One of my biggest photography hurdles is gathering up enough courage to ask strangers if they mind having their photos taken. I am forever in awe of those candid shots of people out in public. I can never seem to find the guts to do it myself. Despite outward appearances, I’m a lot more shy than you’d think, and the thought of approaching a perfect stranger to say “Hey, mind if I take your photo?” kind of creeps me out. I know, I know, it’s something I just have to get over. “No guts, no glory”, as my dad likes to quote.

A few weeks ago, I was having one of those Saturdays where I was determined to be productive, whatever the means. I ran into a nice gentleman outside my building who struck up a conversation with me about the neighborhood. He asked me what I was heading out to do, and I thought for a second before telling him I was headed out to take photos. We got to talking about photography (he dabbled as well) and he got me thinking about how I’d like to expand my photography skills. I was empowered to go out and do some people photos.

Here is my first attempt.

This woman was sitting in Union Square, a huge hunk of bread in her hands. She would spend minutes concentrating, gathering bread crumbs.

The birds waited eagerly. Even the squirrels were stopping by to see what all the commotion was about.

And when she threw the crumbs to the ground, it was quite the commotion. It was amusing to observe the birds waiting patiently at her feet, only to be startled and flap away in a panic when the crumbs came their way.

I’m a little more at ease knowing how easy it was to get these photos. The woman didn’t mind at all — she was perfectly content to perform her bird-feeding ritual much to the birds’ (and my) delight.

Maybe this people photo thing isn’t so hard after all.