With my new 50 mm begging to be tested, I went downtown a couple days ago for some more street photography. As usual I met a lot of crazy, weird, and wonderful people. Here's a quick run-through:
As usual I started off a bit shy and kept my distance. With a 200 mm lens that works, but with a 50 mm you have to be a bit more bold. Most of my first shots were barely usable and only with extreme cropping. That said, I did manage to capture this one. Although it's not technically perfect, I do love the emotion that is captured in it. The guy was playing football or something in the park, was very close to winning, and decided to bombard his woman with a sweaty hug. I love her expression!
This one is probably my favorite shot of the day. I saw this guy sleeping (or so I thought) and thought it would make and interesting picture. I got closer and realized he wasn't sleeping, he was smoking a cigarette. It wasn't until post processing that I realized there was a prosthetic leg attached to the shoe beneath the bench.
On a bit of a happier note, meet Cabin (pronounced say-bin). He spends his days on river street making art. I had seen him before, and even taken his picture, but today I decided to stop and chat for a bit. It turns out Cabin has a bachelors in writing (that surprised me a bit) and he likes to combine visual art with words. Each of his pieces makes a strong political statement. This isn't the kind of art you hang on your wall because it is pretty- this is the stuff that makes you think. Cabin explained to me that what he really loves is carving driftwood. He said that his dad taught him and that he has friends on the boats in the canal that pick up whatever driftwood they find for him.
This man caught my eye when I saw him walking around river street in tall white socks- no shoes. The socks were clean, somebody must have just given them to him. I was trying to figure out the best approach to take a photo of him when he came up to me and asked for a cigarette. When I said no he asked if he could take my picture for me. I said no again, but asked if he'd let me take his. I explained my project and he agreed to a few shots. We chatted while I took them and he left me with a little advice, "Keep taking pictures of what you love."
I took so many photos with so many stories behind them that day that it's too much to fit in one little blog. I've created a collage to showcase a few more pictures. So here it is: The people of Savannah.
