Photographic Surprise #1

I love toying with photography; I am one of those folk always carrying a camera to every event, and often, to no event at all. Missing a photo-op irks me to no end. When crawling or climbing, or permissions are required for my perfect shot, I am sometimes bold, and sometimes meek. I grumble for ages after missing a shot due to a bout of insecurity. I've been incensed for weeks over missing the running nuns (August blog).

I snap and snap and snap. I experiment, try to catch a mood, a light, a scene. I stage photos for websites, practical jokes, inside jokes, christmas and birthday cards, and e-mails. The highlights are printed at home, the best are printed professionally and framed, and some have been entered in amateur photo contests, for kicks. And, most are deleted. I tried.

I always zoom in and go over every square inch of photos (mine and yours too!) looking for things I hadn't noticed when I took the picture, or looking for a photo within the photo— maybe there's something amazing that I can crop out, to make another image.

I often find something surprising, especially when I'm taking busy scenes, while on the run, or site-seeing. I have been thrilled, amused, and also heartbroken, to see what I have accidentally captured when I scour my photos.

Here is a shot from a fish market in Chinatown (NY) that I brought home with me, and tooled around with. I'd lightened it a bit, and zoomed in, started at the left corner, moving down, back up, checking out the neon sign, the shopping bags, the employee's boots, the fish, the clock, the scale, OH!

Oh Hiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!! Yay, I brought home a friendly face, too! Two of them actually! Ha!

I want to run and find them, and tell these guys "thanks for waving at me! It totally made my day—3 months later!"