Weekly Photo Challenge: An Unusual POV

Posted on

by Lisa

Challenge yourself to rethink your ideas about what subjects are appropriate, and then challenge yourself again to find an unusual perspective on your subject.

Lynn Wohlers – Photography 101 post on Point of View

POV

I’ve always been fascinated by street photography and as a kid spent countless summer days laying on my Grandma’s living room floor surrounded by her collection of Time Life Books.  I never got tired of paging through images of people going about their everyday lives in cities far away from mine and I’m still drawn to simple photos of people walking down the street, siting on a park bench or just visiting with friends.

I really want to get past the uncomfortable feeling of aiming my camera at strangers but every once in a while things line up and a picture like the one above happens.  We were crabbing at the local fishing pier, surrounded by families out for a sunny Sunday afternoon and everywhere I looked there were great photo opportunities if I was ready to take a chance and photograph someone I didn’t know.  Instead I decided to aim my phone at the angles of this bench but the second I pushed the button to take my shot a man in his sun hat walked right into my frame.  My first street photo thanks to the search for a new point of view.

Posted as part of the WPC:  An Unusual POV

Published by

Lisa

36 thoughts on “Weekly Photo Challenge: An Unusual POV”

  1. Great photo. Before reading I was just looking at the grain in the lumber and contemplating how interesting wood is. It wasn’t until I read your story that I saw the gentleman. POV can be different in the eyes of the beholder, even in the same photo.

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    1. Yes, it can be. The wood grain and sharp angles are what I set out to photograph and was surprised to see the gentleman, which is what I was unsure of photographing in the first place. 🙂 I have a second image without him that I took next just to have one of the bench…

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  5. I like the way that I’m led into the light and the unknown as well as the figure of the man. I understand your uneasiness about intrusion into others’ personal space. I believe that using a Smartphone (as you did( makes it less anxiety-filled. It seems that it is more accepted to be using our phones for this and that. I believe there still is an etiquette, but everyone makes up their own. It’s a personal choice, which is not always easy.

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    1. Thanks for sharing your comments Sally, I’m happy to hear you like the way this photo flows toward the figure of the man. I agree it there is an etiquette choice and smartphones definitely make these kind of photos less obvious. I’ll work on my uneasiness because I really want to take more everyday pictures. 🙂

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  22. I really like the photo, but it gets even better with the story of how it happened: serendipity, right? Thank you for participating, and thanks also for the follow. Now I’ll go explore a little more of your frame of mind….

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