Feeding My Passion

As I mentioned in class, I was set to make pictures at a Taekwondo dojo last night, but when I got there last night, the owner didn’t want me to take photos. I didn’t figure out until later that it was because he felt there was more potential for me to take better pictures during his other, larger classes Monday-Thursday. I’ll have to remember to thank potential subjects for their interest in helping me get the best photographs I can, but to please let me see what I can do with any given situation. I’m already trying not to be an intrusion or waste their time.

So I went home fairly late last night without a photo. Bummer. It actually annoyed me not to get a daily picture. I wanted to get to the Saturday morning farmer’s market in downtown Merced, which is held every all year. The sign I keep driving by says it starts at 7a, but after jumping out of bed at 6:20a and driving downtown, there was nobody and nothing in the designated area at 7. Hmmm…

I needed to be somewhere by 8a, and I didn’t want to leave without getting something, especially since I missed my Friday photo. So I walked. I found the trio of Jehovah’s Witnesses a few blocks away before the farmer’s market started at 8a (guess I didn’t get the memo), and then took photos at the market as the vendors began to set up.

From left: Jose Esquibol, David Katen, and Jeremy Geiger wait early Saturday morning to hand out Jehovah’s Witness literature and talk to anyone who will listen.

Bill and Kathy Schaefer, who have a small farm east of Delhi, Cal., set up their stand to sell dried fruit, kiwis, oranges, and pecans before the farmer’s market opened at 8 a.m. on Saturday. They sell their produce at Merced’s farmer’s market all year around as long as it isn’t raining heavily.