Taking it to the street

Sydney April 2013 (2 photos)

I was walking along when I saw this musician sitting on a stool in the middle of a pedestrian mall playing, with his back towards me. It was worth a shot so I changed the line I was walking along. My plan was to walk past him and then turn around and walk in front of him at a distance of 2 metres and get the shot in. I had my manual focus set at 2 metres and I commenced my run in. But then when I was about 5 metres away, he got up and started walking but kept playing. Quick change of plan required! He was kind of tall, so I changed my focus distance to 3 metres and then continued my approach, trying to get to a 3 metre distance whilst walking in the same direction as him. I was about set to get in front and then he decided to change direction. Foiled again so I just hoped for the best and took the shot anyway as best I could and then I walked away, hoping I at least got the focus correct.

In retrospect, this photo seems a lot more dynamic than my intended photo. So all in all, I’m quite happy with this “mistake” made good. Such is life for a candid photographer.