In my head, the photo that I would take for Snapshot Day had to be completely candid, random, and out of the blue. Not having found any inspiration during the day, I headed down to St. Marks with my friends for dinner where I passed by the every-famous Japadog eatery. I’ve never actually eaten here before, but there was something about the eccentricity of the name and the luminosity of the neon lights that pulled me to take a picture.

I thought about the Rule of Thirds as I took this picture, but I wanted the sign to be the focal  point of my photograph so I decided to let it sit somewhere closer to the middle. I attempted to put it closer to the left or the right to follow the rule more closely, but it looked off and unbalanced. The angle that I took of the sign makes it look as if the sign is slanted. I didn’t want my photograph to be looking squarely at the sign, the slight diagonal of the sign and of the frame itself makes the photo much more pleasing to look at than if it were completely horizontal. The angle of the shot also gives a perspective into the store that leads your eyes inside and towards the back, trying to figure out what is going on inside.

The overall darkness of the composition draws your eyes to the bright sign, which comes off clear and distinct against the rest of the photo. The smaller lights above the sign and inside of the shop bring a little more light to the photo without taking away from the vividness of the Japadog sign. These lights also prevent the larger sign from looking like it is floating in a black canvas.

Overall, I think I accomplished my ‘candid shot’ goal for Snapshot Day while still thinking about the Rule of Thirds, lines, and colors and hopefully producing a well-balanced photograph.