Philadelphia Street Style: Tara, Walnut St.

Tara's jacket is from Anthropologie. Her dress is H&M, and her boots Jeffrey Campbell. I got the impression this wasn't her first time posing for a street style photographer.  We bonded over attending The Sartorialist book signing last month.

The guy Tara was with (her boyfriend?) asked me if I was trying to compete with Big Rube Harley, Philly's pre-eminent street style photographer (click here for my interview with Big Rube). I told him I couldn't compete with him if I wanted to. Besides, anthropologists, I'm pretty sure, aren't supposed to be competing with their informants. Then, of course, we compared cameras. He's using a D800 (show off). I've got a D700. His has more pixels. Mine gets better low light performance (ha!). Once you invest in a camera of this calibre, it's almost impossible not to compare yours to other peoples'. It's a sick fixation. I steal a quick glance every time I see someone with a DSLR walking down the street. And in historic Center City Philadelphia, where I most often shoot, that's pretty damn often. I'm trying to get over it. I love my camera, but I can't stop wondering whether the Canon Eos 5D Mark II would have been the better way to go. But then, as the guy with Tara pointed out, I'm already getting some pretty dope depth of field. Now, by the way, is when you are supposed to groan and mutter something under your breath about boys and their toys. Photography, in case you didn't know, is a competitive sport.