My little photo club met about 3 weeks back for our second shoot together. This time, we had an actual theme: people on mobile devices. Again, I was traveling light for the shoot, and decided to pack my 24-105 f4 lens. I also packed my 50mm f1.8, though I never ended up using it. I just know that the day I don't pack that lens, THAT'S when I'll actually need it.

The shoot was much harder than I thought it would be. For one thing, you have to be really fast when it comes to taking casual people pictures. Add that to the fact that you're only taking pictures of people on mobile devices (i.e. cell phones, MP3 players, Bluetooth headsets), and you wind up having to take pictures extra-fast. An awesome shot won't wait for you to fiddle around with your camera.

I will shoot in manual mode about 99% of the time. I love having full control of my camera. And I don't want to go by what the on-board light meter reads. I might sometimes want my shots a bit over-exposed, or a bit under-exposed. I find that setting my camera with the light meter reading at the center makes for boring pictures. I actually prefer slightly over-exposed pictures, since I love the contrast that I get. The problem is that shooting in manual mode isn't necessarily ideal when you're trying to capture that perfect moment that happens in a split-second. Which is why I thought that, after the shoot, I thought that it had totally sucked.

That night, when I pulled the pictures off of my camera for processing, I was pleasantly surprised. The pictures actually turned out kind of neat!

This first picture is one of my favorites of the shoot. Due to the over-exposure, I ended up with a really neat effect. The reflection actually looks as if it were the "real" subject.

I was really excited to get this next one. I love how the guy on the right of the photo is casually showing a message on his smartphone to the woman on the left. He looks so very non-chalant. And so does she. All of this was happening while they were crossing the street.

This next photo is what I call my "fluke shot". I didn't want to seem like a nosy photographer, so I put my camera on automatic, slung it down to my waist, took a deep breath, and pressed the shutter. I was really pleased with the end result. Not only did the composition turn out well, I also love how I captured two mobile devices in one shot. And their engrossment with their mobile devices really captures what the mobile generation is all about.

The last shot I'd like to share is an interesting one. The picture was taken in haste, so it turned out blurry, but I really loved the composition. So I turned it into a high-contrast black-and-white and now it looks artsy. And I also think that it has a bit of a feel of some hustle and bustle going on around the subject, even though there's really only one other person in the picture.

To see the complete album, check it out here.