It was not the first time I had seen this light shining so strongly in this stairwell. Late in the day, for only an hour a day, the sun slowly crept around the corner of an adjacent building to find its way into the second-story stairwell.
The challenge was to find a subject to utilize this shaft of light during the brief time it was focused in this place. Fortunately, this particular spot has good foot traffic, so it was not long until an unknowing subject appeared and stepped into a place where my camera was pre-focused to capture.
The inspiration found at this place provided the subject and the shadow in one frame while highlighting the gestures I was hoping for. Not capturing the identity was even better since it forces the focus toward the shadow play on the wall while highlighting the body shape and hands.
