Chasing Bubbles. Taken January 1 2012 at the Philadelphia Mummers Parade.

Hey everyone, we made it to Friday!  I hope the first week of 2012 brought you joy and a renewed sense of hope and gratitude and thankfulness for all the people, places and things that are important to you.

I wanted to end the first full week of 2012 with this post.  This is hands-down one of my personal favorites from Sunday’s Philadelphia Mummers Parade.  I love this shot for a couple of reasons….

First, I waited for the scene to unfold. The little boy had not approached when I first started shooting, but I figured that if there was a grown person with a bubble making device, a child wouldn’t be far behind.  And I was right.  The little boy walked up, holding out his hands to try to catch a bubble or two.  I shot a few frames, including this one.  It was a great payoff and a reminder that it’s definitely worth it to wait for good shots to come to me.

Next I love the balance of light and dark in this composition, along with the level of detail that it presents.  It tells a story. It just works for me.  When I shoot, now more than I did when I started shooting on the streets, I try to fill the frame with details that help tell a story.  Simply, to me, this image is representative of the whole day…families up and down Broad Street in South Philly, enjoying an annual tradition and enjoying one another.

Finally, this image evokes in me a feeling of nostalgia….a longing for the simplicity of days past.  I was amazed at the bubble blowing technology…bubble guns?  But I was never, once surprised by the wonder that a stream of floating bubbles evokes in the eyes of a child.  This scene was no exception.

What’s the point of street photography if your images don’t tell a story?  They don’t have to hit the viewer over the head with a moralistic theme or message or anything, but *I believe* that they *should* provoke the viewer to contemplate an alternate view of reality and give meaning and emotion to the mundane.

Peace and blessings!