I was walking near one of the 34th street subway stations in NYC by Herald Square and this well dressed woman caught my eye. I had been trying street photography the whole week and this is one picture I really like.
Taken with the Canon R6m2 & the RF35mm lens @ f1.8, 1/250 s, ISO 640
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Indeed the young lady is so attractive with such elegant apparel that I thought this was a staged portrait session. In which case, I'm wondering about the bright white sign behind her head that's such a distraction. The timing of the man entering from the left creates sort of a busyness that I suppose I'd have wanted to avoid in a portrait as well. And the way she's wrapped her left hand and phone around her head to, presumably, talk on the phone looks a bit like she's gonna strangle herself.
Alas, you've captured a nice casual street scene, well lit.... and you got what you could without deliberately arranging the photo. I would love to have asked her though if I could take her picture, composing it to my liking, but I've never had the courage to do that with a stranger. Something about the woman that has a touch of nostalgia. I can see my mom wearing that coat and hat (but maybe not the shoes) in the 1940s.
I really like your comment. Thank you. I tried to capture the moment without distracting the subject. I could have cropped a little more to set the focus more on the subject, but that would take away from the story. I also did not want to ask her if I could take her picture because the context would change and you would not be looking at all the details presented here. It’s a portrait of a woman in the middle of resolving something. I am not sure if it qualifies 100% for this contest but I have a preference for capturing people when they are not expecting it. That makes the photograph more interesting as the viewer is left guessing what is happening in the scene.