Make eye contact, act confidently and with intention. If they notice, say they made a great subject, explain why and then offer to show them. Offer to delete if they want.Reply

A smile and a light demeanor goes a long way toward making strangers feel comfortable. Don’t lead with your camera. Lead with your smile.

Personally, I avoid direct contact, at least pre-click. The scene I want to capture does not include my presence or influence. After I make contact and ask permisssion….it’s just a candid portrait. Which is fine, but not what I’m interested in at all.Reply

There are things you can do to ease into it. You can start with a 50mm or even 85mm as the only lens with you. This will not only give you distance, it will show you the visual access points and angles around your subjects. You can see how the subject is navigating the area or crowd. There are ways to be “invisible” like Garry Winogrand, especially in the era of phone attentiveness, which creates a small area of hyper focus. These are only a couple of steppingstones toward your confidence. The most important thing is to smile, even with a small wave. This is almost universally disarming and is usually reciprocal. With these, and any other techniques, keep this in mind, photographing people is a unique way to meet them. The candid shot is capturing what is happening in real time without bruising the scene. If the subject notices the photographer, the photograph has an intimacy. That is the point where a smile becomes an invitation to participate, and maybe even collaborate. It won’t take long before you will be more confident while building your own preferences and techniques.Reply

Try shooting with a friend, you’ll find it easier…..strength in numbers. Remember you’re stressing over it, the person you’re shooting probably couldn’t care less. Don’t look creepy as that stands out,; a smile goes a long way. Other than that, have a few large whiskeys, then you won’t give a fcuk 👍🤣Reply

Try shooting in busy places. Tourist attractions are ideal because many other people are also taking photos so it's easier to blend in with the crowd. Similarly public street events have lots of people taking photos, so again it's easier to take pics when you're part of the watching crowd. Hope this helps.Reply

It really comes down to how the overall vibe is for accepting a camera and also how you conduct yourself. If you lack confidence or maybe don't come across naturally you can put yourself in an environment where the external vibe is accepting of camera. So very touristy areas of a city or outside events are the best for this.Reply

You’re not necessarily going to like hearing this, but I don’t think there is a trick to it. You need to try and see what works for you.

Try dealing with the problem head-on and you’ll find that most people don’t actually mind, and in the worst case you learn a bit about deescalating and develop a better sense of who it is safe to photograph and who is not.

Try to lead with honesty about what you’re doing and people will have a hard time being mad with you.Reply

There's been loads of great advice already.

I'd echo being intentional with your shooting, don't try and hide it as that can come across worse. Smile.

I also agree that starting in tourist areas will help build your confidence. Even better if you can find events where people have made an effort to dress up as they will welcome/expect to have their photo taken.

Finally, shoot people who look like they're having a good time. They're already in a good mood, so will start positive.

Avoid shooting people who look sad/angry as they're less likely to appreciate you taking their photo if they spot youReply

Shoot at events. People will be expecting others to take photos.
Smile and try not to hide it. It gets easier and will feel more comfortable. People will spot you being sneaky.
I must admit, I have to ease my way back into after not shooting for a while.
Or just shoot on Oxford Street, London. No one caresReply

Show intent. Show your camera. Take off your sunglasses. Smile.Reply

Other advise is really good so here is a different angle. Choose you shooting style and experiment with the different options 1.) Shoot with your eye on the view finder - smile and be confident. 2.) Shoot with your eye on the view finder and when you put the camera down look past the person so they think your not taking a photo of them or look like you don't know what your doing the way Matt Stuart does. 3.) Or maybe shoot from the hip using manual zone focus, this is what I do and makes me feel most comfortable. There is probably a style of shooting I haven't covered. I used to do 1.) all the time but I found I was rushing the photos as I felt to sub continuous.Reply

Start lifting huge weights, taking boxing classes and perfecting your “hard b*stard” scowl, so that even if people do notice you, they will be too scared to say anything.

Or failing that, follow any of the brilliant advise everyone else has given 🤓Reply

I’m quite burly and it’s not happened recently. But I’ve had a couple of occasions where I was accused of being an undercover cop. But my last trip I took a couple of street portraits. As others have said. It’s all about smiling and looking engaging. But I have had people kick off. But most people are fine. There’s more good than bad.Reply

Hi. What's your history like when it comes to dealing with people? Have you had any customer facing jobs for example? What kind of people shots are you hoping to capture? Have you a favourite focal length? Best wishes.Reply

I’d also say if you plan on approaching people, get used to rejection a lot. It’s perfectly fine and not a reflection on you (usually 😃). Once you are at peace with No, can move onto the next photo opportunity faster with the right positive mindset.Reply

All the advice here is great. For me, using a wider focal length is what helped me get my confidence. I was forced to get close to get the shots I wanted, so I had to. After doing that for a year straight, I feel very confident now when I go out to shoot. I tend to move quickly, not really leaving any time for confrontation. I also keep my airpods in (with transparency mode on), so the majority of the times I'm yelled at or confronted, I just keep walking and ignore it or pretend I can't hear them. I use some of the Winograd techniques mentioned below, but mainly just take the shot quickly and keep walking.Reply

I think it also depends if you live in a big city or small or somewhere more remote in rural. In my local town and with the camera I have (a Nikon D750) I can stand out like a sore thumb much more than I would, say, in the hustle and bustle, the noise and crowds of Central London (I've shot in both). I agree with so many here who maybe don't live in a big city - go to events, talk to people, smile and be interested in people's stories. I'm very much an introvert so find it hard but I was so pleasantly surprised that most people are friendly and happy to chat even if it only briefly. If you go along to enough of these things you can sometimes make connections or come up with ideas for a project that you'd never thought about before. I'm very much at the early stages of this but I've learnt that very often it's not as scary as it seems!Reply

There are a lot of techniques for shooting candid photos without asking permission, a lot of which are covered here. Basically, be open and not sneaky. Paradoxically, if you stand with your camera in plain view most people will dismiss you; if you try to be deceptive you will attract negative attention. If you are interested in doing street portraits by asking permission, there is a fear factor involved that all such photographers will acknowledge but in actuality the worst that can happen is that you will get a no. A very good video on this is one by Garth Danks.
Also, Google Gary Lashmar, the Street Thief, who is a primo street photographer. He has excellent POA videos that will boost your confidence.Reply

I bottled it this morning on a beach, while eyeing up a 'blue' photo.
A striking blue wind breaker, in a nice frame filling curve with a lady laying down in front who gave me a 'dont you fucking dare point that camera at me look'.
I read the room and moved on 😀Reply