Photographers Blog

Street photography is like falling in love…

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I was walking in downtown Los Angeles when I saw the two brothers sitting there. They were drinking soda by a hot dog stand. The symmetry struck me – their identical outfits, the two-tone wall they leaned against and the two bottles.

It was after a couple of days photographing Japanese baseball superstar Hideki Matsui’s home opener with the Los Angeles Angels. There were so many Japanese photographers that I had to leave for the stadium six hours before the start of the game in order to reserve the best shooting position.

Matsui-stalking was fun, but no-one gets into photography because they enjoy fighting for shooting positions or carrying heavy camera equipment up flights of stairs.

Walking around downtown with one camera and one lens (Canon 5D Mark II and 50mm f1.2) is much more like it. Street photography is like falling in love with photography all over again.

A couple kisses on a street in South Los Angeles, November 11, 2008. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

It all started a few months ago when I was given a Blackberry with my first camera phone. Suddenly I was able to snap every photo I saw without having to think about choosing a lens, setting the exposure, over-thinking the composition. Capturing decisive moments, it has become my photo sketch pad.

COMMENT

My favorite photo here are the boys drinking the cola. Love the way the colors all go together and the way the picture suggests a very lazy day and yet the sunny shirts make it seem like there is something more going on.

You do have a wonderful talent and I hope someday I could be as good.

If you would like to check out my photo page :
http://rainbowofphotos.blogspot.com/2010  /04/ahh-to-be-seagull-and-soar-where-ev er.html

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from Route to Recovery:

Audio Slideshow: Stories from the Route to Recovery

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Reuters Photographer Lucy Nicholson captured these images and stories along the Route to Recovery.