Hip Shots

Barcelona, June, 2009

If you use an instrument or a tool long enough, eventually you don't see its separateness anymore.  The thing you use, whatever it might be, ceases to exist separately and becomes virtually an extension of you.  I know several seasoned musicians who feel this way about their instruments.  

I've been shooting 1 Series Canon cameras for nearly a decade now.  Both my Canons, in fact, are set exactly the same so that I can switch between them without thinking about it.  A few years back Canon changed the interface and operations of its 1 Series.  I've grown so accustomed to mine that I can't really imagine switching over anytime soon.  Well, that and the expense too.

Jada Cole's, May, 2010

I'm so accustomed to them, actually, that on many occasions I can just point a camera and click off a shot being pretty certain not only that I was able to achieve focus, but that I also captured an interesting frame too.

The first shot in this series was captured in the Bario Gotico in Barcelona in June, 2009.  I was standing outside a small, quaint shop waiting for my daughter to decide what she wanted when this couple just crossed my path.  The guy made eye contact with me and grimaced.  I don't know why -- he just did.  I quickly angled my camera, pressed the focus button and then squeezed off a shot.  No second chances on this one.

The second image was taken as the parting shot as I left Jada Cole's late one evening in May, 2010.  As I was leaving the bar, she looked over and smiled.  I moved my camera in position and took this shot.  I think she's lovely.