Washington Square Park

I live very close to Washington Square Park, and this was the very first photograph I took with my new Leica Q, at the entrance to the park. I thought it was a funny photograph. Almost as if the workman was telling me to stop photographing him. It was a cold and overcast day, so I decided to shoot in black and white.

There was a group of ladies walking in front of me and I loved the way the middle woman's raincoat was billowing in the wind.

As I walked into the park, I spotted this couple making out under the trees. one of the great things about the Leica Q is that the shutter speed is so quiet. They didn't even know I was there.

Once I got into the park, I started experimenting with composition a little more. I saw this young guy sitting on the benches with his musical instrument by his side. I was trying to get a sense of what it would look like if I added a foreground image. i think it works well. It seems to push your eye towards the musician.

Time to try out the macro setting. I think it's pretty amazing. It's incredibly easy to get stunning extreme close ups. The background is blurred beautifully, which I later found out is called bokeh.

I spotted this fine grass at the edge of the park. In macro I thought it almost looked like fireworks. I love how soft the image is, accept for that one small area of focus.

I thought this would make a very interesting image. Both of the people in this photograph are pushing someone, the mother is pushing a baby and the other man is pushing an elderly gent. From stroller to wheelchair. From cradle to grave. It feels very "circle of life".

There were a couple of young kids who were amusing themselves just chasing pigeons. I thought I would amuse myself by trying out a faster shutter speed. I like the slight blur on the pigeon's wings as it really gives a sense of movement. But I'm also keen to try again with an even faster shutter speed to see if I can completely freeze the birds.

I'm a dog owner so, of course, I love dogs. This dog's face seemed to be saying, "enough already" as everyone fussed around him telling him how beautiful he is.

Here I am, again, exploring composition. This lady was quietly sitting, eating her lunch. But I loved the curved wall and the way it leads your eye right to her. I tried this shot a few ways, but decided that filing most of the frame with the curved wall made it more graphically pleasing.

Of course, this shot was really beautiful in color, but I think I like it more in black and white. It's less distracting and really makes the man and his dog stand out. I really like the composition. The fact that the subjects are so small in the overall frame makes it feel very graphic.

Forget about "swipe right", why not just look right. I imagined these two people on their phones looking for love, but all the time they were sitting right next to the perfect stranger. All they had to do was look up.