Street Photography: Happy Accidents

Again, I decided to vary my route and avoid my usual trek through Times Square. Eighth Avenue has a very different feel. Less spiffy and touristy. More raw and New York.

I also changed the way I photograph. I held the camera up to my chest and – without looking through the viewfinder – pointed the lens as best I could toward interesting subjects and clicked the shutter. It’s an approach I haven’t done in a long time. It’s a fun challenge and the results can be surprising.

In this case, I liked the character in the face of this fellow as he walked by lost in thought while listening to music or a phone conversation on his earpods. I’m walking also, in the opposite direction, so I can never be sure if my image will come out blurry, with heads decapitated, or with the subject too far out of the frame. I can’t compose the scene because I’m not looking into the viewfinder. So creating the composition is a lot more improvisational.

Here, I was able to get him in the shot. I did crop the image, which had a wider view, to eliminate other pedestrians that would distract from the happy accident I noticed above the gentleman’s bald head. I did not see the hair removal sign when I took the photo. I only noticed it after I got back to the studio to examine the photograph.

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