Taken just four days after I retired in 2012 with a Sony Nex-5N and a 55-210 mm lens that was purchased using a gift certificate given to me by my staff as a retirement present.

It was taken on 44th Street between 2nd and 3rd Ave in New York City and as I recall it was rather dark outside this building and I had to use a fairly high ISO. I also recall being struck by the two figures, one male, one female smoking outside the building. I was also attracted to the various kind of lines – some horizontal, some vertical, some diagonal. The picture still makes me a little uncomfortable – as if I didn’t quite get it straight. It took me a while to realize that the floor actually does slope towards the right. If you look at the lowest tier of bricks behind the woman you can see this quite clearly.