6:30 AM is perhaps an odd time to go outside to take pictures, as the sun is barely rising and the brightness is usually a bit complex. However, it's always interesting to do this kind of variations and exercise my ability to take street photographs under different conditions than I'm used to.

In addition to the light challenge, I have also met people with whom I do not have a direct friendship. This then is a lovely thing for me, as I am forced to take photographs in a fun "sneaky" way. For example, in this photo above, two men are waiting in the street for someone to take them to their place of work on some farm in the surrounding fields. One of them even has his breakfast sitting on the street. A charming, spontaneous and human photo from my point of view.

As always in my town's streets, there is plenty of human drama to photograph. Clearly the current difficult economic situation has taken its toll on the lives of the villagers. So that is fully reflected in the streets, especially at these hours when people who wake up earlier, go out into the streets, some to work and others to just "see what's going on outside".

That charming little dog at the bottom of this photo is "Chicho", a stray dog wich I haven't seen for a few weeks and whose main characteristic is to accompany me when I take pictures on the streets. Finding Chicho at this hour indicates to me perhaps he has "changed" his "wandering schedule"... And, among other crazy things, those signs hanging on the poles textually say: "Eggs for sale right in front of the funeral home"... What a strange thing to read at this hour!...😂

"Bobby Burger"... Seems to me that copyrights and trademarks are not something wich is very respected in these remote towns. I would like to know what the original franchise would think about this "very local and endogenous" adaptation... 😂

The old "Mr. Blas Grocery" is still there practically the same as when I was a 10 year old boy and came here to buy marbles and collectible stickers for albums. Now it no longer functions as an grocery, but someone lives there in that old house with a metal roof and full of stories. This place is about 15 blocks from my house, so coming here was a "big street adventure for me" back then.

Some houses seem "frozen in time" and their tree-lined yards are still something to behold. It seems to me the morning hours enhance the bucolic aspect of these small corners wich are still imbued with the air of yesteryear... The aroma of freshly brewed coffee seems to be everywhere...☕️

A touching image and one that usually breaks my heart. This pair of stray dogs seem to have simply slept there "out in the open". Unfortunately this is something that happens a lot here due to the large number of stray dogs we have. Many neighbors feed them and some even take care of them and shelter them at night. However, there are not enough to go around.

After 7 AM the town begins to gain some movement. This is "Miranda Avenue" one of the main access and exit routes of the urban area and perhaps one of the few streets where there still a certain amount of traffic and a more presence of people in Montalbán.

Some kiosks where groceries are sold begin to open their doors and the dependents (in this case just a child) take part of the merchandise out onto the street so that it can be appreciated by passers-by.

I rarely walk along this avenue. It's not a place I like very much, in fact I haven't found it "visually interesting" in the last few months. But I find this perception changes in these early hours of the day and I can see a certain charm in taking pictures here. So it is possible that I will repeat this experience soon.

In the side streets, there are some interesting things to photograph in the future; such as this old truck left on the street, whose "visual drama" is significant. Yes, I will surely have to "wander" here more in the future.

TECHNICAL NOTE: This time I took my old (really very old) Nikon D3100 camera out of my drawer along with its 18-55mm lens (the one from the kit) to take these photos. Surely it was not the ideal choice, but I confess that I have had a world of fun taking these photographs under different conditions than usual. I took all the photographs in RAW format and processed them with Adobe Camera Raw to later export them to JPG format. Some minor adjustments like straightening and watermarks were done with PhotoScape 3.6.1.

SOME MONOCHROME VARIATIONS (CLICK TO ENLARGE)

The monochrome versions on the photos was done entirely with PhotoScape 3.6.1. Always starting from the JPG files. Usually my photographs in black and white or in sepia are taken from the original RAW, but this time I wanted to do a lighter editing experiment and I opted for this route. I have to admit that I had a lot of fun editing and experimenting with various monochrome tones, vignetting, fades, and other modifications. I hope these variations will appeal to those who also like monochrome photography.

Alright guys, that's all for today... Then I say goodbye to all, but not before thanking you for visit and appreciate this post. See you soon with another photography story from the streets and roads of Montalbán, Carabobo, Venezuela.