Other times you'd see that unmistakable stiffening when they spotted the lens. Either way, they knew what you were, and you knew they knew. I learned early to have my elevator pitch ready — a few honest words about who I was and what I was doing before anyone had a chance to wonder. It was always genuine, and it almost always included something real about the person or the moment that had caught my eye in the first place. Something like: "I'm a documentary photographer — I love photographing real life as it happens, and what's happening right here is too good to walk past." People can tell when you mean it. And when you do, they almost always say yes.
