Scared to even go out

Maybe find a photo buddy to go out and shoot? I'm going to go on the tangent a bit to tell you my story. So 3 mornings a week, I go swimming at 6am. There are plenty of days when it's dark and cold and I don't want to swim. What encourages me are my lane mates. We encourage each other to come and swim whether it's dark, cold or even when I don't feel like it.

Find a friend that is curious about the world, not necessarily interested in photography and meet at a regular schedule to go out and explore.

My wife is a complete opposite when it comes to exploring. We were walking around in Ho Chi Minh City with my camera and she was comfortable in the main drag. I ducked into a dark alley and she was not happy. She stood outside while I snooped in the dim light. It was about 10am and the locals were prepping their lunch carts. I told her it's really interesting and she should take a look at what I found. It was a world of wonderful sights and smells and people busy cooking.

Here's a quote from Will Smith "The best things in life are on the other side of fear". Please take a look at this video.

 

Another option for you OP is to run an ad and hire models. Let them come to you so you don't have to leave your house. If you are short on $, get models that will exchange time for photos.

 

A 45 year old photolab client, who became friend, had severe cerebral palsy. Very spastic.

One day he woke up to the realization that he needed to stop being a child and get outside, so he forced himself to walk miles every day in San Francisco (was terrible to watch) .

As a middle-aged adult he spent a lot of time building architectural sets in his living room, using colorful children's wooden blocks. Silly, right?

He wanted to photograph them ... he had an Instamatic 126 camera ... he could handle Instamatic cartridges so he had Adolph Gasser's (Saint Ansel's camera store) cobble up an attachment for closeup lenses. Then he made many photos at a few indoor close distances of his models on Ektachrome film. My photolab printed his favorites on Cibachrome ( 20X24...I still have one after 30 years).. He hand signed with permanent markers. Beautiful, colorful out-of-focus fantasies. Not incidentally he was gay, which added fun to his determination to have his work shown well in galleries.

In other words, get up off your a....

 

Exceptionally beautiful photos!

 

I'm partial to zucchinis at dawn.

 

What a mess. What you have there will be coming to the US no doubt. In the US they love lawsuits and you would get sued if there is $ to be made.

When the dems take perpetual power they will call in all the guns, make single use plastics illegal and make it illegal to do street photography. The dems want to make sure no one is offended and love copying off of Europe. If that ever comes to pass I guess I will have to buy a sunlgass filter and shoot blurry smokey water and sunsets.

 

How about we keep this in the Lounge?

The OP asked for help with their problem; this has noting to do with their original post...

 

I think I am more afraid of slackercruster than those armed hillbillies in Arkansas....

KoFe gave the best advice. Walk around with your camera all the time. If you are out photographing, nothing helps more than a wave and a smile. Don't act like you are sneaking around. That is the worst thing you can do. And ask. You should be able to find out who's land is who's, so call and ask if you can photograph their barn or whatever. The more you do it, the more people will accept you. If someone says no, respect that. Ask the local barber if you can hang your photographs in his shop. Make sure you include a picture of yourself so people will recognize you. Everyone goes to the barber... Lots of things you can do.

 

+1. I come here to escape that noise.

As for the OP, I'll echo the advise about simply carrying a camera on your shoulder as much as you can. Even when you're not out shooting you may find yourself using it more often and getting more comfortable with using it around other people.

 

To be on the safeside and all the more important because I'm a Brit and we look to have been responsible for quite a lot of U.S. ills, I'll remove Arkansas from the U.S. tour itinerary and wherever slackercruster lives

OP on a more serious note, as a film shooter which is unusual in itself these days, might the local newspaper be prepared to do a human interest article on your photographic interest. The more people know who you are and what your perfectly benign intentions are, the better it seems to me

pentaxuser

 

yeah
shoot often and be VISIBLE
sneeky just causes trouble ..

oh, get 10$ business cards made up at vista print and
when you go to people's door to ask permission
give them your calling card, and when you get a print made make 2,
and give one to the property owner
people might not say it, but they LOVE it when people are THOUGHFUL like that ...

 

Most likely there isn't any local newspaper any more where the OP lives.
But if there is, they probably can't afford to pay for photos, so they may provide an opportunity.
If you offer to take photos for them, or even submit photos for their consideration, they may be willing to offer you a press pass, or at least some sort of credentials. And that may both give you an explanation for what you are doing, and help with the confidence to approach people.
I did that for a university newspaper in my teens, which gave me lots of experience approaching strangers and asking to photograph them. That, combined with photographing weddings helped lower my early feelings of anxiety.

I agree entirely!
But more generally, and to the OP:
You don't have to do anything like slackercruster, whose work is almost an attack on his subjects. Most people like having attention paid to them, and of those who do, like being involved with photographs of their lives. Once your level of anxiety reduces, you will most likely enjoy interacting with them, even if all you are doing is taking photographs of their dogs!

 

Matt, yes, local newspapers are dying which is a pity. My idea was prompted by the following experience: I found some old negatives in a second-hand book I had bought in a nearby town and took them to the local newspaper in the hope that it might publish the prints I had done in case anyone might recognise the people. This sounded like a good human interest story to me but the newspaper was more interested in why I still shot film and printed in a darkroom. It was an extension of that kind of interest that might help the OP to become known in his local community that prompted me to suggest my idea.

I admit that I do fear Arkansas hillbillies as well and do worry a bit whether slackercruster's advocacy of the John Wayne school of counselling is ideal in every case

pentaxuser

 

I had it in mind to document the older cottages in my Hampshire village. The first time I tried this I took photos when no one was around and it always felt an intrusion, I imagined how I would feel to look outside and see a stranger taking a picture of my property. Security has to be an issue and once after getting the shot I turned back to see that the houseowner had come to his gate and was staring after me. I decided I would only approach properties where I could see someone at the front of the cottage and take photos only after I had asked permission and explained the project, showing a couple of prints I had with me. No-one said no, most were happy to talk if they had time and about half were happy to pose in the shot, sometimes dragging reluctant family outside. I promised a print copy and delivered, an important part of the process. Interesting that most wanted a black and white photo from the Rolleiflex rather than a colour print from my digital that I also carried. I learnt a great deal more about my locality and say hello to more people at the village shop. I honestly found the talking as satisfying as the photography .I think if you always carry a camera you just get accepted as the photographer guy. This worked in an English village, I wish you all the best, Mr. Cook, in your beautiful part of the world, Charles.

 

OP, here is an example of a TV shoot I did awhile back...The Godzilla

https://danieldteolijrarchivalcollection.wordpress.com/2017/08/13/the-godzilla/

Shooting your TV is excellent practice for fast action training and getting comfortable with your gear.

 

They probably were afraid that you worked for a highway contractor and your were photographing so your company could build a toll road through their homes.

 

Any place big enough to have a Walmart isn't a small town in my opinion.

 

Are you crazy?!! Someone might get hurt.

Water pistols or nothing.

 

But what rules would you be using?
(Where is Butch Cassidy when you need him?)

 

I’m from Northern Arkansas (hence the avatar), Mtn Home area to be exact. Beautiful area, the Ozarks, wish I could move back. Take lots of photos and share...I don’t get back there often enough. Try running down the watermills in the region..they are very photogenic.

 

Not just any Walmart. The Walmart Museum! Maybe you’ll get pictures in there somehow.

 

@JCook
There is the Bella Vista Bentonville Photo Club in your area http://www.bvphotoclub.com/
Maybe the Photographic Society Northwest Arkansas has some ideas for a newby photographer https://www.psnwa.org/ws/
When I started photography about 40 years ago I joined several photoclubs in my area; later I took evening classes (photography in general, darkroom technique, printing) in an adult education center -
lots of kindred spirits there.

 

great thread, very relevant to my interest.

 

A TLR with waist-level viewfinder is one solution. Although people will see that you have a camera on you, you can make it less obvious that you are actually taking pictures with it.