Looking through my archives, I see that I have absolutely no street shots of the people in Charlotte. I had plenty of people in Charleston, but none here. Well, I've set out to remedy that situation. I know have the prime opportunity to shoot most every day. In order to get a less expensive lot, I park 5 blocks from work and walk in. Each day, I take with me my Olympus 35 LC, though I will be switching to the Leica because, quite frankly, it is a much better machine. I'll qualify that just a bit. The Oly is a great camera, but the controls are so very easy to accidentally move, especially the aperture ring. I have to make sure to hold it a certain way so as not to bump the controls. I find this distracting and it ends up in missed shots. With the M6, I have no such constraints. I set it and forget it. I see something, I respond. That's it. The center of Charlotte, both literally and figuratively, is the corner of Trade & Tryon. Should you ever find yourself in Charlotte and want pictures of people, this is the place to be. No, it's not NYC, nor even close, but you will find an diverse range of folks, all interesting. On Friday afternoon, for example, on the Northeastern corner was a man with a bible preaching to all who would listen, opposite him on the Southwestern corner, stood young man atop a small stool with a microphone talking about who knows what. On the Southeastern corner another man, seemingly homeless, babbling on about something, coherent to him, perhaps, but ignored by most. On this particular day, the Northwestern corner was unoccupied, at least at this time. Of course, I didn't have my camera with me, I was heading to lunch with some of my coworkers. No excuse. I happened to photograph the guy above one morning on the way to work. Although my building would be directly to his back, I like to walk past the building, shoot a bit, and relax before going into work. I usually arrive downtown about 8:30, arrive at Bank of American Center at 8:40, but I don’t go inside until 9:00 AM. The interesting thing about this shot, for me, is that the guy and the statue are looking in the same basic direction. FYI: The name of this particular statue is Industry; It is one of four statues on that corner. All really cool works of art. Well, it’s a start. Time to get the M6 out and have at it. Oh yeah, this is the first roll of film that I’ve ever developed in Charlotte. 
Olympus 35 LC – Ilford HP5 – Rodinal 1:50
Apr 112010
Recent Comments