Curious to know what you all do when you decide to go out and shoot?  Do you pick a place and just go for it?  Do you drive around and randomly stop and shoot?  I guess its a hard question to answer, and would depend on really all kinds of things.  However, maybe you have a favorite place or subject to shoot.  I would love to hear from you!
 
thanks all!

Random candid. Just shoot shoot BANG!!! Click. I'm just a random shooter.

I remember in the old days, i could go anywhere public and shoot.  Nowadays, Malls, public places seem to be off limits due to so many worries.  How do you all combat this?  Just go to the wilderness?

Interesting tread hope I will learn something!
I never plan  shooting, soon as I do that a phone rings, or I have to just dropp a whole thing. I have my camera bag with me where ever I go, so if something catches my eyes or mind I can take a shot. With soft box photography yes I do planing , I get ready with objects , different background, filters what I will use and of corse a cup of coffee.  (my box is set up in a kitchen bench ... dangerously close to the coffee making machine...LOL)! So this is my secret.

seeyus  Tunde

roflmao...... sorry, my sick sense of humour immediately came up with the reply "presidents and pop idols seem to have historically been the main targets......"

As for camera's, well, wildlife like deer or bear are popular too ;-)  Or birds like grouse, pheasant....... ok, ok, I'll stop.

For me it's always been sea or sky that makes me stop...... although anything unusual like a little demo going on..... or in the middle of an old city, look up - amazing the fronts of buildings that people pass so many times and never see.

(",)

Eat a banana. It is important to keep up potassium levels while photographing. Seriously, if I know I am going to be shooting for something specific, I just bring the proper gear and make sure I leave the house with fully charge batteries and empty memory cards. Otherwise I just shoot when the opportunity presents itself. I don't worry too much about limitations imposed by malls and such, I have yet to run into major problems there.

I guess in the beginning I always strictly planned where I was going, and what my main "Theme" would be. I usually (still) combine an outing for photography with hiking and geocaching. It's triple the fun! For a theme, I might pick a nature preserve that has 2 waterfalls and 3 geocaches, so the waterfalls would be my main goal and whatever else I manage to snap is just icing on the cake.

I'm still like this for the most part. Getting the camera was a large expense for me. Matter of fact, I was doubtful I'd be able to afford it before my kids all grew up! So I'm really nervous about just taking it and walking down the street shooting pictures. I'm also somewhat nervous about offending someone and having them go off on me or something.

I'm guessing, since most think it's no big deal, that it's probably unrealistic worries I have. So maybe I'll try the mall or whatnot sometime soon.

The reason I mentioned Malls...is I went to one after I got this new camera...with the instruction manual...sat at the food court...and just was trying to learn the camera.  I was not shooting...just pointing...adjusting, twiddling, etc.  next thing I know, some security dude comes over and asked me what I was taking pictures of.  I said, nothing really, just learning this camera...just learning the focusing and how the zoom works, etc.  He said ...Ok, I can see your not doing anything wrong, but we have had a call, and we do not allow cameras in the mall as it is a "family oriented location" so thats the only reason im here. 
 
So I guess in essense he is saying people dont want you shooting them...i.e. maybe worried about shooting the kids?  I dont know... I was just off in a corner and mainly pointing at a water fall int he mall.   oh well.  So now im paranoid!

Ahh yes, I understand what you mean, and to be honest that's exactly my worry!

Used to be a time, seems like so long ago, you could take a picture of a child and not have someone looking at you suspiciously. :: sigh ::

-Melen

The mall thing reminds me of once saying "hello" to a child who was reaching for a box of goodies on a grocery store shelf...the mom immediately grabbed the child an chastised her for talking to strangers!  I only said a polite hello..well, that was the scene. I imagine a camera seen by that particuilar and perhaps over cautious mother would be taken as a pervert on the other end of the camera.  So, in public, I always ask first.  I did not used to do this but now I do....well, most of the time but not if I can get away wiith it.

A day's photo shoot? I will think about what I want to get but generally wind up driving around looking for something to catch my eye.   Around some locations, I will decide this is "macro day" and go with that lens and find stuff.  Other days are combined and it might change to "telephoto day" and I go to places I know will have flying birds, even if not uncommon ones. Then I shoot to improve my skill at "in flight" shots, a difficult task overall.

Mostly, it is go out, drive a bit, hope for ideas and some scene to fire my imagination.  That might be a nature scene or a buillding with neat structure in even little forms to make an image. It is all pretty much to the day at hand, unless a very special day with  a specific aqenda which does not happen too often.   I hope this helps.

Sometimes the most respected photos are not done any better than many of us are able to do. It is just that the photographer is able to get to the "place" that holds the scene of interest. For instance, I cannot photograph a glacier from here or a neat loch.  I can get good green mountains and some small things within that environment.          TomDart.   good thread.

I look at it this way, evertime I walk out the front door, I'm on an adventure. Sometimes it's a planned adventure and sometimes it's spontanious, but always an adventure!! The cameras go with me all the time!! I've learned, the hard way, that when you don't have the camera...amazing things are right there waiting to be shot, and you end up regretting not bringing it. So even if it's pouring rain, the camera comes along, you never know when a beautiful rainbow will appear?!!!!
I've been know to discribe myself as "the drive by shooter"  Anyway, that's why I love the diverse group of photographers here, we all seem to bring something different to the table, and thus, an incredible feast...   Akemi   ;-)

Akemi, so right about the camera being with me always, too.  Even at night the camera is with me.  We never really know when "it" might come into the viewfinder. Some of my best shots come from just that...not a planned trip.       Tom.

do you keep the camera in your trunk of your car?  I would be afraid of it being stolen!

I always keep my a set of batteries in my camera and another set in the charger.  I don't usually "plan" to shoot, as in date and time.  However, when I do wake up and decide that it's a nice day and I'd like to go out and shoot, I do decide where I want to go before I leave the house.  There are a lot of nice parks and lots of wilderness around here, but I can also drive an hour and photograph tons of horses in Lexington, Kentucky (not sure if it's self-proclaimed or not, but the water tower says it's the horse capital of the country.)  Or, if I decide I'd like to shoot the city, I can just go in the other direction and be in downtown Louisville, Kentucky in about 15 minutes, either shooting random stuff along the streets, the waterfront of the Ohio River, or the Louisville skyline.  Or, if the urge hits me, I'll just throw up my makeshift (VERY makeshift lol, with pvc pipe, 2 flood lights, and 1 spotlight, and a white, black, or chromakey green backdrop) studio and shoot either my husband, or my son, or my pets, or cousins. LOL  Just whatever I feel like.  I usually pack both my digital and my film cameras, and I always have my camera phone with me.  I don't keep a camera in the car though..I'm always afraid the heat or cold will damage them.

Quote - Curious to know what you all do when you decide to go out and shoot?  Do you pick a place and just go for it?  Do you drive around and randomly stop and shoot?  I guess its a hard question to answer, and would depend on really all kinds of things.

Not a hard question at all.  My problem is, I'm indecisive.  I can't just get up, go out and shoot.  I have to be pre-planned.  So what I'll do is spend a Saturday driving around with a map searching for places that seem like good photo opportunites.  If I find one I'll mark it on the map and also search for good places to park the car at the same time.  I'll spend four or five hours doing this, usually with my wife with me as navigator, plus it's always a nice drive.  The next day, weather permitting, I'll leave very early in the morning and head for the first target, shoot, then head for the next.  My wife rarely goes with me, but always has a thermos of coffee for me, bless her heart!  I'm usually done by 10:00 AM as the light is no good after that.  If I have time in the evening I'll go out again to what may be remaining, but usually wait until the following weekend as I prefer to shoot in the morning hours.  Other times I'll just to drive to a wildlife refuge or other well-known place for scenery, and be there at dawn.  But no matter what I do, I always pre-plan the outing.

Quote - I remember in the old days, i could go anywhere public and shoot.  Nowadays, Malls, public places seem to be off limits due to so many worries.  How do you all combat this?  Just go to the wilderness?

I'd say at least 50% of my photography is street shooting...discreet or otherwise.  I have no fear of doing this as I usually don't make myself obvious.  If I'm in a public place, I'm completely legal in doing so, but then again, I don't go to playgrounds to shoot, either.  If I find a subject where I think it would be a better shot if they were aware of the camera, I'll simply ask.  And surprisingly, I'd say at least 4 out 5 will be fine with it.  And yes, some people will get pissed-off.  I never, ever shoot children without asking permission in any instance.  Most of my street photography is done with one of my E-1 cameras and don't usually include people other than them simply being within the frame or unless I have a long lens and can be sneaky, but if I'm shooting specifically people, I'll use a Sony point and shoot.  Otherwise, it's awfully hard to hide 4 pounds of camera :) 

I can understand the Mall security speaking with you, as a mall is not a public place; it is private property.  Your rights as a photographer end as soon as you walk in.

Regards,

Steve

When I feel like shooting I get in my car and drive around. But I´m usually with my camera with me so I try to be always ready :biggrin:

Some things I've learned to plan (more on that), but most of the time I will have a general idea of what I'm going out to shoot (sunrise/sunset, frogs in the water, general wildlife, clouds, etc.).

One evening, the Marine Corp band was going to be playing on the steps of the Capitol Building in DC - my father (also a photographer) and I went out with our medium and large format cameras to "get the band".

I plopped out my tripod, quickly mounted the camera - may dad was following suit - and began taking meter readings when a cop walks up to us and asks, "Excuse me, but do either of you two have a tripod permit?"

I look over to my right and see a guy walk right up beside us with a point and shoot and snap a picture - NO TRIPOD! 45 minutes later - the band already gone! - we had a 1-week free permit to shoot on ONE QUARTER OF THE  LAWN. The full permit requires 4 signatures and the other 3 guys had left for the day, leaving just this one guy to sign on on the front right quadrant... >:-[ We managed to get some good shots of the building at night, though.

Some things you HAVE to plan, but most times I just go out and shoot.
-Lew ;-)

"Tripod permit"....

only in DC...I guess it's a result of "homeland security"

That's just insane..

As for when to shoot...I almost always carry a point and shoot, just because you never know what you might see..

I tend to like evenings more than mornings..and I'm not really  a morning person either..

what the heck is a tripod permit???????/

I read here where someone liked to shoot before 10am due to the light changing.  I went and shot Saturday in a desert park in Phoenix, and had a fantastic time.  10am was indeed about the time the shadows started to dwindle.  I have posted most of what I shot already in the gallery.  I have a few others still to post.  You all have helped me a lot and I am enjoying this thread.  Thank you to all

what the heck is a tripod permit???????/

Yeah, we looked at the guy with open-mouthed frowns and couldn't believe it! And this was before 9/11 - I think it was around '96. All we could think was that you can't shoot a projectile from a point-and-shoot, but it you had a tripod...!
Yeah... Only in DC!

There's a beautiful outdoor mall in Reston, VA - in the early '90's we shot 4x5 architectural stills at Christmas - can't do that anymore as security will stop you. Apparently the mall is copyrighted and they've banned professionals from taking pictures of it - this is so dumb - you can't make this crap up.

Needless to say (yet, I'm going to!), I now keep a Nikon 5700 P&S with me as often as possible, and look for things to lean on. Probably going to save my sheckles and get a used 8700 someday soon.

-Lew ;-)