I firmly believe that to be a great creator of content, it helps if you happen to be a ninja. Case in point, check out this candid natural light portrait of a man waiting for a friend in Jaipur, India. I was blown away by the intensity of his presence, his raw emotion. His placement was perfect. The only thing that would have ruined this photo, would have been his knowledge that I was taking the photo, or if I would have asked him to pose or smile.

Here is what I did: Although I normally use the viewfinder, I switched my camera into "Live View Mode" so I could see the action through my LCD. Here is a little guide from Canon about how to do this. I was able to hold my camera at almost waist height, while framing my composition by glancing down at it. I made it seem like I was just fiddling with settings while I was carefully composing the shot. I knew I only had one chance because he was close enough to hear if I went paparazzi on him with a bunch of exposures! 

We were both waiting for someone at the time, and we didn't say anything to each other, but we were so connected in that moment. It was some serious humanity connection. This is why I love Travel Photography. 

Somewhere in Jaipur, India.  

I witnessed this candid scene on the way out of Agra after beholding the Taj Mahal. Stay tuned for those photos. This man really stole the show and was an easy favorite from the collection. #streetphotography #travelphotography 

Please enjoy the first release of a new series called "Study of Two Figures."

Models Chelsea and Athena collaborated with me in a studio environment to recreate/reimagine/pay homage to my first real photoshoot I orchestrated back in Photo 101 many years ago. Monica provided an expert assist. That shoot was shot on 35mm B+W film and I wanted to preserve the feel of it in this shoot. Despite the change in medium-- switching to digital-- I am very pleased with the results. The original shoot was performed on a Pentax K 1000, an absolutely solid beast: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentax_K1000.

The new version was shot on my canon 7D with a Zeiss Normal 50mm f/1.4 ZE Planar T* Manual Focus Lens for Canon EOS Cameras. I had a blast using the lens and I look forward to shooting with it more. If you are a lens fanatic like myself you can read more about this gem Here. 

Stay tuned for more posts from this shoot as they trickle out of my post production laboratory!