A Personal Photo Challenge - Street Scenes

It’s time for A Personal Photo Challenge! “Street Scenes” is the theme this month.

As an introvert, this was a tough assignment for me. I cringe when I take photographs of people, especially strangers. We also live out in the countryside and don’t venture into the city very often. So I took advantage of an urban setting when we traveled to Charleston this past December. I could play tourist and snap away with some reduction of guilt.

And I did a LOT of snapping of street scenes. Most of my shots didn’t amount to anything. Either they were too blurry, mundane, or overly cluttered for my personal style. But I managed to get a few shots that I thought measured up to the challenge. I’m glad that I was able to push myself to try some street photography. But I know that this is one tough area that won’t be a permanent fixture in my wheelhouse of skills.

Charleston is a magical city, abundant with beautiful architecture and old churches. So I decided to capture one of its most noted landmarks, St. Philip’s. Located in the French Quarter neighborhood of Charleston, this structure dates back to 1861. The congregation is the oldest in South Carolina, established in 1681. I thought that this scenic view down Church Street, complete with a horse-drawn carriage in the distance, needed a sepia-toned black and white treatment to give the image a vintage feel.

St. Philip’s Church on Church Street

f/9.0, 1/800 second, ISO 320

Historic King Street in Charleston is famous for its vast array of shops and restaurants. We found the sidewalks bustling and crowded on the last Friday before Christmas. I was delighted to find a street musician along our trek, and I patiently waited for the stream of pedestrians to thin for a quick photo opportunity.

Charleston street musician

f/11.0, 1/250 second, ISO 400

I was going to venture onward, greet the fellow, and drop some paper money in his violin case. But this momentary look of anger cast my way convinced me that it was safer to cross the street and avoid a confrontation. I got busted! I gave both of these photos some detailed grittiness during the post-processing.

discovered by the Charleston street musician

f/11, 1/200 second, ISO 400

After a long morning of walking, we headed back to our B&B enjoy some refreshing ice tea and sit on the veranda. While we rested our weary bones, we could comfortably do some people watching. There was quite a bit of activity going on across the street at Battery Park. And one of the events was an outdoor wedding! And I had the good fortune of catching this candid of the newlyweds as they crossed the street after the ceremony. Isn’t it a sweet, tender moment? I did a lot of post-processing work on this image to de-emphasize the background and showcase the young couple.

newlyweds in Charleston

f/11, 1/200 second, ISO 400

I hope you remembered to click on each of the photos to see them bigger and study the details. It also would be great fun if you visited A Personal Photo Challenge blog and checked out the creative efforts of other participants!