Street Portraits

Street portraits differ from street photography; in one you are capturing a "decisive moment" and in the other you stop the moment, take charge and get the shot you want.  As a portrait photographer I like to take control; I want the light a certain way, the pose a certain way, the look a certain way.  To keep things natural and realistic, I will often leave things pretty much as they are, especially with street portraits, but I always like the light to be nice.  Whether using natural light only or adding a reflector or fill flash, the light has to be nice.

These tourists from Germany were taking a pedi-cab ride near Bethesda Plaza in Central Park and I asked to take their picture; this was for an assignment to capture "typical" tourist things to do in New York City.  Filtered sunlight was coming …

These tourists from Germany were taking a pedi-cab ride near Bethesda Plaza in Central Park and I asked to take their picture; this was for an assignment to capture "typical" tourist things to do in New York City.  Filtered sunlight was coming through the trees and I popped an off-camera flash into their faces to clean up any shadows.      ISO 125, 1/160 sec. at f6.3. 18mm lens.