adelaide Central market, there are common themes. Most of what happens in a market involves people. It can be dark, and there may be a lot of movement. You know it’s not easy. There are many challenges for a photographer.

I personally feel self-conscious taking photos of strangers. Is it alright? Bruce tells me that he has arranged photographers passes. Pass or no pass, at the end of the day the subject must be happy with you taking the shot. I suspect that it depends upon how you conduct yourself. Good behavior from the photographer and respect for your subject overcomes barriers. It has to be fun and enjoyable, but you also need to be respectful and you need to convey that.

There may be photographic techniques that make the job easier. I spent some time reviewing pages from the internet and gleaned the following tips. I found 4 separate lists of advice on Market place photography. I have summarized their tips and categorized them according to theme. You can check out the independent lists from the links at the bottom of this article.

I didn’t know at the time that I was writing this article that Bruce had the same idea and written a separate article based on one of the same references. Upon conferring we decided that both articles were similar but different and worth publishing.

Now the pictures I have dredged up from the archives. These were taken at the last BPC outing to the Adelaide Central market in 2010. At this time Garry Secombe was president and Matt Carr, Ashley Hoff and Chris Schultz were all brand new members. The pictures were all taken on a Panasonic Lumix bridge camera Fz35. So if you have a compact camera my tip is “don’t feel intimidated by the big dSLR’s”. Sometimes small is better when it comers to this type of photography.

I hope that you find the advice helpful. Feel free to write to me and add any tips of your own.

4x6-bread-5a

Equipment

Travel light

First photographer

single camera
Two lenses
- medium wide (usually a 35mm)
- longer (usually 85mm) lens.
waist belt storage
screw-on close-up filter for detail shots.
Extra memory cards
cloth for cleaning

Second Photographer

two camera bodies
Three lenses,
- wide (20-35mm),
- portrait/macro (60-85mm)
- long (80-200mm).
coat pocket or a bum-bag.

What I do

One camera one lens – 28-200mm
Compact camera sometimes works well

Camera Settings

Raise your ISO – lighting is often poor – subjects move a lot and movement may blur your shot. A higher ISO will keep your images sharp (at the expense of some noise). The best ISO will differ according to the ability of the camera. I would suggest start at ISO-400 and work upwards if that is not enough.
Get the white balance right for the setting – The market has artificial lighting which may give your picture a colour cast. Incandescent lights give orange pictures and fluorescent tubes give green ones. Selecting the correct setting may save you a lot of bother latter on.

now-be-brave-little-fellar

Planning

Go with the flow. The best made plans go wrong. Take advantage of what happens, rather than be disapointed by what doesn’t.
Weather sometimes provides opportunities eg. rain / morning / dusk
Go early – as the traders set up
Take a friend – They can act as a model – photograph the friend / photograph past the friend at the action behind.

Technique

Focus on the subject – incorrect focus can ruin a shot – narrow depth of field can be creative (if the focus is correct)
Fill the frame
Circle around – try different angles – come back at another time – there might be more happening
Be ready, you don’t want to be fiddling around with settings. Have the camera ready to shoot when the moment occurs.
Patience – Stop and wait – things happen
Tag team photography – one talks the other shoots
Perspective – try novel angles / compositions
Try slow shutter speed

mother-and-son

Work with the light – use side lighting / back lighting / dappled lighting to advantage
Sometimes stand back – be discrete

fish

Choosing the subject

Capture the moment
Look for new angles
Don’t forget the customers
Take an overview – the whole market if you can – wide angle
Mid range shot – venders and clients, a stall, a vehicle
Details – the produce – the faces – the hands – the litter – the texture of surfaces
Go behind the scenes
Go where the people are

frutier

Handling People

Be considerate – it’s not your space
Make a personal connection
Talk and shoot
Pay a compliment and then “I would love to take your photo”
Know when to stop – someone objects – say thankyou and move on
Show gratitude
Keep shooting – especially portraits – people relax after the first shot. If a terrible expression – Take the shot anyway– They often relax and smile – Then take the second shot
Don’t ask people to pose / don’t pay for photographs – walk on by
Show people the image in the screen

The Photographers headspace

Stop taking photos and imbibe the atmosphere for a while
Stop for coffee – review your work
Edit hard – Be selective – Take many photos – display only a few
Don’t pack up too early – there are often good opportunities on the way in and on the way out of the market

coffee-and-news

There are a few more pictures in a small gallery at the end. Have a look at these shots as well as the ones in Bruce’s article. Hopefully it will give you some ideas for what is possible. I wish you all the best for the excursion. We will try and collect a small gallery of actual photos from the excursion. Unfortunately I will not be able to atend this one.

James