Around noon, when students leave school and usually are not too hard pressed to arrive at home, a foreigner with a big camera is a welcome event that usually leads to a lot of grimaces and giggling and curious chimping about the outcome of the picture-taking activities.
The saying fits the situation: “If the photograph is not good, you are not close enough.”
A good one!
Near enough the did get indeed, and I remember one of them touching the front lens just out of curiosity for the material.