- Travel and Places
Shooting street scenes @ Banbury,Oxfordshire,UK
On a sunny morning @ Banbury.
It was a beautiful English summer.... the day after Ruby, my wife and I landed @ Banbury from Calcutta's humid and hot weather.We shall stay here for two months, a one-month stint enjoying the summer and then come back later in August to enjoy the start of English Autumn.
We have come with cameras, battery chargers et all, with the idea of taking lots of photographs..Our enthusiasm hit a road-block on the 1st day itself ! This 'hub' is about the disappointing experience of the morning of 11th may,'10.
Ritika ,our 'guide' that morning, offered us two choices ::
- Travel to Oxford with her by train, where she had an event to attend in the afternoon, walk around with her for couple of hours and later return to Banbury by a car ,courtesy one of her friends , OR
- Walk around the neighbourhood and the town centre , enjoy the sunshine and return 'home' to take rest since we were slightly tired after a long journey from Calcutta.
We opted for the later and went out with her admiring the greenery ,bright sunshine and cool breeze.But, my idea of capturing the ambience of the shopping area came to a nought.
After I clicked a couple of shots, a shopkeeper asked me ,very politely though, as to why I am taking shots of the shopping area. At 63 , I am sure I do not look like a terrorist or a crooked man's assistant ! When I explained that these shots were meant for a blog and without the shop's hoarding, he relented but did not seem to be too happy.
Next click was outside a bookstore where i captured the Store's name too .this was when a young Security man came up to me , and politely asked :
- Do i understand English ?
- Why I am taking photos of shops?
- Have I taken permission of the owner of the bookstore ?
Then, he explained that I should refrain from taking photos of 'private' properties, smiled and , wished me ' Good day' so that we do not feel intimidated and withdrew.
We ended up taking photos of stone buildings and empty roads , ......none meeting the 'Street Photography' criteria of Flickr !