Pictures of People

I like taking photographs.  Susan might tell you that I love taking photographs and that she's kind enough to indulge me with my addiction.  I use a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT with a Tamron 28-200 Zoom and Polarizer Lens.  I have a great time taking pictures of buildings, statues, monuments, cathedrals, hotels, windows, doors, man hole covers, street signs, posters, banners, the food we're about to eat, the sign that explains the artwork or building in the photo that I just took, the reflection of the plaza off of Susan's sunglasses, the distorted reflection of a building on the windows of another, Susan taking photos of something else, lines or cracks or bricks that make an artistic pattern, and occasionally people.

I don't usually like taking photos of people.  Photos of people usually fall into two categories for me:
1.  People who are posing for the photo.
2.  A candid photo of people who aren't ready for me to take a photo of them.
Subcategories include:
1.A. People who blink, sneeze, or don't like their hair and need the shot retaken, please.
1.B. People who are posing for someone else but I'm going to get them looking away at an angle.
1.C. People who walk in front of, jump behind, or add bunny ears to people who are posing for me.
1.D. People who I assume agree when I ask them "May I take a photo of you?" in their language.
1.D.i. It needs to be mentioned that they are usually smiling or extremely quizzical because, roughly translated, I just asked them in Yoda-speak, "You may I photograph with gracious permission your?"
2.A. The candid photo is so candid that we call it a "hip shot".  The camera is ready, flash off, and it´s at your hip and you take the photo praying to the Greek God, Kodak, that the people are actually in the frame.
2.A.i. The "hip shots" haven't been successful resulting in a number of bad photos of a wall, forcing me to just obviously take a candid photo of someone who may not want their photo taken.
2.A.i.a. It also needs to be mentioned here that words like "obvious" and "candid" don't like being used together, usually resulting in anger.
2.B. People who are dancing, singing, running, jumping, or moving.  Sometimes I am able to capture the moment despite the movement but there are times where there is just a blur where their body once was.
2.C. I really need to study the proper MLA or APA form for outlining.

So, understanding that I usually don't like taking photographs of people, I have to admit that I've taken a lot of photos of people on this trip and I've really loved it.  All of the amazing, heartwarming, delightful souls that I met and got to know at Pueblo Ingles were especially photogenic.  Sitting very still during an important conversation with a person from another conversation allows for many photos of type 2.  Of course, this was a great experience for all involved, so there were many type 1 photos as well.  I was amazed to find that there were a large number of type 2.B. photographs that really captured wonderful moments during a party or a skit.  But even with all of these successes, this was no momentous event in photographic history.  Those people were people that I knew and they weren't surprised that I was pointing the camera at them.

Susan and I were in the beautiful, beautiful new cathedral, aptly named Catedral Nueva, in Salamanca, Spain.  By new I mean 16th century.  There are a lot of tourists around, Spanish and otherwise, observing and not observing the signs that clearly state "Quiet" and "No Flash Photography" in many languages and helpful symbols.  All of these visitors move in unpredictable groups, swarming from one chapel to the next and reading the signs, lighting a candle, praying, and talking loudly and taking plenty of flash photography.  There was one image of Jesus on the cross and I was so eager to get a photo (without a flash, thank you) and the lighting was breathtaking and I was patient and I had it framed perfectly but people just kept walking in front of me or in front of the sculpture.  I prayed to God, "I'm just trying to get a photo of your church.  Please move these people out of the way."  Pause.  And then I remembered that the people are the church and that I need to celebrate that fact and enjoy people more.  This is God's church.  Those are God's people.  And I probably shouldn't get upset if I take a couple of shots of them.  Especially if they're going to walk into the frame...

So I've been taking more pictures of people than on any other trip.  All types of people, all categories of photos.  Old men on a park bench.  Children on merry-go-rounds.  Bachelorette parties posing for someone else in the plaza.  Musicians, families, store employees and people looking in the windows of shops.  Older women are especially photogenic because they pause to have conversations together in meaningful clusters and their clothes are more culturally interesting, in my opinion.  People in bus depots, people at bus stops, people looking out the windows of busses, and people that the busses pass when I'm on the bus have been particularly successful.

I love taking photos of people  I didn't know it until I traveled to Spain and Portugal.  Not that I'm going to stop taking photographs of buildings and parks and flowers and trees and scenery out the window of the bus and other inanimate objects.  But I love taking photos of people!