Portfolio images revisited: Taking the veil

London, 2011: Taking the veil

A couple of friends and I decided to go street shooting in London back in July 2011. Not only is the city itself a great place to visit, but it also threw it´s first London Street Photography Festival that summer. It was a great opportunity to experience some exhibitions by the great street photographers and an offer we just couldn´t refuse.

Anyhow. One morning we got up early as my friend wanted to shoot some stock photos of the Big Ben. I wanted a shot of it as well, but had set up my mind to do it as a street photography rather than as a architectural photo. The plan was to lurk around and keep my eye out for anything interesting that included human presence.

After a couple of hours later i had still not found what I was looking for, I moved towards the Big Ben on the Westminister bridge. I suddenly noticed a strange figure in strong red colors, moving towards me on the opposite of the road. I almost got run over by a car while crossing the street, preparing my camera as I moved. I knew I only would have one shot to nail it and – realizing the possible religious implications taking pictures of this woman – so I went for a hip shot. Well, actually I put the camera strap over my neck and held it at chest level, pre-focused at 2 meters, turned the autofocus on, moved the focus point from center to the left and waited for her to walk into focus.

I never looked at her when I made the exposure – instead I had my eyes on the distance scale on my lens. As soon as the lens started to lock focus on 2.5 meter I knew I had her in focus. The Big Ben in the background was just a bonus, but as the saying goes: Luck is the time when preparation and opportunity meet.