“Photography is about capturing souls not smiles.”
~Dragan Tapshanov
I never take posed portraits as I prefer natural, candid ones. Today I learned never to say "never". Walking down a small, designer district street I saw a man I wanted to photograph. But there would be no opportunity for me to capture a candid photo since it was just him and me with nothing to distract him. So I could lose the opportunity or just simply ask knowing my attempts at posed portraits usually come out stilted and ring false. After a bit of chatter on my part about my newly acquired Helios lens, I asked to take a few photos. I think he must have been a pro sometime in his life because he knew what to do and was very comfortable with the idea. He was an interesting man who grew various types of chili peppers of which he was quite proud and had a few with him. Today I stepped out of my usual mode and it paid off.