A Color Shot

Except for the few instances - personal or family photos, studio shots for a client, landscape or HDR - everything I shoot is intended to be converted to b/w. It's just my old fashioned sensibility, my street work needs to be in b/w. 

There are occasional exceptions. I was sitting at one of my favorite shooting spots this week, enjoying the people out at lunch hour and the shoppers. I saw this gentleman approaching from across the street and not wanting to miss the shot by taking any chances (like shooting from the hip) I held the camera to my eye for several seconds as he approached and fired off three shots as he walked by. The people around him were totally oblivious. Just another New Yorker. He noticed me as he walked by but tried mightily to act indifferent. The moment passed and I continued to watch and shoot for about another half hour. And then I saw him again, approaching me from the same direction as the first time. Somehow he must have doubled back and escaped my attention, or taken a different route downtown, only to come back and walk by me a second time. Once again, I raised the camera to be sure I got the shot. But this time as he walked past he gave me this look. As if to say 'Why are you taking pictures of me!'

Gee, I dunno .......

I still like the b/w shot too.

Cameras EVERYWHERE!!!

What an amazing phenomenon! I was in Midtown Manhattan this afternoon, sitting in one of my favorite spots from which to shoot street characters, and I started to notice how many cameras are being toted around by so many people. Not counting people taking snaps with their phone cameras, I would have to say that easily one third of all the people I saw were draped with a Nikon, Canon, Sony, or Olympus of some kind. Many of them DSLRs. 

What surprised me even more was that everyone was using them. Well .... almost everyone. There were  some who were so uber-cool that they had to be seen carrying a Leica M9. But be caught actually using it? Heaven forbid!!

Here's the point: the digital camera revolution has made photography easily accessible to so many people that the pundits and talking heads who want to tell us how to think say this will kill photography. Shooting with a phone camera, and processing with Instagram? That's not photography!

I won't argue that point. All I can say is that if so many folks are taking pictures, even if they are just family snaps in front of the Apple store on Fifth Ave and 59th Street, there's bound to be a heightened sensibility for good photography. If just a few of those many people develop a better understanding and appreciation for what goes into creating a meaningful image, and if a few of those few step forward and begin making images that actually say something, we're all better off for it. 

I'm sure he'd agree:

Just A Great X-Pro1 Shot

Nothing pithy or erudite to say. The photo speaks for itself. Happy happy!

A Great Day In The City

We don't get many days of 60˚F during December in New York, and when they happen it seems everyone is outside to enjoy it. I knew it would be a great day to hit the streets for some shooting, so I put aside all my plans and jumped on a train. Unlike the days I spent shooting last week, today was not a day for grunt work. It was pure joy and pleasure. I was buzzed to be on the street and part of the crowd. 

When I saw this woman emoting (over what I haven't a clue) I thought 'Ah yes, my heart be still!'

Peek-a-boo

I often talk about how the dynamics of a scene are communicated through the gestures of the actors, especially with hands and/or facial expression. But communication with others in a scene is often done with a direct look - either towards others in the scene or outward towards the photographer. In yesterday's post the most prominent character (and the one that initially attracted my attention) was the gentleman in the front of the image. the shot would have been ok if he were the only character in the frame, but direct eye contact with the girl standing behind him gave the image much more depth and an added dynamic. 

Once again, in the following shot, it was the facial expression of the person in the front of the frame that was my initial target. But unconsciously I included the girl behind him. I didn't actively see her when I took the shot, and it was only when I reviewed the images at the beginning of my edit process that I noticed her and the dynamic that she added to the photo.

As I noted in the post yesterday, I didn't feel 'in the groove', and was surprised to have gotten the shot that accompanied that blog entry. Ditto for today. I guess I was working on auto pilot and didn't know it. Just goes to show ya, get out and shoot no matter what. You just never know what will happen.