PotD: Tupiza Market I

Markets the world over get going at first light and I like to get to them as the stall holders are setting up for the day, before the crowds arrive and disturb the peace. With the combination of the sun being barely up as well as the narrow covered alleyways, there wasn’t much light about when I got to Tupiza market in Bolivia. Some areas had daylight spilling through the cracks directly or filtering through the multi-coloured corrugated plastic, other areas were still lit by fluorescent tubes, creating an interesting colour spectrum as well as high contrast. I was looking forward to seeing how the Sony A7RII would cope with the tricky conditions. Having a tripod with me would have made my life a little easier technically but would have made my presence a lot more irritating to the stall holders on a tight schedule to be up and running on time. Keeping a low profile and being able to move out of the way quickly when you’re in someone else’s space can be more important than the technical benefits provided by a tripod. After I helped to lift clear a couple of the trolleys whose wheels got stuck in the open drains, I like to think I was a welcome distraction rather than a pain.