I don’t get to Philadelphia often. When I do, it’s almost overwhelming. So much stimulus for this small-town boy. More city, more traffic, more photo opportunities and, most importantly, more characters. It’s a goldmine. But, unlike beloved Baltimore, it’s a real chore getting there. Driving is a nightmare and the train requires way too much exact scheduling that my life just doesn’t jive with.

This last time in Philadelphia I made it a point to get to the city’s Chinatown. I had never been there,  and I was anxious to explore. I found it to be small in comparison to New York City’s, but still busy and the sidewalks crowded.

This is a photograph that has been shot with a SONY NEX-6 and a Sony 20mm f2.8 SEL20F28 lens in Rethymno, Crete.

I have mentioned many times before that my favourite hours for shooting Street during the day are early in the morning. The reason is that I get amazing light at that time, similar to the afternoon Golden Hour but brighter and sharper. I like using this light to make photos with deep, dark shadows and eye piercing, popping colours.

This is a photograph that has been shot with a SONY NEX-6 and a legacy Yashica ML 35mm f2.8 lens in Rethymno, Crete.

I was shooting the Street Hunt No7 – Manual Focus Street Photography when I stumbled upon this lot. As soon as they saw me, they wanted their picture taken. They thought I was from the local paper or something like that.

Everything happened very fast. The leader, the one in glasses, was the one calling the shots and telling me to take their photo. The rest, were just enjoying the experience I would say. They seemed like old friends, just catching up, one more time on their news. Cracking a joke, cursing lightly, laughing and just being fun.