[bill]

Interesting question.

I seldom ask. I like the "found" aspect to the scenes I shoot. People are seldom the subject, but often the point of interest. A person posing, to me, is the subject of an "environmental portrait" and that isn't what I like to do.

I tend to dress appropriate to the location/occasion. I prefer to work with small, discreet cameras (for which read screw- and m-mount) and I try not to draw undue attention to myself through my actions. My behavior is heavily modified by the event/location. In an ordinary street, I work more discreetly than in a fairground, or carnival or the like.

When I do ask, I tend to the smile/nod/lift of the camera approach. If someone bounds up to me and asks to take my photo it would unsettle me, so I treat people with gentle courtesy because that is the way I would like to be treated (this isn't about photography, btw - someone rattling a collecting tin in my face or making a smart comment to get me to stop is likely to get extremely short shrift. Someone who stands patiently is more likely to get my money)
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If I sense somebody really does not want to be photographed, I will seldom try. The only time in recent memory that I had a negative reaction was in Berlin, when a guy making fretwork charms out of coins on the Unter Den Linden angrily waved me off. C'est la vie. The attitude I take is that he has chosen to ply his trade on the street. If he is really so disturbed by people taking his photo he should chose a different way of making a living, or get used to it.

Whilst I am on that tack, I am sure that this thread will also veer into "invasion of privacy" territory, so I shall make my views on that matter clear from the outset. If you are in a public place, you have no right to privacy. You have a right to courtesy, and common politeness, but that is not the same thing. I can - and will - take your picture if doing so gives me the shot I want.

Regards,

Bill