I have long been a proponent of personal photography projects alongside one's regular assignments.
Obvious reasons such as; learning or testing new or little used equipment, working in different environments or simply moving out of one's own comfort zone spring to mind.
There are times when it takes effort to actually pick up a camera and go out and shoot for oneself, sometimes it takes a lot, sometimes the effort is hardly noticeable and occasionally the time required to do so has to be negotiated for or balanced with one's other responsibilities and duties.
I've found, over the years, that the rewards for doing so are well worth the effort.
No deep philosophical rambling here simply a few images, or rewards if you will, from yesterday's short session which is part of my ongoing Faces of Bayonne project.
Yesterday was the annual St. Patrick's Day parade in Bayonne. I felt that this closed Irish bar would be a semi-decent opening shot.
The expression on the lady's face, on the left, caught my eye. The two young ladies on the right completed the frame for me.
The solitary figure, the light, the bent tree, and the empty chairs caught my eye as well as the sign which tells us a little more about the location.
I shot three images of this lady. One with another figure entering from the right, and another with only herself which was not terribly different from the above frame, however this was the keeper. Simple shot.
Single frame with many things going on in it; what caught my eye here was primarily the lady placing her phone inside her dress, the stance of the other people around her were secondary considerations in the timing of the capture.
I saw this father, I assume, and daughter from several yards away and knew immediately that I wanted a shot of the two of them, I also wanted to include the bikes in the image to give some sense of where we were.
Three boys playing with "caps". No great thoughts here, simply get down low and attempt to capture a little of the exuberance of youth.