Plan B or even C

About half way through my working week, I look at the weather forecast for the coming days, especially Sundays and Mondays, my days off.
The last few weeks have been nothing more than grey murk or rain, so seeing the possibility of some welcome sunshine, I had planned to take a hike to some local woods, to capture what may be left of the autumn colourscape and a serene walk enjoying nature.

My usual Sunday routine after getting home from my nightshift just after 6am, is a couple hours nap, then up and at it, but a busy week and barely 3 hours sleep the day before saw me sleep through my wake up call and beyond but was still keen to get out with the camera.

As I enjoy a light brunch, I look through my notebook of photographic ideas, and the notion of a themed shoot of patterns and textures seems my likely course of action, a walk into the city will provide more than enough subject matter.

Guess who forgot that it was the not only the first Sunday in December but also payday weekend?
The High street was heaving, yet there was a real buzz around the city, the local buskers were out in force, the Christmas market was in full swing, it really was looking a lot like Christmas!

Up until a few months ago, I would have wanted to get out of the crowds at the first opportunity but today I embraced the atmosphere and started to look for opportunities.
I am not the most prolific of portrait photographers but today was different, I wanted to capture the smiles on the faces of those watching a brilliant dance group that were entertaining in a local shopping centre.

I have never enjoyed street photography as much as I did today, chatting with the onlookers and the few other photographers that were there, it was a very rewarding few hours.