Street photography is weird. I don’t get many shots that I’m crazy about because I’m uncomfortable going for most of them.

This short article on street photography etiquette worked well for me above (capture street performers!) As a courtesy (and probably a bit of guilt) I added a few singles to his tip jar.

You know what I really wanted, though? Eye contact. But not so long that it registered. As the noted post points out, I think that reaction changes the tone.

Being sneaky is an option. My dad likes to carry his camera “at the ready” low by his chest, finger on the shutter as if he’s looking for a shot…then snapping from that position. I call it his gunslinger approach. He’s gotten pretty good at guessing at least aim, and he’ll do that in Program Mode, set to Auto Focus, so he might get lucky on the rest.

I don’t want to rely on lucky, though.

I’ve tried the old “from a discrete distance” approach, with my 18-250mm. And, if you add the tried and true “hey, they’re traveling at 60+ mph and I’m standing over them on a bridge” approach, you can get shots like this!

Plus, as I mentioned earlier, my town isn’t exactly a wealth of opportunity, particularly for more urban life. Not a lot of foot traffic.

I know…excuses, bellybuttons, blah blah. Truth is I have a few shots here and there that I like, although they do tend to fall into the street performer, or sneaky, or from a distance categories. Both photos above were taken on an 82-degree August day in downtown Chicago, and are two of my favorite.