It’s happened, on more than one occasion now, that a street performer in Vancouver has noticed my camera and decided to pose for me. These guys love all the attention that they can get and I’m happy to oblige! They are very interesting characters.
I didn’t catch his full act, or name, but the performer in the photos and video below managed to persuade me to use my camera in a crazy balancing act. The act itself wasn’t so crazy, but I was for letting him touch my camera. I made sure to put the camera on video mode so that I would have proof if something were to go horribly wrong. Thankfully, it turned out he really knew how to balance things on his chin well, *phew*.
He insisted this was a good pose.
He insisted this was even better.
Here is a video from when my camera was attached to his monopod. The aperture was around f4 so the crowd did not appear in focus from that distance, but it’s kind of interesting. Kind of.
I walked around downtown for a short while yesterday with my camera and decided to share a few random shots here.
A street performer singles me out of the crowd to pose for my camera. He then asks me to put the picture on Facebook.
A man skateboards around the city with his guitar. Vancouver is full of busking musicians and local bands.
Kids carry balloons left over from the Olympics. Vendors everywhere are frantically trying to get rid of extra Olympic stock.
Click Photo for Gallery
Vancouver has a larger homeless population in one area than most places in North America. The issue of the downtown east side has been a heated debate for many years. What do you do with all these addicts and the mentally ill? The government is now desperately trying to do something about this area now that the Olympics are coming next year.
Shooting in this area is great for street photography because there are so many interesting people. However, it’s not a great idea to let everyone know that you are taking photographs as not everyone in the area appreciates attention focused on him or her. Try to be inconspicuous with your shooting – shoot from the hip, for example – to avoid being yelled at.
Click the photo to the right to view a gallery of photos I shot today, all mostly from the hip.