My best of 2011

2011 was the year I started shooting street photos. I had tried it once earlier in late 2010 for a camera club submission one time, but it wasn’t until May June 2011 when I started to walk downtown St. John’s with my camera more frequently. The weather was warmer — at least warmer than winter — and lunchtime breaks from work provided a fitting opportunity to get out downtown to shoot on streets.

By no means do I call myself a serious street photographer. I’ve been at it less than a year so I have a lot to learn — even people at it for years are still learning — but so far I’ve amassed plenty of photos, some of which I think are even pretty good. So with that, I’ll show you my favourites of my first year shooting street photography.

And of course, your comments are always welcome.

10. George Street, July 24, 2011. Street photography purists will likely dismiss this one and argue I was way too far away, which in most cases is a fair argument, but there was something about this one I liked when I shot it. On closer look, I liked the loneliness and solitude of a musician playing alone on a usually business street, which for some reason wasn’t that busy this day.

9. Water Street, July 1, 2011. A crowd had amassed downtown for Memorial Day and the street was closed for the parade, which meant a lot of people roaming through the area after it had finished. This little guy was enthralled with these two pups playing, but he jumped a little with a growl.

8. Confederation Hill, July 1, 2011.  While sitting on the hill at a Canada Day event, this dog and two people kept standing in front of me, so I grabbed this shot.

7. Duckworth Street, November 11, 2011. On the way home from the Remembrance Day parade, I took a couple shots of the dog. I saw this lady approaching and grabbed this shot. There’s an uneasiness as this dog glares back at her.

6. Confederation Hill, July 1, 2011. This is more of a street portrait than anything. If Bruce Gilden looks for characters, this gentleman in the middle would be one of the more noticeable characters in any of my photos from 2011.

5. Duckworth Street, November 11, 2011. At a Remembrance Day parade, these two girls kept looking at their cellphones, which grabbed my attention.

4. Water Street, August 13, 2011. I had heard on Twitter about a couple of guys dressed as “Hungry, Hungry Hobos” asking for money in downtown St. John’s. I cursed not being down there at the time because I knew it would make a good photo. A few days later, I was there and there they were with their creative gimmick, asking for money, until everything stopped when this lady walked by. This was taken from across the street, obviously. A few moments later I took a few more closer shots, talked with the two of them (the second guy is hidden in this photo), and even gave them some spare change. Both were fine with me taking photos of them. You’ve got to hand it to these guys and give them an A+ for creativity.

3. Harbourside Park, August 12, 2011. I stopped at Harbourside Park this day to check out the band and I watched as this little guy was interacting with the band as they performed.  I watched closely as the scene developed and then clicked the shutter as I saw this.

2. Duckworth Street, St. John’s, Aug 19, 2011. This little guy kept looking at me, so I took the photo.

1. July 1, 2011. Water Street, St. John’s. There was little magical about this shot for me when I took it. I thought the kid enthralled with the dogs would be something special, but as I checked this out later, the more I like it. There’s a lot of activity in this shot: two men clearly talking about the dogs, a mom fixing her child’s hair while the other child gazes at something else, a dad and child walking up the street, a mom taking a photo of her son on an iPhone, and the son with a cup of hot chocolate in his hand admiring the dogs. Everything is clear and there is activity in the whole frame.