Know The Ledge

  If you plan on taking photos of people on the subway, you need to know the ledge. You have to know when to shoot and when to back off. You have to be able to read the crowd or something bad could happen.

  Just how close can I get to the subject before being detected? Is taking this photo worth a confrontation? Do I have the skills to defuse a situation before a fist, a knife, or a gun is used? These are things you better have the answer to be attempting this type of photography. 

  When you master these skills and the overall energy on the subway is negative, you can't get discouraged. After all, there's more than just people to photograph on the subway, there's texture. Philadelphia's underworld use to be full of texture, but it has slowly been disappearing since the year 2000. There are still little bits and pieces but you have to hunt for them.