I've had this idea for maybe 3 months now, after hitching for the first time, to do a photo series on people that pick up hitchhikers. The idea, ironically enough, came from my mothers fears of hitchhiking and me traveling alone in general. I want to humanize the drivers and show that they are people too that are generally nice and caring people that just want to help others out.

I am shooting for a class, but it really is a personal project and will be in black and white film. I plan to do a trip for about a week and a half in April (still deciding where, leaving from LA, probably headed east to the coast, however far I get is how far I get) and a 3 day weekend trip up to Santa Cruz and SF to test my gear and luck.

I just wanted to ask to see what some problems I might face would be. I expect people to not want their picture taken, but what would be the best way to mitigate that and have them allow me to take it? Obviously personal safety will be in mind and I've read to just trust my gut on that, which I do trust. My hitching experience so far has just been from SF to Santa Cruz, but I also took a Craigslist ride share from Austin, TX to San Francisco, which prepared me for talking to a borderline crazy lady 4 days, plus dealing with cops in rural Texas.

TL;DR Want to take pictures of drivers, what's the best way.