Cupertino, California - I was leaving the auto dealership today after getting the oil changed in my car. I stopped at a stoplight, at the end of a long line of cars. Since I am easily distracted, I was fiddling with the radio and looking at what stores or restaurants were on the street. As I glanced out the passenger window to my right this scene presented itself to me.
Now, one of the frustrations here in Santa Clara Valley is that the traffic lights seem to keep you stopped forever. You can feel yourself getting older while you wait. However, this time the red light helped me. It gave me just enough time to get the shot.
All I had was my phone camera. So I grabbed it, chose a lens, held it up to the window (one-handed), composed the shot and took it. I had only a moment to think about:
Q: Should I hold the camera high or low? A: Low.
Q: Is this going to be a color or black and white photo? A: black and white.
Q: What about keystoning in the image? Avoid it as much as possible.
Q: What if he looks up? A: I don’t know.
Q: What’s the story here? A: Let the image tell me.
This and more went through my head in about a millisecond. Then light turned green and I had to go. This was the one and only shot. A little crop and cleanup in Lightroom and the image speaks for itself.