Going into this week’s assignment, Candids, I was excited to focus on people pictures. Historically, I’ve always taken pictures of things over people.

Now living in a large metro area, there is definitely no shortage of subject material. And while the world has become familiar with Brandon Stanton’s Humans of New York, I believe in most cases, he approaches the people he photographs first. Why? Because people here are one step short of a breakdown; for a plethora of reasons some folks do not want to be on camera, and they’re not shy about telling you so in a less than polite manner. 

It was a beautiful Spring day yesterday, so I packed up my camera with all other picnic essentials and my family went up to Central Park to meet friends for an afternoon of well-deserved sunny relaxation.

Central Park is just starting to open up areas that have been closed all winter to protect the grass. Yesterday was both the first day for Sheep Meadow to open up and Easter so I was feeling good about catching some great candids.

A Big Backyard: The park is a shared back/front yard when you’re a city kid. It’s where you to to ride your bike, scoot around, and on warm days super soak your family.

Sunday Stroll: A young orthodox Jewish man enjoying a walk through the park.

In the pictures above and below, and so many pictures from the day (not posted), while the person I was taking the candid of was not necessarily looking at the lens, others in the background were. In the above, perhaps these people were wondering if I was taking a picture of them. I particularly like the woman’s hair color behind his left shoulder. Also, sometimes people are just caught in a bad position (offensive hand gesture below, which was actually a sign for directions).

Pink Power: This mother and daughter color coordination absolutely rocks!

Chaka Chocolate: The King of the Bongos

While sitting in the meadow, my daughter and I kept on hearing an intriguing drum beat. She was antsy and so we left our group and went for a stroll. The music was calling us and we were lead to four amazing drummers. The music was mesmerizing to the point where I had to look to see how long were were gone .

Chaka Chocolate  showed up after 30 minutes or so and the sound dynamic got even better. When he arrived, you could tell by his confidence that the front man had arrived; it was interesting to watch his rituals of blessing/marking his spot before joining in. Chaka has so much energy and strength that in place of sitting like the others, he not only stood but also broke out and danced.

Bunny & the Bongos

This is a nice capture of the happiness that the drumming evokes.

Skake it Chaka

This is what the little lady above was watching when she started pointing.

Click here to see Rachael’s Assignment #5: Candids