Stylin'

I followed this woman and her companion for three Newtown blocks, until I could get close enough to take a picture of her shoes. Don't ever tell my I'm not committed to my art.



This sums up so much about Newtown to me. The stab at a personal style that bucks the trend. The pavers that have replaced regular bitumen footpaths in an attempt at gentrification. (I kind of like the pavers, don't get me wrong.) Oh, and ciggie butt in the bottom right corner that I cropped out of the frame.

I used a technique referred to as "shooting from the hip" for this. Although in this instance I guess it's "shooting the hipster from the hip". A discreet way of shooting when you don't want the subject to realise. Instead of bringing the camera up to your eye, you hold it down near your body somewhere (actual hip optional), aim in the general direction, say a prayer to the Gods Of Autofocus and hope for the best. Any composition flaws can often be fixed by cropping, but miss the focus and you're screwed. Out of a few frames I got this one, so fortunately - not screwed.