In April I spent 20 out of 24 hours wandering around San Francisco with one mission - shoot strangers until I was comfortable doing it. It worked. I can now shot a candid shot or approach just about anyone without hesitation. The motivation was to bring more meaning to my photos. Including more people seemed like the best route. There's a natural awkwardness shooting people you don't know. I took the jump in the water and you'll learn to swim approach.

Here's what I learned. I fell into three modes of treating the subject - candid, casual or engaged.

The candid shots are the shoot first and ask questions (or not) later variety. This captures people as they are without awareness of observation and are the most genuine documentary photos.

The casual shots come from some acknowledgment from the subject, a head nod or a quick verbal exchange. People tend to pose right away. Shoot, lower the camera briefly, let them relax then shot again. This erodes some documentary quality but gives you more freedom to get more shots of the subject and get in closer.

Engaged shots require getting to know the subject. What's their name? Where are they going? Why? Demonstrate a genuine interest in the person. Get them comfortable and help them forget the camera is there and reveal themselves. Use what you learn about them to think about how the photo can reveal more about them. This gets closer to a portrait and is more about the person and less about the documentary or photo journalistic scene.

Above all the most important thing is to focus on what you see and develop a genuine curiosity about people. It's a lot less scary than you might think. Most people appreciate the interest. Those who don't just shake you off with a turn of the head or gesture and move on.

This Shot
Sitting outside the Berkeley BART stop this man solicited with flare. I saw at least one other person working the same spot with the same sign. I guess it works. This shot was the casual variety - a nod, a shot, a dollar in the cup.

Supporting Photos
The man looking out the window with headphones was a candid. He seemed distant and completely disengaged. Interaction would have lost that documentary aspect.

The man with the tilted hat was my first engaged subject. He had a new HD camcorder and couldn't figure out how to turn it off. As the guy with a big camera he asked for help and we struck up a conversation.