Westheimer Street Portraits

I haven’t finished writing my NYC Street|Portrait post (it is coming!), but in the mean time, I must say, it was nice to be back shooting some portraits in Houston.  It was a quick set up and an even speedier turn around this evening, so I wanted to go ahead and get them up on the blog.

My friend Cody and I wrapped up an editorial shoot for a small magazine here in Houston and decided to go ahead and set up a Street|Portrait session with the little daylight we had left. We picked a section of Westheimer that actually attracts some foot traffic and, after getting permission from a clothing store owner, set up shop in the side alley of the store, right off the main drag.  Cody and I were joking around that as the project progresses, we are going to become very very good little salesmen.  When I get home, tired from a session, it is almost always as a result of having to convince people to stop to get a portrait made. Making that initial contact and pitching the “project” to strangers can be intimidating. I am always attempting to refine my approach…trying to find the best way to engage people to put them at ease (it is a strange proposition we are making) and to get them to open up.

Anyways, here is a rather typical Houston street corner on a late afternoon October day:

And here is my Street|Portraits partner in crime and occasional test subject:

Until next time, send me an email: ryanwrites[at]gmail[dot]com or just click here