Last fall while traveling in California, I got a chance to
stay in Sacramento for a number of days.
I enjoyed the city, the people and the culture. I was a little surprised at the number
of homeless people in the downtown area.
Apparently, a large number of them have been camping out on the City
Hall property, using the Occupy Sacramento movement and holding an “extended
protest” as a cover/excuse to abuse the situation and just live on the
property. So the City Counsel
passed a policy on 9/11/12 stating if you wanted to hold a rally/protest on the
property it would require a permit and set the fee at something like $50. This amount is low enough to allow a
real rally/protests, but high enough to prevent the homeless from camping out
there forever.
Well the policy wasn’t in effect yet at the time I was there and there were homeless individuals hanging out around the building. This gentleman was more then happy to pose for this picture with one of his many signs he uses throughout the day. I had a great conversation with him, learned a lot about him and his situation, and unfortunately got close enough to smell him….. That part wasn’t great.
Photo Technique:
This was a 3-exposure auto-bracket (+1, 0, -1) set taken in Aperture Mode set at f11. Merged in Photomatix Pro.