Street A Saturday in Knoxville

[TNcasual]

When my wife and I first moved to Knoxville nearly 24 years ago the downtown was nearly a ghost town. Most of the office workers left at 5pm and never came back for any kind of recreation. The weekends were simply dead, with only a few dive bars and a couple of upstart restaurants.

Today, it is vastly different. It is a hub of entertainment, restaurants, music venues and festivals. There is always something to do or see going on. In those 24 years both major venues have been restored, the Bijou being more intimate with glorious acoustics and the Tennessee Theatre being just stunning. There are countless restaurants and shops and new hotels.

This all makes for street photography potential. Though street isn’t something that I partake in that often. It is something that I do enjoy on occasion. This weekend made for a great opportunity for a day out. There was a youth sports event at the nearby convention center, a family friendly chalk art event on the public plaza and the yearly Big Ears Avant Garde music festival playing in spaces all over downtown. People were just everywhere, enjoying a sunny and windy warm day.

I made it downtown around 9am and went for a stroll to see what was about, bringing my K1 and the Leica Summicron-R 50 f/2 and Leica Elmarit-R 28 f/2.8 along. Most of these were shot on the 50.

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[TNcasual]

Next, I set up along the sidewalk on a fairly busy thoroughfare. There were people constantly moving to and from to any number of destinations. I stood with my back to the fencing with the camera at chest level. I shot with the Leica Elmarit-R 28mm f/28 mounted as the sidewalk was narrow and used zone focusing.

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[TNcasual]

Then I strolled over to the chalk art event. It was quite difficult to shoot these wonderful pieces of artwork. The light was strong, but so were the shadows, and it was simply so crowded with people you could hardly get around. That being said, there were some stunning, ephemeral pieces created.

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[TNcasual]

Lastly, I found a relatively quiet area where the light was filtering between two buildings and through some trees. I sat on the curb with the trusty Summicron-R 50 waiting for subjects to be framed by the architectural designs on opposite sidewalk. I am very proud of these. I think everything comes together very nicely – the window treatments, the faux columns, the neutral but ornate doorway, the interesting subjects all in the dappled lighting.

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