so today I decided to take a short mellow ride on the flat pedal single speed urban cruiserthe old Karate Monkey is crusty and tired
not feeling its Sunday best
the front shock is airless and reboundless
yet this was the bike of choice for the day
a great non competitive option
fat tires and a small gear
early in my ride I ran into a team member of DCMTB
almost neighbor Ron Edwards was out taking a look at the water levels on the bike as well
although Ron was fitted out in full on riding gear and road bike
while I was riding with the camera
our bikes were as different as our motivation
but we each deviated from our plan
I packed up my camera and my desire to stop every 100 yards
and Ron dropped his notion of pedaling north and pedaled south with me
we rode at a social pace
Ron turning the big ring real slow
while I overspun my super small... smaller than i would ride\race off road gear
a gear I selected... well... never mind on that
we rode around and shot the shit
stopping at various spots so I could get a photousing Ron as the subject in the foreground
with monuments and such in the background
we took a short jaunt towards the Martin Luther King Memorial and the FDR Memorial
thought I could snap a shot and feel no guild about riding my bike though the near touristless memorials
well...
we rolled up on the Martin Luther King Memorial
I was thinking I could get a cool shot of the memorial with water up to his ankles
but no... the water was where is should be
there was no visible damage due to high water or flooding
oh well...
guess I will snap a shot anyway
well... there was this guy
this guy with his camera bag filled with camera gear
he was setting up shop and setting up his camera at the base of the memorial
there were people standing around
people from around the country and around the globe posing and taking photos
all with this guy standing in their shot
now... we are in public
and well... someone gazing at the statue or someone taking a photo of the statue
that is often part of the shot
but this... this is ridiculous
so.... I walked up to this guy and got straight to the point"you are in the shot... set up your camera somewhere else"
then stepped away...
"no worries... you are not in my shot... YOU ARE MY SHOT"
as I was taking a photo of the ASSHOLE PUTTING THE LENS ON HIS CAMERA AT THE BASE OF THE MLK MEMORIAL WHILE STANDING IN THE SHOT OF A HANDFUL OF TOURISTS WITH THEIR CAMERA
okay... who is the asshole?
me or him...
can I be an asshole for holding up the mirror?
in his mind yes... but there were other people with cameras in agreement
joker
fucking joker
self righteous short sighted ignorant joker
would love to see his shots
I wonder what he shoots?
maybe the facial expressions of frustrated tourists
tourists frustrated because someone is unnecessarily standing in their shot
that joker got under my skin and into people's shots
me... I love street photography
I am trying to get the shot of the person in the shot
but the other people there?
they wanted their child... their spouse.. their girlfriend or their boyfriend... their whomever... but not some stranger in their shot