Ryan J. Faer

I take my camera with me just about everywhere I go because I know that, like anything else, it is going to take a lot of reps for me to get proficient. And, already 6+ months in, I feel like I have made some progress. At the same time, I know that “getting good” at this will take years (and years, and years…).

Because I take so many photos and am just looking to build up my skillset – comfortability and efficiency with the camera, composition, observation, editing and post-processing, etc – it will surely seem to anybody looking at my photos (which is likely next to nobody at this point) that I don’t have one particular genre that I enjoy: peruse my Lightroom and you’ll see landscape photos, architectural photos, lots of shots of dogs… but this is just a product of taking every opportunity that I can to release the shutter button.

But, what I find myself most gravitating toward is the art of street photgraphy. Being an observer of the world around us and, namely, the people circumnavigating it, carrying all of their hopes and dreams, worries and burdens, children and pets – the entire human condition – as they go about their day. And, how the street photographer can not only capture these moments, but also do so in a way that also adds their own spin of the world around them, whether it be wonderful, humorous, apthetic or melancholic.

Street photography is hard, however. For many reasons, but predominantly because it requires the person holding the camera to walk a fine lin: on one side of the line humbly capturing a moment of a passerby’s time, and the other side intruding into someone’s personal space and life. But, from what I can tell, when done right, you can not only stay on the right side of that line and bring some personability to the craft, but you can also capture some really good photos in the process.

The other day, I had my first moment since I picked up a camera where I checked the results after a shot and said, “I think I may have finally taken a good photo”

Story behind the shot:

I saw this gentleman pushing his kids in their cart. He looked like he was on a mission (it was a warm Arizona evening, so I am sure he just wanted to be done with the whole thing already), meanwhile the kids were taking in everything around them. I was walking my dog, Ellie, and we approached on a narrow sidewalk. As I readied my camera, I nodded and smiled at the father (who paid little mind to me), and at the same time, the girl in the photo spotted my dog, drawing a smile from her as they went on with their evening. You can also notice another girl on the far right, mouth likely agape at the sight of an usual breed of dog (a Basset Hound).

You may not agree (and you have every right not to!) but this photo, to me, was that shot, that moment of feeling like I captured something to be just a little bit excited about – well, almost. Sadly, it is out of focus because I attempted to use manual focusing for the first time. But still, I am quite content with what I captured, enough for me to be motivated to put myself out there more around others in an attempt to capture these kinds of fleeting moments.