One of the biggest obstacles photographers have is approaching people for a photo.  I don't mean grabbing your 70-200mm telephoto lens and shooting a pretty girl when she's not looking (I've done that and now I think it's a little creepy).  Why not approach and ASK for the photo;  but,  there are a few rules you need to follow.  This is something that is gone over in my tag alongs and workshops.

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I am almost always approached by photographers when I visit El Centro (downtown) who try to hustle a couple of bucks for photo. They are usually carrying old Polaroids or point and shoot style cameras and I always politely say "no gracias" when approached. But today was different; I realized that there are all types of photographers on this big spinning planet of love and I felt like spending some time with one of these guys to find out how they tick. I was completely amazed by a photographer we met in the Botero park by the name Cano Gomez.

Cano Gomez, wearing an official looking vest that said "FOTOGRAFO" and armed with a point and shoot and various other photography gadgets dangling from every limb on his body approached us within seconds of entering the park outside of the museum. Cano immediately started friendly chit chatter with my girlfriend and then asked if I would like a nice photo of her. Cano had such a great demeanor and friendliness to him that was hard to say no. We spent a few minutes with him getting our photo taken, laughing and enjoying the whole experience. Besides being one the friendliest guys you could ever meet, what really impressed me was his creativity with the shots and the fact that he had a portable printer. In between posing us for photos he had his portable printer (strapped around his shoulder) cranking out photos. Photos just kept printing and printing; I'm thinking to myself "how much is this going to cost me?" But, in all seriousness, it was a blast to be on the other side of the camera and to simply enjoy the portrait experience from a seasoned photographer who makes his living from approaching complete strangers six days a week.

After the five minute portrait session with Cano I decided to ask him, on video, if he could show me his photography techniques and his style of approaching tourist. Check out the video and see what happened...