Busted: Some poor dude getting a ticket in TakomaI'm trying to improve my people-picture-taking skills. As I've been out and about, I try to take a couple of pictures of people doing random stuff. In this case, here's a D.C. police officer issuing a ticket to some poor schlub in the van. I don't know what his infraction was, but I took a shot anyway. I promise (or, at least, I hope) these kinds of pictures will get better over time as I overcome my shyness. (I'm thinking of starting a series where I photograph people in my neighborhood. I already have one volunteer and I may take him up on it.)
Also, for the month of July, I'm trying to post material within 24 hours of shooting it. Normally, I take a ton of photos of a bunch of stuff and then divvy it out into the month, which isn't truly daily photo blogging. I'm going to try being a daily photo blogger in the real sense of the word and see what I end up with! In other words, you could end up seeing a lot more of my neighborhood and immediate environs, as well as my family, than you've seen in these parts. Oh, and in utter desperation, I may have to resort to photographing the cat and posting his mug here! (But only if I'm desperate.)
Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential
16 comments:
I have posted a few pictures of my pets, LOL. As I take more pictures around town, people are starting to know my site. I am still leary of asking strangers if I can take their pictures though.
I forsee desperation to , as Strangetastes in St. Louis says, "feed the monster" resulting in having to photograph my pedicure du jour.
I admire you for trying to post current photos. I don't think I can do that right now. We almost didn't have ribs on the 4th because I let the fire go out on the smoker while I was cruisin' downtown Birmingham snapping away!
Its difficult for me to do what you plan, posting fotos within 24 hours but today I did posted one I shot earlier.
Sometimes, people would stare and have that amused/confused look on their faces but I still shoot anyway hehe. I have been told off for 2 times already ;-)
Btw, were you in a car when you took that shot?
I've started to try to take more people photos, but I feel like people will think I'm spying on them. I need to be braver and just ask and shoot!
Jim: I guess that's what we have pets for, right? LOL! I'm not so sure about strangers yet either. Most of my people shots are from a distance right now. Maybe we'll both get braver as time goes by, eh?
Virginia: ROFL! Pedicure du jour. That's priceless. My goal may be admirable, but I haven't been out yet to snap anything so I may fall on my face on the first day. We'll see. There's still a little more than 10 hours left in the day...
Mirage: I can imagine you're an anomaly to the Viennese! They're so private when it comes to stuff like random strangers taking pictures for no obvious reason, I'm not surprised you've been schmipf'ed out a time or two! As for my picture, I was not in a car. I was walking to the bank and happened to walk past police action in progress!
Marley: I feel EXACTLY the same way. Deliberately taking pictures of people feels so intrusive. I have some really good pictures I took at the Metro station in Takoma, but I was so self-conscious, I didn't frame it well and the result is too tight and uninteresting. Still, it's a hurdle worth overcoming I think, don't you?
I've never thought of the Daily Photo blogs having to be photos posted within 24 hours. Even Eric of Paris doesn't do that, and will often say something like 'I was at the medical museum a couple of weeks ago...". The really hard part is posting only one each day! I finally created an overflow blog to catch the extras.
I have been actively asking people if I can take there picture. If you explain why and are friendly most times they will say yes. If they say no, respect it and don't take the shot. If they say yes, you can generally get them to stand/sit in a slightly better position. Still learning this stuff though.
I'm afraid to take pics of people I don't know, you never know how people will respond. I suppose asking them first might help. I'd have to get one of those macro lens, super spy, paparazzi cameras so you can stay in your car :)
I look forward to all your posts no matter when they were taken.
Beautiful photos!
USElaine: I sometimes have a propensity for being a strict interpreter/letter of the law kind of person. In truth, I'm combining my photography with exercise. By challenging myself to post a new photo every day, I'll force myself to get out there and get moving. I'm calling it my 2-fer-1 special: new picture, healthy me! We'll see how it goes!
Mo: When I was out this evening, I spoke with a few people who were in their yards (gardens) or at the park. Everyone was very friendly and either let me take pictures of things in their yards or talked with me for more than a few minutes. My next step will be asking if I can take their picture.
Andrea: I've seen those lenses. They look heavy! I'll tell you what: you get the lens and I'll drive the car! How fun would that be?!
This is what I'm doing and I'm telling you some days it is HARD! I'm thinking of going to your method after doing this for a year (my challenge to myself for this year).
Some days I take a lot of good shots and others I have nothing and have to look around the apartment. It does make for a good challenge though!
Maya: I've only been doing this seven days and I keep thinking to myself, "How does Maya do this every day?" There are pluses and minuses to both, I suppose. Right now, though, I'm going for the health benefits!
DC - My self-strictness is more geographical than temporal. I only post pictures from the Little Lake Valley watershed on Willits Daily Photo, but for exceptional situations like the fire at my mom's, I use only the Overflow. And thank goodness for post scheduling!
It's actually interesting to see how people worldwide employ the model to suit their interests. You know, like the guy that popped his blackhead for us. ;^)
USElaine: The guy who popped his blackhead? Seriously?! I missed that one. (And, frankly, I think that's okay. Ick.) I love how this medium allows each person to express their creativity in their own way. A new picture a day is my goal for July, but I can't promise it'll carry over into August. By then I may be back to stockpiling and scheduled blogging! I can be fickle that way! :-D
OK, I too will change it up and try for more people pics. Something lacking in the North Metro blogspot.
That would be one tall order for me to post daily. I barely get to work on time as it were.
Rob: The people thing is kind of hard, but seems like a worthy challenge. Let's see how we both end up doing, shall we?
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