Fulton St. BID/ Bianca

Today, i shot with Brian Vines. We covered the story of the BID (Business Improvement District) that has already passed the vote for Fulton St. The BID is somewhat controversial because some say it's just another imposed tax on business owners set up along Fulton St. between Classon and Rockwell Place. Others welcome it's offerings such as its address to safety concerns, sanitation, and marketing for the businesses within its domain. We got some nice beauty shots for B Roll...my signature long shots--or "compression" shots down the barrel of Fulton with various strata of street life all compacted into neat vertical layers within the frame. Whenever the reporter/producer allows me to 'go get' my shots without breathing down my neck over every one, i remember why i chose to be a cameraperson.

But the shoot was highlighted by the chance meeting of a girl patron of a cafe called Michael Allen, where we shot an interview of the owner for his view of the Fulton St. BID. Initially, i just asked her if i could shoot her sitting with her laptop for store B Roll. My circulation had already quickened. I was immediately attracted to her. She obliged happily. Her smile was sincere and inviting. We made small talk, then Brian and i left for the next venue in the story.

I was kicking myself as I drove the BCAT van up to another part of Fulton St.--for not asking her for her number. The way she kept smiling while seeming open to me, I realized i had a real shot at a coffee date with her. Regret had a pitbull grip on my coward ass. Brian appeased me. He said we needed to go back down toward the cafe anyway to get another interview with a different business owner close-by. He assured me, she was still at the cafe and i would be able to make-up for my bygone opportunity and close the deal. I didn't share his confidence--certain that some opportunities only came once.

I drove us back down...passed the cafe. I instructed Brian to keep an eye on the front window of the cafe where she sat about an hour before. Visible to both of us, she was now standing outside on the sidewalk talking on her cell phone. "She's still there!" Brian exclaimed. "See, i told you. Now you can finish what you started."

After we got our next interview, we returned to the cafe where she was sitting again in the same spot where i shot her earlier in the day. I rested the camera on the floor and approached her. She smiled again--the same welcoming smile as before. I asked her if she knew anyone in Brooklyn besides her aunt, who she told me earlier she was living with over the summer between semesters at American U in Washington D.C. She shook her head. "I don't know anyone." It was an obvious open door for me to ask her out. So that's what i did. I got her digits and made everything all better and shook that awful regret and it's firm grip on my ass, which no longer belonged to a coward. Whew.

Her name is Bianca. I hope this to be a long, hot, Bianca summer...