As I sit and ponder the freaky year of 2020, I'm both happy with what I've achieved and with my advancement as a photographer, but also sad that the pandemic changed what was suppose to be my most traveled year of photography yet!

I always like to look at both sides of events, and with 2020, I have to admit, it's possible my YouTube channel could have been completely different if not for covid, and perhaps not as successful. While I don' t have a barometer to measure the results of my YouTube channel in regards to success/failure, I do feel like my channel was a personal success.

In actual numbers, since I jump-started my channel using the Ricoh GR III with my 'Review for Long Exposure and Night Photography' video on May 5, 2020, I've posted an additional 41 videos, with a total of 80,000 views, 7,000 watch hours, and over 1,100 subscribers. I'm averaging over 100 new subscribers per month.

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Ricoh GR III Street Photography Point-of-View #7 takes us through the urban streets of downtown Indianapolis while I ask strangers if I can take their pictures. This is the best way to do street photography as it allows you to compose the shot, capture the personality in the subject's eyes, and possibly gain a follower, client, or even friend.

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I continue my testing of the Ricoh GR III by asking strangers in a small town if I can take their picture. I also grab some shots of the town's memorial to our fallen heroes, a nice throw-back ice cream stand, and some other photos along the way.

The purpose of the video is to show how to take advantage of an average walk around a small town, whether you're with your family, or just stopping by on your way to another location and don't want to lug around the DSLR or other large camera. The Ricoh GR III is perfect for this sort of photography, as it's not intrusive and doesn't really attract attention.

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One reason I love the Ricoh GR III is because it allows me to travel light, drive around looking for photo opportunities, then jump out, get my shots, and be on my way. There are times I like lugging around my DSLR and gear, but there are other times it makes more sense to have something light, yet powerful like the Ricoh GR III.

I left my house in the early evening on a day in May with sketchy weather brewing to the south. Within 15 minutes of my house, I passed an old house that first appeared abandoned, but as I got closer realized there was a For Sale sign in the yard. But upon even further inspection I found the house to indeed be empty of a resident, and an abundance of trash including a lot of old rusty artifacts.

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In this Point-of-View Street Photography video, I walk downtown Indianapolis, Indiana asking strangers if I can take their photo with my Canon T3i camera and 18-55mm Kit Lens III. Most agreed, only a couple did not, yet they still at least talked to me.

The advantage of asking for a portrait, or picture, is that you get the subject to look directly into the camera, which is where the soul of the photo makes its appearance. It might be artsy to have the subject look away, or capture a candid shot when the subject looks at you, but when you ask to take their picture, the corner of the eyes slightly twitch upward, which is where the person's true character comes through. Even if they are not smiling, there is a sense of surrender that they are allowing you to take the photo.

In hindsight, I would have taken more closeup shots of these individuals. The situation was a bit different than usual, in that the Covid virus kept most of the usual workers off the streets, leaving the construction, security and civil employees, and the homeless. I normally do not approach homeless people for photos as I feel it's taking advantage of their situation, and I don't want capture them like animals behind bars in a zoo. But on this outing, it was hard to tell who was homeless and who wasn't, so I just started asking anyone I saw, and the payoff was some excellent portraits.

Sharp and Clear Canon 18-55mm Kit Lens III

I just recently purchased the Canon 18-55mm Kit Lens III to use on my T3i when I don't want to take out the Canon RP. This lens proved to be very sharp, very accurate, and despite being a kit lens, performed exceptionally well during this photowalk in May 2020 during the Covid lockdown.