I don't live in the Valley either ;) AFAIK NYC is not particularly cocoon-like, nor SF or Toronto where I've also done a lot of shooting. There are strategies

I don't live in the Valley either ;) AFAIK NYC is not particularly cocoon-like, nor SF or Toronto where I've also done a lot of shooting. There are strategies to shooting on the street - you have a tremendous amount of control over how people react to your activities. How you project your presence can be the difference between being bullied and harassed vs. being left alone or even being assisted.