Streetcap - October 2023
October, 2023
Coming off one of my best months of the whole year in September, I definitely felt confident going into October. On the very first day of the month, I flew to California for a week to celebrate my girlfriend’s brother’s wedding. After returning, I unfortunately had a very busy couple of weeks for work as it was Fall Fest season. I tried to shoot as often as possible during the last week of October to enjoy the Fall weather and document Halloween 2023.
Los Angeles - Santa Barbara - Joshua Tree
This trip was my first to Los Angeles and only my second-ever trip to California. We found a great Airbnb in Venice Beach, which I was excited to experience as I've only ever seen it in films. I had high expectations of the quirk and the evening light. Most of my photos from this part of the trip came from the Venice Beach boardwalk, skate park, or the surrounding neighborhood which I found had a really interesting, almost rugged vibe to it.
After a couple days in LA, we headed up north to Santa Barbara for the wedding. I didn't get that much time to shoot here, mostly it was quick trips to the downtown shopping district or walking along the waterfront with my GR.
Finally, we headed to Joshua Tree for 1 night and 1 day with my girlfriend’s family. We were pressed for time here, so I was mostly shooting around the Airbnb, in town while waiting on a brunch table, and during our drive through the park where we stopped at Skull Rock, Cholla Cactus Gardens, and finally the Key View for an amazing sunset. I kept my Series E 100mm lens on the entire time we were in Joshua Tree, and I found that the telephoto lens allowed me to notice lots of details and scenes I might not have been able to on my 40mm.
Continuing September’s Momentum
After a really successful September and kicking off October with such a great trip, I had high hopes for the rest of the month. DC is beautiful this time of year, and I wanted to spend as much time outside shooting as possible before the weather turned cold. Unfortunately, as a Community Event Planner, the Fall is a really busy time of year for me with Oktoberfest, Fall Fests, and Halloween events. As such, I didn't have all that much time to get out and shoot. Aside from a fruitful trip to Georgetown and a visit to the National History Museum, many of my best photos came 1 or 2 at a time as I carried my camera with me while out and about for work.
I tried to continue shooting in front of my subjects and having them fill my frame more. I also found myself really inspired by some of the contemporary New York Street Shooters who often time photograph the abnormal blips inside of normal life - for example, my photo of the bus stop ad which has been crinkled so the people look oddly disformed.
Event Photography
The one plus side to having a very busy October was that there were several busy events where I was able to shoot freely. One event was the Rosslyn Fall Fest which took place in The View DC, a 31st floor panoramic event space overlooking DC. For this event, I shot almost entirely at 28mm using my 28-70 AF-D lens which I really only use for events. I tried to keep in mind to get close and in front of my subjects, which is easier when at an event like this. I was so inspired by these photos I bought a cheap little Vivitar 28mm prime lens for my Nikon so I could shoot 28mm more often.
Another event where I captured some amazing photos was District Fray Magazine’s ‘We Are The Weirdos’ Halloween Party, which was one of the best events I have ever been to. This party left nothing to the imagination as it included a live band, dozens of vendors and artists putting on their own spooky installations and interactive performances. Since I was working the event, I decided to bring only my Ricoh GRDiii with the flash popped, and I was so happy with these photos!
