Since I live in the Tenderloin, taking night photos of the street life can be a little risky. Suffice it to say the criminal elements of the TL are exceptionally wary of exposure. So I decided I'd be better off prowling the alleys — which, even though they're a haven for the homeless and the chosen venues for drug deals, are generally quieter and less hostile than, say, trying to take a long-exposure night photograph on the corner of Turk and Taylor.

Anyway, it was a busy night on cocktail row, so I ducked into a side street in the area near Geary and Leavenworth and spied a couple having an animated discussion in a shady apartment window. I couldn't see faces — just shadows and movement. So I snapped a from-the-shoulder shot and the first photo is what I came up with.

I tossed in a few extras from the same photo jaunt just for fun.

I hope someday to figure out a way to take candid photos of the real street nightlife in the Tenderloin. To do so — while still maintaining any semblance of focal clarity in long-exposure shots — requires some form of cunning. Perhaps a hidden camera mount or flash disguiser. This could even be a SF0 spy-theme challenge: "The Name Is Bond...Ghetto Bond"!