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Photowalking Tips

On Wednesday, I mentioned that I would be participating in a photowalk in Bethesda, MD with some local photographers. I’ve gone photowalking plenty of times by myself but I’ve never actually gone on a group photowalk. So I started thinking about what I needed to know and bring before I went. I’ve decided to share a list of things to bring and know for your first photowalk. I hope you find it useful.

What To Bring

Your camera(s) - This is an obvious one but I also wanted to mention bringing, perhaps, a small point-and-shoot as well. Most point-and-shoot cameras can easily fit in your camera bag or pocket and you never know when having a second camera might come in handy.

A small camera bag - Again, pretty obvious but you definitely want to make sure you bring a bag that is easy to access. I have a great Quantaray backpack that, inevitably gets loaded with a ton of gear that I don’t necessarily need. I’d stuff five lenses, all my cleaning equipment, and just about anything else I could fit. Why? Because I could. At the end of the walk, though, I found that I rarely went into my bag at all. Consider getting a small shoulder or holster-style bag that will hold your camera, one general purpose lens, and a few accessories. You’ll be glad you did.

A video camera - You might be saying “Huh? A video camera? I thought you wanted us to travel light?” Well, I do. But, recently, I won a small Flip video camera in a employee photo contest where I work. It’s pretty neat. It easily fits into my pocket or into a small compartment in my holster bag, records up to 60 minutes of video, and makes uploading to the Internet insanely easy. It’s nice to have when you’re confronted by some private security guard who claims you can’t take photos of a particular building. More on that later… If you don’t want to buy a Flip video camera, you’re cell phone or point-and-shoot might also have video capability.

GPS - One of the things I love about Flickr is the ability to geotag your photos. I love being able to tell people exactly where I took a particular photo on a map. If you have a Garmin or TomTom standalone GPS for your car, take it with you! Also, some companies are beginning to produce hotshoe-mountable GPS systems that will mount directly onto your camera and will inject GPS coordinates directly into the EXIF data on each photo. Information on hotshoe-mountable GPS here. What if you don’t want to spend a couple hundred bucks on a GPS but you still want to geotag your photos? Well, you can do what I do, which is snap a photo of street signs at every intersection or road you cross. Later, when you’re looking to geotag them, you’ll know exactly where they were taken because of the street signs both before and after your shots.

The rules and your rights - If you’ve ever been out photowalking, chances are some police officer or security guard has told you that you weren’t allowed to take photos of something. Incidents of this nature have ranged from simple requests to not take photos to full arrests. Make sure you know what your rights are and make sure you know what the rules are. Put simply, if you are on public property, you are generally allowed to take photos. However, you may walk through many places that are not public. This includes shopping malls, corporate office buildings, restaurants, etc. If you know where you are going ahead of time and you know that it may not be public property, see if you can find the rules ahead of time. Confirm if the place is or isn’t public property and, if not, find out if they allow photography. Please remember, though, if it is private property, you do not have the right to take photos. They are certainly within their right to ask you to leave. As ridiculous as it may seem, don’t argue. Just smile and be on your way. While you generally have the right to take photos on public property, there still may be special rules in place depending on where you’ll be. One example, I’ll use for the DC area is the DC Metro system. You are allowed to take photos (as long you aren’t using a tripod or impeding traffic) but there have been incidents where photographers have been harassed and told not to take photos by an overzealous Metro employee. Know the rules beforehand and, if possible, print a copy and take it with you. In addition, I would highly recommend printing out this PDF and keeping a couple copies in your bag. It is a sheet of paper written by an attorney detailing a photographer’s rights. For more information on harassment of photographers, see War on Photography.

Business cards - Group photowalking is an excellent way to network with other people who share your passion. Consider getting some business cards made to carry along with you. In addition to giving them to your fellow photographers, I’ve found they come in handy when I am trying to take a photo of someone on the street, particularly kids. You should always ask permission, if possible, before taking photos of kids you don’t know. I’ve found it sets a parent’s mind at ease if I ask first, give them a card explaining they can download the photo for free later if they like, and then shoot. It gives you a little more legitimacy than an unknown stranger with a telephoto lens eyeballing their children. Plus, speaking of eyeballs, it’s potentially another set of eyeballs on your work. Moo.com will send you 100 cards, complete with your email address, Flickr URL, or other information for $25. Moo.com is completely integrated with Flickr so you can pull your photos and have a different photo on the back of each card.

Rain covers for your camera - No matter how hard we try, weather will always be unpredictable. Don’t be caught out in the rain with your expensive equipment when you can stash a rain cover in your bag pretty easily.

Is there anything else you bring on a photowalk? Let me know in the comments below!

Great Photowalking Resources

• Photowalking.org - Look for, or plan, a photowalk in your area!
• Thomas Hawk’s Digital Connection - Where I first heard the term ‘photowalk’. Great photographer!
• Scoble Show on Photowalking - Some great vids on photowalking. Remember that video camera I told you to bring?
• 10 Tips for a Great Photowalk from DPS
• A few tips for new photowalkers

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