Looking back...

I think the best time I had taking pictures in NY was around the summer of 2000.

Physically I felt like absolute crap, but creatively it was awesome.

I was experimenting with taking shots and not taking the time to look through the camera.

So, I would glimpse the scene, feel it, stick my hand out and see what happened....

Once I had the technique down a bit, I could go to town with it. Took awhile.

F'rinstance, some random Chinatown shots doing this:





This is ABSOLUTELY one of my personal favorite shots.
A young mom, the kid standing on the stroller, the friend cooing at the kid.. all as the crowds swirled by.
I just put my hand out as I was walking by .. and clicked.

Its the glow on the kid's face that still makes me smile...







Another of my favorite shots.
I saw her walking briskly down Canal, and it was her confident stride and proud bearing that caught my attention.
The cheekbones helped too. :-)

I had all of 5 seconds to power up the camera, keep my hand down and steady, and catch her as she strode by.







That period of time is about when I really started trying to define my dreams and inclinations.

Where they turned from unfulfilled frustration into need.

"I NEED to do..."

It wasnt until I went to San Francisco where I started getting the answers I needed, even though it took me a long time afterward (as in most of 2001) to figure out what questions to ask.

Thank god I wasnt distracted, like with money, work or girlfriends, right? :-/