Scouting out Strangers for a Picture

Have you ever been exploring somewhere new alone, either waiting for a friend or just venturing by yourself when you stumble upon a picture perfect area? So the thought crosses your mind to take a picture! The next thought might be, but who is going to take it? Being mostly alone in California this happens to me a lot so I thought I might add a few of my tips for picking a good person to take a decent picture.

Usually, I want multiple pictures… fine at least 30 to be exact! But I need to be careful about who I choose. Even if you want a group picture these tips will usually help!

Choose a girl : I usually go with a girl about 18-25 because they usually know how to get a good angle, work with the light and usually take multiple. I also ask a group of girls already taking pictures and first offer to take a group picture for them in exchange for one of your own.
Know what you want it to look like beforehand : Scout out the area and I would recommend taking a picture of the area first and tell them “I want it to look like this and I will stand here” and also, “Do you mind taking multiple?”
Set up the camera : Tell them if you just want horizontal or verticle and if you want flash set it up for them so they do not have to mess with the settings!
Foreign Objects : Try to nicely mention not to get cars or people, but mostly you or your outfit

Lastly, keep in mind you can crop and blur some little things out so don’t sweat the small stuff! I keep these pictures pretty raw because I actually did have strangers take them! I wanted to show what it would look like taking my own advice. I also asked two different girls to take these so I could get multiple shots without taking up too much of their time.