Gabriel Anglelo

Gabriel Angelo playing his horn

Recently I was in San Fransisco for a conference and extended my trip for an additional day so that I could do some photography. As evening approached I was walking down the street by Union Square when I heard beautiful trumpet music reverberating amongst the buildings. I couldn't tell where the sound was coming from as the haunting sounds were all around me. As I walked I could tell that I was getting closer. Approaching the end of the block the crowd parted and there, casually leaning against the wall of a building, playing his horn, was a boy.

It was getting dark and the lighting was poor, so I quickly squeezed off a few photos, put some money in his tip jar and walked off to check the images. I was really disappointed as I had been too hasty and the images were blurred because my shutter speed was too slow. I adjusted the ISO to 1200, opened up the aperture, walked back and asked if I could take a few more photos. He said sure and continued playing while I took more shots. When I was finished I asked him how old he was. He told me that he was eleven, and that he had been playing for several years. I asked how he got started with busking and he explained how he had wanted to go to a movie, but his mother told him that she didn't have any money until payday. He then asked his mother if he could earn his own money by playing his trumpet. That was the start of his "career." As I prepared to walk away, Gabriel reached into his pocket and pulled out his business card. He said, "If you get some good pictures, would you email them to me?" I said sure and walked away. Yes, Gabriel has business cards, an email address, and his own blog. At the age of eleven, he's quite an entrepreneur and a gifted musician.