Poetry in Reflections - Street Photography 1.24.12

Blog by: Russo Mutuc

The image below has a nice story to tell. A rainy night in Los Angeles, left a puddle of water in the parking lot on Hill and 8th Street. Upon parking, you will meet Hector, the attendant on duty. It's been two weeks-in-a-row now that I have seen Hector, and chatted with him for a bit.

Hector doesn't know it, but he has space around him, that attract my visual senses. One of those striking subjects that seems to call my attention is the Orphuem signage. On a good sunrise, you can see the sign create nice shadows along the brick building wall to the left of the image. The combination of brick, light, signage, texture, and the feeling of historical buildings really make the story come together.

On this special day, I knew what I wanted, which was to document reflections from the puddle of water, which the rain dropped in the course of the evening.

A woman walked pass me as she looks at me with awkwardness, while I was shooting towards the water. Her eyes would scan from top to bottom, as if she is checking me out. She makes her way to Hector who kindly explains to her what I've been doing in the last 15 minutes. Hector, his my new friend, since this is the second time he has seen me, automatically, he knows what I'm up to.  

The image created from the puddle of water has a unique look. Because water is organically moving, it helps create a sense of poetic reflection, a flow of natures creations, along with structures that help shape the solid foundations. The reflection has a diffuse light source, which softens the image look, eventually, making it warm and pleasing to look at.

D80 18-135 Zoom Nikkor Lens