This is one of those rare occasions when a street candid gone wrong actually makes the image.

Ninety percent of the time, a street photograph loses all of its rawness when a subject notices you are taking their picture. They usually turn away, smile and pose, or stare right into the lens. Those actions inevitably result in photos depicting the backs of heads, smiles (a.k.a. non-candids), and people staring right into your soul. When this happens I usually swear under my breath, delete the image, and keep walking.

The other ten percent consists of photos like the one above. A man offering mountain sheep rides in Dali (大理) Old Town, China was none too pleased to find me taking pictures of his business without paying. I got told off something fierce, but I can only thank him now.

Had a great time yesterday at 500px headquarters, eating cookies, drinking tea and talking about geeky stuff with Sara Collaton and the guys. Stopped by to say hi at 4ormat\’s office as well. It\’s so exciting to see such great photography startups in Toronto, and such an honour to hang out with people who work their asses off and make big changes to the photo community every day. If you\’re a photographer, be sure to check both of them out.

Special thanks goes to Sara, a talented photog and incredible person for whom I have immeasurable respect. I now have a lot of British comedy to catch up on, a lot of piano transcriptions to work through, and a lot more to learn about life than I thought. Settlers and shooting/editing days soon?