I haven’t taken a photography course for a couple of years now.  This semester, I finally got my act together to sign up for the Street Photography course at Langara.  I picked this course because I thought it would be interesting, and would be a new area for me to gain new skills.

At the first lecture, I found out that the first shoot involved us asking strangers on the street for permission to take their photos.  This is something completely outside of my comfort zone.  Every time I thought about the first shoot, my palms get sweaty and I feel queasy.  This is why I’m not in sales and marketing.  I much prefer sticking my head in the sand and work with tax legislations and numbers.

So Saturday came, and I dreaded going to the class.  We met up at the art gallery downtown and got our assignment sheets.  The teacher gave us some pointers, and off we go on our own to get pictures.  I was nervous as heck.

I spent the next two hours walking around downtown Vancouver, asking strangers if I could take their pictures.  I would stutter about it’s for a photography course project, and I could e-mail them their pictures if they wanted.  Every person I asked, I braced myself for rejection and ridicule.  I mean, if someone ask ME if they could take a picture of me, I’d mostly likely say no.

But guess what?  I asked a total of 17 people.  Every single one of the 17 people said Yes.

I couldn’t believe it.  What are the odds of 100% of the people saying yes!  I was so relieved and ecstatic.  Not only did everybody say yes, they were mostly very friendly as well.  Two of the guys who looked the most scary (only because of their punk rock looks) even gave me hugs after I took their pictures!  Needless to say, I was floored.

Now I am looking forward to next week’s class!