Capturing a photo of “just anything” turned out to be very difficult. I wanted to take a photo of something profound or meaningful to my life. Living in Brooklyn posed a challenge for photography given its crowded, uniform setting. It was especially difficult to take a photo of something outstanding because of the borough’s characteristic fast-paced life. Almost all sorts of buzzing activity, such as the movement of the subway train, are transitory; I missed the moment in seconds before the camera captured it exactly as I intended for it to. Going to the city in a car with my family for some shopping did the trick. Finally, I was in the midst of a multitude of passing images that I could choose from.

    After several attempts, I settled on a  photo of a blazing sunset over the city. I was definitely awestruck when I saw the sunset for its natural essence always seemed too remote from the city. Such a contrast was quite inviting to capture in a photo. As I tried to take the photo, I kept in mind the importance of having others notice  the subject’s intensity as it struck me at the time. The scene already provided the contrast that I had wanted to capture in my photo from the beginning. The brightness of yellow-orange sunset was offset by the darker buildings underneath. In order to compose a dynamic element in the image, I referred to the one-thirds rule. Instead of plainly and firmly placing the sunset in the middle of the photograph, I added an animated aspect by setting it in the first third of the picture. In that way, it seemed to be moving in to the right side towards the skyscrapers of the city.  I maintained a slightly slanted alignment of the photo’s components in keeping with the dynamic effect of the sunset. I hoped to compose a photograph of a sunset whose rich luminosity radiates outward, seeping into the soft, dark cloak enveloping the city.

-Faryal