Prospect Park Photowalk: It's For the Birds

I'm often in the park on one of my many perambulations, and I see some really cool bird, and invariably, I have the wrong lens, or the wrong camera, or no camera (haha - as if), and I miss out on a cool moment. Well, today I decided I'd bring the long lens (well, at 70-200 it's not really that long), and deliberately seek out the birds for a change.

Eugenia, Icee Vendor

Eugenia [255/365]

I was doing one of my usual rambling walks in Prospect Park yesterday afternoon - despite the fact that I don’t usually have a goal or destination, these walks make me feel like I’m actually doing something with my weekend.

I happened to make eye contact and smile at the woman selling icees by one of the entrances to Prospect Park. She returned my smile, and despite the fact that I’m usually really shy about asking to photograph strangers, that is exactly what I found myself doing.

I learned a couple of things from this exchange - one was that photographing strangers isn’t that scary. In fact, when I showed her the shot I had made on the back of my camera, she told me that she thought the photo was “muy linda”, and seemed really happy - which was very rewarding to me. I also learned that while I’m still a huge fan of the candid, unposed stuff that the hardcore street photographers do, a posed portrait of a stranger is also very satisfying.

Riding

Riding [234/365]

Cyclists riding through Prospect Park on a late spring afternoon. From time to time, I decide to practice shooting panning images, because it’s a technique I really dig. In the past, I’ve managed to get my subject pretty sharp more or less by accident. This time, I finally clued in and flipped my camera from One Shot to AI Focus mode, and I think I nailed it.