Got It!

Shooting on the streets of New York sometimes seems like 'shooting fish in a barrel'. I feel like I just can't miss if I keep my eyes open and stay alert. The density of the population is almost a guarantee that, no matter what time of day or night, there will be something happening - a story unfolding - if only I am tuned into seeing it.  

Doesn't have to be a specific story. When I feel there's something there - a motion, a body position, a facial expression, an interaction - I unconsciously have my own story. My aim as a street photographer is to capture the essence of the moment and let my viewer inject his/her own life experience into the moment and create their story. Not every shot I take is successful in creating the story atmosphere. It may have been present when I took the shot, but when I see the image after uploading, it sometimes appears flat or lifeless.  Then again, sometimes I know I've nailed it. 

As I walked past this gentleman on Broadway my eyes zapped in on his face. By the time it registered I was already past him. So I stopped for a second and looked in a store window, checked my camera settings, turned back and slowly wandered past him shooting from the hip. I took five shots as I worked my way past him. This was the last shot. When the shutter clicked I knew I had it in that one frame. 

I don't ever look at the LCD to check my shots while I'm out and about. That's distracting and bad practice. Through trial and error, by not looking at the LCD, I trained myself to 'know' if and when I nailed a shot . Later, when I'm sitting on the train heading home I go through my shots to delete the grossly out of focus or the shots of the sidewalk or sky. But I always reserve judgement on anything else until I upload the shots and see them on the computer screen.