Christmas time is always a good time to do a bit of street photography in our city, Adelaide, South Australia. The weather is warm, the evenings are long and there are plenty of interesting people out shopping in the central shopping precinct.
I was watching a lady walking along the mall carrying a large cardboard cut-out of James Bond, 007. As I was about to raise my camera to photograph her, another lady in a white top jumped to her feet, engaged with my subject and asked her if she could photograph her standing in front of a nearby Christmas tree.
Their short conversation led to some raucous laughter from the lady posing alongside the agent 007 cut-out..
I only managed to get one shot from behind the other photographer before the whole incident was over. But I caught the lady's laugh and pose. James Bond was shaken, not stirred.
Post processing. Brightening, sharpening and cropping the image.
Canon EOS R5, 1/100sec, f/4.0 ISO 250 with Canon RF 24 - 105mm lens @ 105mm
5 comments posted
Jim Wulpi
Martin. I love your infatuation with street photography. You always seem to present interesting images. This one is classic. Right time- right place. I love her heavy laughter.
The crop is appropriate for the scene while still getting the essence of the season.
Well done - again. Posted: 01/03/2025 20:44:37
Piers Blackett
You have captured a spontaneous and joyful moment with background seemingly falling into place with lines to accentuate action including leading lines from the foreground table and parallel lines. The wooden beam at the top is unfortunate - but not sure what you can do about it - perhaps remove it with the one to the right but it's a supportive structure. I would crop from below to lessen the appearance of a foot amputation, then you could crop from above to balance and remove some of the brown bar and all of the other one making it easier to take out altogether. Posted: 01/04/2025 04:13:39
Karen Botvin
What a fun catch. I love the subject's laughter and you captured it just at the right time. If only you were a bit more to the right that support structure may not have appeared as though it is coming out of the photographer's head. I also agree with Piers as to the crop on the bottom. The first thing I saw after the subject's laughter was the chopped off foot. I wish I had your confidence to do a bit more street photography as I really enjoy the candidness of those kinds of shots. Posted: 01/12/2025 18:35:56
Martin Newland
They always say that two or three sets of eyes are better than one. You are right, the lady's feet have been cropped off. I was too intent on trying to remove the white end of the concrete seat that I missed her feet. I have reworked the image. Thank you all for your comments.
Posted: 01/12/2025 23:08:50
Shirley Pohlman
Martin, most of us would have waited for that photographer to get out of the way, but this made it so much more fun. I bet she has as big a laugh on her face as the other gal. You couldn't have planned this any better if you had set them up--nice triangle of people, contrasting colors, and very sharp. So fun. Posted: 01/16/2025 02:30:00
