May 18 2006
Venice Bicycle
[ click to enlarge ]
Found in Venice, CA near muscle beach. This guy later told me that he was "seriously creeped out" when I was taking photos of him. I reassured him that I was shooting the bicycle and not him, but he really makes this shot work.
Photographing people on the street is something I still find difficult. Some people will look away or cover their faces or otherwise ruin my shot, and others will try to pose or smile or do something goofy, which, while nice of them I suppose, still will effectively ruin a good shot of a random person "in their element". I can see their concern... I don't think I'd want some random guy taking photos of me. But when the shot just comes together and there happens to be a stranger in it, actually pressing the shutter is surprisingly hard to do.