First Foray

Where: West Village, NYC
When: September 4, 2009

What I Like: The light and the shapes, which I think the desaturated/black and white processing emphasizes, and I now understand why so much city/street photography is processed this way. I'm surprised by how interesting lines in the sidewalk can be, and didn't notice until just now. I like looking for overall light patterns rather than individual subjects, I'm looking forward to learning more about what will translate well and what won't.

What I'd Do Differently Next Time: OH man, so many things. What is hilarious about this is that I was SO shy about photographing anything with people in it anywhere, that I picked a street that was essentially empty, took the shot as quickly as possible (rather than waiting for the two people half way down to do something - anything), and then ran away.

First of all, I'd try standing further to my left, so that the shot included more of the fire escapes, windows and street lights which I think are neat looking, and so that the sidewalk becomes less of a dead straight line. Then I'd wait a bit for a different pose from the people, so that something interesting would be happening half way down the photo to draw the eye in. I'd also probably try getting lower, see if it makes for a more interesting angle.

So, lots of things to work on, but as it was my very first attempt at photographing a street (after carrying my camera around for days without taking a single shot) I thought it was only fair to post it. Maybe someday I'll take a picture where there's a person in it who's expression you can actually see. I know. I can hear the collective gasps from here. Look, someone's got to be pushing the photographic envelope.