I got the opportunity to choose the theme for Share Six this month and I went for Street Photography.

“Why Street Photography?  For me it takes me out of my comfort zone. I am happy shooting nature, and sunsets and beaches. Now I will confess, I do find that I am more comfortable doing street photography when I am on vacation rather than when I am at home.  I like to meander and to keep looking around me until something catches my attention.  Street Photography is me having the courage to go into a busy area urban or otherwise and shoot what I see in front of me.  The image may or may not have people in it.  It can be reflections, it can be graffiti, it can be shapes, or it may be people. You could take it looking straight on, or looking up, or looking down. You can frame it through doorways, or arches, or trees.  There are so many different aspects to Street Photography.”

When I get out on the street with the intention of shooting images of people I take my long lens, and try to do this as inconspicuously as possible and from a distance.  When I am shooting scenery, I will carry a variety of lens, normally my wide angle for buildings, my 70-300mm for distance, and a couple of lensbaby optics.

I will confess, I have yet to walk up to someone and ask them if I can photograph them. That takes me way out of my comfort zone completely.  Who knows maybe one day I will get the courage.  Mmm 100 faces sounds like an interesting project to consider.

What I have found though, is that when I am shooting street, that my immediate editing reaction is to go black and white.

I thought I would share various images I have taken, some on trips away and some locally.  Since I only see my brother when he is in USA, we tend to travel to wherever he is in conference and then stay a few days post conference. It is always a city and that feeds my desire to head out and explore.  While he is in conference, we are sight seeing, then when he is done we spend a few days traveling the area.  Locally the images I have shared are for a Street group that I joined earlier this year.

Denver, Colorado and it was snowing. For a South Florida girl – it was more than pretty cold. I was freezing. My hands were shaking and the view was gray and bleak, but I loved this street scene. This was taken with my Canon Rebel 3, with the EF-S 18-55mm lens.

Boulder, Colorado. Same trip as the previous image but we had stopped off in Boulder to have lunch and do a bit of sight seeing . These guys grabbed my attention pretty quickly and I knew I had to get a photo of them. This image was taken with my Cannon Rebel T3i and the EF-S18-55mm lens.

Off to Vegas and I think I took a multitude of images. Vegas is busy and you can end up behind the camera most of the time. I am still editing from 3 years ago. What I found with this image is that night time shooting is hard. I was not crazy about the color version, but when I converted it to black and white, I loved it. This image was taken with my Canon Rebel T3i and the EF-S 18-55mm lens.

Seattle and boy did we walk that city. Just for the record, I love Seattle and there is so much to do. If you want to see more street images check out my blogs on Seattle. This particular image was taken at night time. Let’s be honest it was a disaster. We were sitting at a traffic light when I noticed these statues at the bus station. Of course, I am in manual and I am trying to adjust my settings for a night shot. Suffice to say the car is moving when I am shooting the image. Again the color was not great but when I converted it to black and white I fell in love. The image was taken with my Canon 6D and the EF 28-135mm lens (bought specifically for the trip and the lens I used the majority of the time we were in Seattle).

Taken downtown West Palm Beach, part of the Street 52 group topic for the week was to follow someone and take a photography. Ok, I can do that. I had a meeting just along the road, so I had parked my car and walked down this road to my meeting.  I loved the angle of the trees which formed an arch of sorts. From there I was going to take a bit of time to meander down the side streets to see what I can find. I happened to double back down this road as this lady was walking ahead of me. This image is taken with my Canon 6D and EF 28-135mm lens.

Another shot for the Street 52 group. This time it was to go out and capture the image of someone who caught your attention. This particular morning I had gone down to the beach to capture the sunrise. Walking back to my car, this man slowly walked towards the bench with this huge dog. It was really the dog that caught my attention, but as the man sat down, he almost immediately went into this sleeping pose. I quickly snapped off a couple of images before getting into my car. This image is taken with Canon 6D and the EF 70-300mm lens.

These are my six images.  Indulge my while I share one more (although I could happily have gone on sharing street images).  This was the day that I tried to look inconspicuous when taking my photograph, and as I did this he looked up at me.  Ugh but he was great and told me to take another one.  You will have those days when you get caught.  Smile!! If the opportunity comes about take time to learn a little bit about your subject.

Peace Out – I really enjoyed my short chat with this very interesting guy. This image was taken with the Canon Rebel T3i and the EF-S 55-250mm lens.

If you do not shoot street, then I would encourage you to pick up your camera, head into the city and have a fun day looking like a tourist.  I love it.  There is so much going on and it is fun to be part of the vibe of the streets and capture what catches your attention. Go out, have fun!!

Thank you for joining me for this month’s Share Six.  This is a circle blog.  From the sneak peak images I have seen, you are going to want to follow the circle.  Please take time to visit our guest blogger for this month, Katherine of Cobert Photography and see what she has for you this month.  Keep following the circle to see what the other photographers have shared this month.  Don’t forget to leave a little love on their page as well.

You can also find me on Facebook, Flickr, Instagram, Google+ and Viewbug.

Now it is your turn. Don’t forget to like us on Facebook at Share Six and come and share your images on the theme Street Photography throughout the month of April.  A new theme will come out on June 6.

Remember you can follow us on Instagram at @sharesix  and tag your images #sharesix_streetphotography

You can also find the Share Six webpage at http://www.sharesix.wordpress.com

We look forward to seeing your images on the theme street photography

I had to prepare a blog on the topic black and so I decided to head on out to the Palm Beach Zoo to shoot images of the monkeys. All I can say is that the monkeys were not that co-operative.  The big guy hardly moved and the others sat huddled at the top of their cage and ignored me.  However, I got to walk around the zoo and experience what they had to offer. Perhaps the highlight was the mating dance of the Flamingo and the stunning display by the gorgeous peacock.

This monkey did not want his photo taken. Each time I picked up my camera it would turn it’s head away.  This was the only photo I got with it looking directly at me.

Pelican – say what – exercise time – I’m not so sure about that!!!

Pelican – okay okay – I will stretch the wings back…

Pelican – and stretch the legs out… and then I am done for the day.

Koala Bear – I am just done for the day.

I guess it’s grooming time.

Kangaroo – I think I will just hang out by the pool and catch some sun.

Tortoise – it’s time for a snack

Blue Winged Teal Duck is going to snooze.

Unknown Bird

Peacock – yes I know you love my feathers but just wait and see what I can do with them ….

Peacock – all fanned out – close up the colors are spectacular

An amazing sight to witness – this peacock paraded for the camera.

Black Crowned Night Heron – just hanging out.

Flamingo – this was an interesting sight to see. The mating dance of the Flamingo. It looked like the were doing the tango.

Flamingo – they danced around each other.

Flamingo – flapping their wings

Flamingo – it was so interesting to watch.

Parrot – I love parrot’s they are always so vibrant.

Parrot – and I loved that this guy stopped to look at me long enough for me to get and image of him

Thank you for joining me for this month’s Tell me a Story.    This is a circle blog.  Please take time to visit my fellow blogger Melinda of Orange Moon Photography / Fargo Photographer and see what he have for you this month. Keep following the circle to see what the other photographers have shared this month. Don’t forget to leave a little love on their pages.

You can also find me on Facebook, Flickr, Instagram, Google+ and Viewbug.

Artists Inspired theme color for this month is Black.  Black should not be hard for me, I love black, it is my favorite color.  80% of my closet is black.  So why did I struggle this month.

First off, the day I was going to go and shoot my “black” theme, became Black Friday for me.  I flooded the double story house by accident.  Suffice to say there was a whole lot of water and it was not black.  Richards mood was not black either.

Then I headed off to the zoo to see if I could photograph the black monkeys.  Okay so I go to do that but truthfully that monkey was so bored that all it did was hang on a branch, and not move.  Once it looked at me and as I lifted the camera, it turned away. Reminded me of Ms Moonshine at home.  Each time I pick up the camera she will look away.

I was getting pretty desperate and actually took some images of Ms Moonshine simply because she is an all black cat.  I had one last Friday to do this, so after a doctors visit, and then breakfast with my son, I did a de-tour to Morikami Japanese Gardens and Museum for a short walk.  I am not optimistic enough to think I am going to be able to walk right around the gardens, but I manage 1/3 rd of the way before I turn around and go back.  So today images come from my walk through the gardens.  Come walk with me.

~ Black ~

of the very darkest color owing to the absence of or complete absorption of light; the opposite of white.

Just a reminder that this is a circle blog and I would encourage you to click to continue on reading what they other photographers in this group have for you.  Please stop by my friend and fellow photographer Ellie Meachem of Live Life Inspired Photography’s page and read her blog.  Don’t forget to leave a little love on their pages.

You can also find me on Facebook, Flickr, Instagram, Google+ and Viewbug

The Artists Inspired Blog Circle is made up of an exceptionally talented group of photographers from all walks of life, from all over the world. They are wives, mothers, friends, daughters and visual storytellers who draw from their own experiences to create art that is inspiring, unique, beautiful and thought-provoking.