Timothy Pate

I left work around noon today to enjoy the overdue spring weather in St. Paul. I biked home, read a book in the park, and finally grabbed my camera to stroll around Lowertown without a subject in mind.

Before long I got a decent silhouette, so I decided to focus on capturing more profiles and silhouettes while I was out.

 First silhouette, inside Union Station

It turns out shooting silhouettes made street photography a little bit easier. I was taking photos from behind most of my subjects, so I avoided the awkwardness of facing people I didn’t know or who weren’t expecting to be photographed.

 Waiting at Union Station, Part I

Waiting at Union Station, Part II

My favorite shot came when a young women cruised by on her skateboard. The original shot was a bit dark, but I cleaned it up in Lightroom.

We’ll call this one “Pro Skater”

I learned a little something today that should put into perspective what an amateur I am. When I went to take these photos, I set my camera to shoot in monochrome. I hadn’t shot much in black and white, so I wanted to see what difference it made. However, I also was shooting in RAW format. RAW files capture everything that the camera sees; and the camera doesn’t actually see the world in black and white, even when you’re shooting in monochrome. So, I had to revert these images to black and white in Lightroom to get the effect I wanted.

I’m hoping to do more street photography, especially as the days get longer and warmer. I’ll try to remember to post here, and we’ll see how it goes!