RED and BLACK

011708_1542a.jpg, originally uploaded by abbyabby.

LET THIS BE A LESSON TO US ALL:

This capture scenario had the potential to be one of our most complex yet. Unfortunately, here at PVP, we usually learn things the hard way, and as circumstance would have it, I let the opportunity slip through my fingers.

Here's what happened: I wearing a red and black plaid jacket. I was walking south on the East side of 1st Ave when I spotted it. Draped over a chair, pressed up against the glass wall of a restaurant kitty corner to me was a jacket almost identical to mine. I immediately crossed west, never taking my eyes form the subject. (PLEASE NOTE, dear volunteers, in all your excitement you MUST NOT FORGET to LOOK BOTH WAYS.) Approaching from the north, I opened my phone as I drew closer, in simulation of an incoming call. Though the subject had her back to me, she was dining with a friend who watched me as I came towards them. I realized the unique nature this shot, with the potential of capturing the coat inside as well as my own reflection in the glass. Two in One; the predator and the prey, flattened into the same picture plane. My blood pumped. I reached the curb, hands shaking, I paused to focus the frame. It was then that my confidence took a sudden plunge and paranoia grabbed the helm, and paralyzed by fear and self consciousness, I was unable to accurately compose the shot.

Now listen close, dear PVP volunteers: Although wearing the plaid you're hunting adds an exciting cannibalistic twist and an increased adrenaline rush to the act of capture, such outward allegiance the plaid will make you exponentially more conspicuous to your subject, causing the heightened condition I have just described, and may result in your inability to get the shot you want. Though the events of this afternoon proved unfortunate, there is a lesson to be learned from this: Choose your patterns wisely, for if you dress a turkey, you are what you eat. 1st Ave x 13th St. 1/17/08 3:48pm