If you can’t find a brick wall, then how about a glass wall? Such was the case when I was shooting in Chicago’s Millennium Park in summer 2009. All the ingredients were there for compelling imagery: it was hot, there was a waterfall-like fountain nearby, and plenty of kids were playing without the slightest inhibition. To use a worn-out phrase, it was like shooting fish in a barrel. The bigger challenge on this day was finding the parents, both to share the results and to get signed model releases.

This young boy was of particular interest to me because he seemed filled with joie de vivre. When I returned home and opened up the many images I took that day, there was not one bad one of this little guy; he was as expressive as this in all the photos I took.

Note the clean, concise, and simple composition. It is nothing more than a glass wall with a little boy in front of it. You will find no “crying babies” here!

Nikon D300S with Nikkor 24–85mm lens at 85mm, f/5.6 for 1/250 sec., ISO 200