Scared to go outside

Well as the title states, I am scared to go outside. This is a terrible combination for a newly enrolled photography student. Photographers are supposed to travel everywhere to take lots of cool pics, but im having trouble taking pics even out of my own balcony. Going outside without any equipment and without taking any pictures is hard enough but I get really paranoid and worried that people might think I look stupid with my 1965 vintage camera snapping shots around the city.

My question is, is there any helpful techniques to ease this problem?

I don’t get it, Im not a smoker, I dont do drugs, I eat well, I just dont understand why I have this problem and why this problem is so debilitating. It hurts alot when you put 500% effort into something that is probably going to sink rather than swim and than you see some guy or girl doing the same challenge but do it with absolute ease. It’s not fair

I really can identify myself with your story,cause im also a creative wanna dot it all kinda person,but not being able to just " be" outside takes away all my dreams and goals.

im crious what do you feel when you go outside?

I know what you mean. I have done video camera stuff in college. You've just got to enjoy what you are doing. (doesn't matter what people think).

Most of the time other people look at you (when you have a type of camera) because they think something special is being done, and want to get into shot!

Thats the most annoying thing about it. Just think to yourself (with this camera i have the power to take pics of what i want, and none of those jerks on the streets are getting into my images).

Thanks for the reply’s. I am goanna go outside in about 1 hour and i can feel the anticipation.

"im crious what do you feel when you go outside?"

I feel like I have a 6th sense sort of ability when I go outside. For example, everyone I see makes me feel very awkward because I think I can feel what all these people are thinking of me. It’s a strange type of thinking but it overloads me with tons of unwanted info on what people think of me. I literally think in my head that people are talking about me, and I do it in there accent as well. "omg look at his hair" "why is he so skinny" "he looks like he doesn’t belong here" "haha loser he almost tripped" "why is his eyes twitching" "why doesn’t he make eye contact with me" Those were just a few out of the billions of comments I think people are saying in their heads about me. I can’t get them out of my head. And the slightest body movement can trigger something negative or something positive. But even positive comments make me nervous. Glad im not the only one.


"Most of the time other people look at you (when you have a type of camera) because they think something special is being done, and want to get into shot!

That’s the most annoying thing about it. Just think to yourself (with this camera i have the power to take pics of what I want and none of those jerks on the streets are getting into my images)."

Exactly! I hate that, its like the camera is a magnet of some sort that attracts unwanted bugs to it lol. That’s one of the problems I have, I live in the area where most would think is sort of high class? In other words bev erly hi lls (by the way Im not rich). First off there are people everywhere, and Im not interested in taking pictures of humans, I just want to take pics of buildings and trees, but there’s so many damn people everywhere. But these people are one of the rudest types of people I have ever seen! They would look at you in a way as if you were nothing to them. It really scares me, and people have told me I sort of look down at people?? But I never mean to act rude. My intentions are good but Im always being misunderstood cause I have trouble controlling my facial expressions, I look sad when im happy and happy when im sad.

I will try your suggestion today. Today’s assignment is taking panning shots of cars or anything that moves. Here goes lol.

Cool, hope it goes well. Let us know how u get on.

i'm scared as soon as i leave my house, someone will throw a fridge at me.

Yeah I'm afraid of leaving the house too, so I know where you are coming from. People staring at me. Those staring starers need to not stare at me. They probably don't, but it still scares me. I don't want people to look at me, I'd rather just hide away inside. There are so many things I want to do and so many random weird ideas I have that I want to try, but I just can't do it right now and it's really frustrating. Oh yeah, and I'm also afraid of people throwing fridges at me. Those naughty naughty fridge throwers need to stay in their houses.

I went out today, and it was GREAT!! I didn’t care about anyone else; It was just me and my camera. It wasn’t very crowded today but I am very pleased with myself and how I handled things. I can’t believe I got the courage to actually shoot some nice panning shots at actual cars with people driving in it. I am usually to afraid to look to see who is in the car. I think I found my good luck charm when dealing with outside situations, my camera! Of course, I had some bumps on the way and allot of pain in my stomach, but as soon as I was out of the house, I was fine. The only other problem was me restricting myself to very long streets with allot of apartments but not many people. I was about to go to a much more populated sidewalk but I realized that the building I was next to was the building they tape Dancing With the Stars when they are practicing, Im not that brave lol! Guess this is one of my good days, I hope I can stay consistent with acting like myself out side

I’m glad I’m not the only one with this problem.

Fridge throwers a. You guys/girls have that problem to? They really should stop throwing those damn fridges. Just yesterday the Maytag repair man came by and threw a fridge at me. I said "is that a Maytag?" he then said "tell me about it"
8O

Ya, I got the same problem, I only leave at night 11-5 to walk the dogs.

I have a seasonal problem. During the winter I am afraid to go anywhere. I haven't left the house in 2 days now. Everything feels strange. I'm afraid to be seen. I look white as a ghost because I never go outside. During the summer I seem to be a little bit better, eager enough to go work on my car. My cars need work right now and I am too scared to jack up my car and be seen wrenching on it. I don't want people to judge me or think about me at all or talk to me. I wish I was invisible. I'm terrified of having to socialize. I can't just be rude, but I feel so out of place when faking interest in a conversation.

Hey bud, good first step!

BTW, a vintage camera like that is really cool. That'd be my first choice over the new digital stuff that never works right. I'd say you've got style my friend.

Keep at it.

I understand though, a big part of my struggles right now is when I compare myself to other people, and see how easily they seem to operate. It isn't fair.

I have a similar problem but its not such an issue for me because I don't have to take photos. Normally I start somewhere there isn't a lot of people and try not to get anyone directly into my shots so no one feels uncomfortable or confronts me about it. Just remember that they're only random people, you'll never see them again and they won't remember you. Your camera should be a barrier that makes you feel safe, its a way of looking at the world without it looking back. Don't let something you love become a problem good luck!