Going downtown

"As a afternoon thunderstorm approaches downtown Baltimore and a light rain begins to fall as woman runs to her car trunk to fetch her umbrella on E. Baltimore St. Wednesday, July 9."

As odd as it may sound, I could spend hours on end roaming random streets in any city.

Unlike the old saying that states a mechanic has a junky car because when he gets home the last thing he wants to do is work on another car, much less his own - I do like taking pictures when off the clock.

It's a way of life.

Speaking of trekking city sidewalks, I've been downtown everyday this week. Typically when freelancing I didn't need to file all of my images in a city office. I just transmitted the half a dozen photos and went on my way.

But now that I am considered a staffer, I am continuing the tradition of archiving, in this case photos. It's also a good place to get some feedback and just get to know those I am working with a little better.

Also, since the heart of the paper is Baltimore, I've been shooting mostly in the city this week.

I grew up in the rural area of Harford County; cows, corn and barns. But I can say I know the city fairly well since my father would take us to the inner harbor and to watch Blast, no I mean Spirit, no well, I guess I was right with Blast, games. We even made it to the brief AHL Bandits game in which it was my first AM Track ride, but that's a different story.

Anyways, seeing through the ramblings of my writing, being in the city has me excited. I love to see how different areas of the state work. Each habitat is unique and people interact differently depending where you go in the world. Baltimore City is a different world than Jarrettsville.

I love to see the neighoods and how a single street light can divide two vast areas of town.

Maybe I haven't had the courage to walk the streets with my cameras yet, but I know there are a lot of people inhabiting Baltimore that inspire me in one way or another on each block.

I think it was back in high school when I saw a photo story of a photographer whom followed a violent gang in New York City. I was fascinated that this group allowed him into their lives. The images he got just made me want to know more and their story.

Since then, I've always wished to get that sort of opportunity in the mean streets of Baltimore. The closest I've ever got to that is "The Wire." In addition, I've never walked the sidewalks of Baltimore more than 10 minutes.

I always see so many features and interesting people when I am driving downtown, especially now. This week I've actually been pulling over and shooting what catches my eye between assignments.

The downside is I have to stay in my car because parking is a ridiculous.

I know I;ll be out finding features for print this summer and one day I'll get the strength to go out and shoot more of the city for a longer period of time. Hopefully by the end of the summer.