Let’s talk about photo transitions beyond our control.

I’d convinced some college friends to train down to New York City from Rochester for a weekend. My interest was to see and photograph my tennis heroes (Rosewall, Laver, Gonzales) at a Madison Square Garden pro tournament, but the notable photos were at a Vietnam Peace Protest March on Fifth Avenue.

In a people watching street photography mindset I spotted two men enthusiastically talking. Clicking away, I sensed a photo but it was not happening until a woman barged into the scene and made her point to the men in no uncertain terms before walking off. I’d shifted to a more powerful vertical composition seeing her approach, then back to horizontal for the two men.

It’s a case of seeing possibilities and hoping something will happen to make a memorable moment. You make little change in position and certainly not the lenses.  You see a canvas and hope something appears on it.

But alas, you have no control and all these years later I realize my favorite shot of the sequence (woman) could be better. Couldn’t the background of the previous frame (sign and flags) have still been there when the woman appeared?

Virtually yours,