Channeling Elliott Erwitt

Dog in Wheeled Transport – New York, New York I made this photograph about a block away from the Leica Store in the Meatpacking District. It’s probably my favorite photograph from this New York City trip. I like it so much that I have a framed silver gelatin print of this on my wall. Elliott Erwitt is a famous photographer, mostly using black and white film. Among his many accomplishments is a series of humorous dog pictures on the street. I don’t claim to be at his caliber, but this picture reminded me of his work. I shot three versions of this picture, slightly shifting my position to fine-tune the composition. I wanted to include the fire hydrant completely in frame to reference the dog. Luckily, the dog has a great expression and was looking at me. I may have made a sound to get his attention. I’m still not confident in rangefinder focusing, and I was ecstatic when I nailed the focus. The Leica M 246 is harder to use than the current auto-everything cameras. However, when the…