Over the top

Street photography. You shoot what you see. I was shy. I did not get the real shot… the front on over the top shot. I saw it. But the camera and I were simply not in position. So I describe it… alas! Colleen giggled. Even she was taken aback! Security in a museum! Maybe in a club? Nope! Museum security. Are you hoping to be noticed? Do you care? I do not know. We (Colleen) both got a laugh. I regret I did not get the definitive illustration for this post. Yes, there is much to be critical. Um… “girl, does your mom know what you wore to work today?”

Street photography – revisited

Festivals. They are quintessential opportunities for candid photography. Everyone is snapping pictures. Shoot away. No one even glances in the direction of your camera. Weirdness abounds. If you dress that way…. Be sure to wear clean underwear.

Humor

I guess I was doing street photography early on before I recognized the term. We were on a tour. My mother had worked for Pan Am and got employee ticket discount and a tour. We went as a family and were in Japan. Riding in the tour bus I glanced out the window and raised my camera to catch this slide. Yeah, right in the middle of traffic… you know, women put on makeup, and…. It struck me odd then, and it makes me smile now.

Reality

It’s enough to make you vegetarian. Humane? Humanity? Where does the chicken we buy all wrapped in cellophane come from? We live amongst chicken processing plants. Birds gotta come from somewhere. They transport ‘em in trucks. Headed to their death without ever living free. Yeah, free range chicken?! Ha! Colleen has been vegetarian for a long time. If I had to kill my own cow….

This day

Boring. This is the sum and total of a whole day’s shoot. Yeah!

Grand opening of a brand new grocery?! Boy or boy, get a life! I was in search of chestnuts for Thanksgiving. Supply chain, shortage, chestnut blight, you name it, no chestnuts, anywhere! Um, ok! And there are no Pillsbury biscuits. Same thing, supply chain. Those $1 for 10 biscuits in the tube that explodes when you press the seam – nada! The things we run out of? I use them to make steamed dumplings. Drat and double drat.

That grand opening? Don’t do it. The parking lot was packed and there was a traffic jam. I parked a quarter mile away. Free samples, ha ha, I got a free cannoli. There’s a gas station attached. But!! There’s no access to the main road! Huh! Great planning. I hope there is a way in and out other than the grocery alone that is coming soon.

Guilty. I shot out the car window again. But this time I was stopped at the light. Safe! Who knew three shots all day.

Grab shot. Turn the camera on and shoot an image or two. I coulda done it with the iPhone….

Progress

In a few moments a stand of trees becomes a roadside pile of sawdust. Colleen was appalled. A new development, it’s progress. People gotta have a place to live. Trees gotta fall and be mulch. Sadly. This is progress. Nature cannot stand in order to make way for pavement and grass. Gotta have manicured grounds!

Shooting from a moving car is always a danger. One handed distracted driving is not recommended. Auto everything gets an image on the fly. It was otherwise not worth a stop.

Goofing

We were waiting for museum to open. I took advantage and was shooting fall color. Spectacular! A girl wandered by trying to take pictures of her dog? She was aiming in the wrong direction. Maybe not?! I assume the obvious but am often mistaken.

An overcast day – it would rain shortly – has different light. It’s soft, not harsh, tending toward blue tones. Take it. Street photography, yes, this was. Just do it. Puzzle over it later. I hope she got her shot. I got mine.

Any good?

Where was I before the word processor cut me off?

I started in photography late. And I was even later into what I am today. It’s a hobby. Right? My first camera was a Kodak Instamatic 100. Yes, the first model. My first SLR was an Exakta. Yes, an old brand. And finally, Nikon F. Everyone has/had a Nikon! I developed black and white in my basement. Tri-X. Finally, slide film was my film of choice, but by then I was an adult. Well, nearly so. Maybe so?

Keeping track? Following? My photographic catalogs begin late into my life – early adulthood. It would have been fun… but I was fortunate to get my kids and everything that followed. I regret the lost photos and everything I missed. I am grateful for having a hobby that pursued me into retirement.

Street photography. London. Street fair. Portobello road.

“The west London site is most famous for having one of the world’s largest antique, bric-a-brac and vintage clothing markets.”

I was but an innocent tourist with very little knowledge of how to photograph. I could aim focus and shoot. In those days one had to set the shutter speed, f-stop, and manually focus. Eh? Not bad!

Light

Red headed Scottish schoolgirl. Cruise ship on the loch. Loch Lomond.

A grab shot. I just turned and fired. It was a worthy shot. We will never meet again. It’s street photography.

“Street photography at its essence means candid photography of humanity. A street photograph is a real moment. The genre is both about the photographer and their …”

Lighting as seen on the cruise ship is special occurring infrequently usually toward the beginning or end of the day when the background is in shadow. This lighting is warm. The subject stands out. It’s not a particularly outstanding subject but it is enhanced by the lighting. No complaint from me. Considering the location, I was in a pretty well known place. Eh? …. take the high road….

Consider that my audience is small, we will never meet again, there is not much worry about your anonymity being preserved. Stay warm.

Thriller

Zanzibar, early morning, I stole out of bed early to walk the street market. Street photography. I was a little paranoid about the crowd and the admonitions I had received about robbers. I did not want to lose my camera nor to be confronted by an angry street vendor. I wandered the streets with a wide angle lens never bringing the camera to my eye and just shooting from the hip. You’d never know it?! This image is quintessential and will last in my memory of that morning forever. It was like standing on a high wire without a safety netting.