Long Beach Flea Market, November 2024

I honestly haven't picked up my camera in three months. I thought that I would break it out on a nature excursion but life had other plans.

I woke up at about a quarter to five yesterday and asked myself if I wanted to go to the swap meet in Long Beach or not? Leslie had other plans so I would have to go it alone. What the hell, I went for it.

The drive should only take an hour and a half at that hour. I threw on some clothes and grabbed a jacket and headed down the road.

I walked the whole lot, only bought one thing, a really nice reverse painted Pittsburgh lamp with a Classique butterfly shade. 

But I had brought my camera long, with a 85mm 1.8d Nikkor portrait lens, not the lens I normally take on these types of trips. 

Had some problems with it initially, got a rare error message but made it work finally.

I love Long Beach for street photography, the people are different and beautiful and comfortable in their skins and don't mind having their picture taken. 

I didn't have a single refusal yesterday, a record.

Second or third time for these two!

I've known a lot of these characters for over thirty years and I feel the need to capture them for history's sake!

I take my hat off to all these stalwart folks.

It ain't easy to sit on a cold street at three in the morning and to set up and shop, at any age.

But it is the life that many of us have chosen, for better or for worse.

Some of the faces are getting a bit worn but hey, look in the mirror.

You want to shoot pictures of people? Head to the swap meet.