Taking an “environmental portrait” was our next project in my photography class, and I couldn’t resist grabbing my camera and heading to downtown Orlando  An environmental portrait is typically of a person or a few people in their environment. Sometimes you can depict exactly where they are, and sometimes it’s a little more vague. These types of portraits tend to “freeze” people in time, allowing you to look back at the photo years later and see the differences from that time period.

What I enjoyed most about the three photos I chose below is that they all depict different kinds of people, all within the same place and time. They’re very different and yet all connected, which speaks volumes about the diverse nature of the city.

I have to explain the below photo, because Ricky would want me to. I was walking around Lake Eola when a man shouted to me to take his photo. I turned and saw the man in the photo below sitting on the ledge. He asked again if I’d take his picture, so I said “sure!” I looked down at my camera to get the settings straight, and by the time I looked up, this motley crew of friends had come together, ready for their close-up. After I took the photo and looked at the playback feature on my camera and saw how great it was to have captured this group of friends. I actually ended up seeing Ricky later too, walking around the lake, and he said he hoped to see that photo in the newspaper. This was the best I could do.