I like wandering city streets with my camera. The possibilities for a photographer are endless.
Some years ago my wife and I were doing some work on a home we owned in Kelowna. Our workday had been long and we finally reached that time when we wanted to just stop and rest.
Linda mentioned she was having a craving for souvlaki. I’ll say that I don’t’ get cravings the way she did. Hers were always for some specific taste or food while mine are just for food and she sometimes seemed irritated with me when she says, “what would you like to eat?” and I probably responded with “hmmm….food”.
So we stopped, washed up and drove to a Greek restaurant called Yamas. (I ordered lamb and she ordered souvlaki)
The day had been bright and at 6:30 the sun was dropping and making the cityscape a mosaic of glittering glass, cold metal, coloured concrete and silhouettes made from deep shadows.
As I began - the possibilities for a photographer were endless.
Summer in the vacation city of Kelowna usually means streets filled with walking tourists, lots of exotic cars, prowling motorcycles and just about any kind of architecture one wants.
So after one of those meals that makes you so satisfied that you just must bump up the tip to the waitress a bit we wandered out into that exciting scene. Knowing me Linda suggested I take her back to the house so I could do what a photo opportunist like me is most fond of, wandering.
Looking up, over, and around. Precariously standing in the street and oblivious to those that have just as much right to the sidewalk as I do. I admit I get caught up in what I am photographing when a city’s buildings surround me.
This time I wanted to capture parts of the architecture instead of wide scenic of the sky-high cityscape. The late afternoon sun highlighted small parts of buildings and it was those that engaged me to photograph shadows on the concrete, glaring overexposure on the glass, the contrast of bricks and metal and patterns of everything.
I had to move fast because the shadows were growing and starting to envelope in the valleys between the buildings in dimming evening light.
When finally I put the lens cap on my camera and headed for the car I did notice neon signs and light pouring from a couple nearby bars, But both had some intense characters standing outside that glared menacingly at me and my camera, so I nodded and kept walking without a picture. I preferred to leave those kind of photos to young legged photojournalists that jog to keep to keep in shape.
Stay safe and be creative. These are my thoughts for this week. Contact me at www.enmanscamera.com or emcam@telus.net.
