It's All About See-ing the Light

This was from an experience that I've got while shooting for people going on vacations to Sydney. Surely, this was one of my most interesting assignments that I ever had. So basically, I had to tag along to places where these guys were visiting and try to create some decent pictures for them. There were several places that they've visited but Darling Harbour was the memorable one, at least for me. It was late in the afternoon where the sun was going down and the place was in the shade.
This in turn created several problems for taking a photograph:
Firstly, the pictures will be flat (meaning lacking in contrast and colors as well).
Secondly, it is not easy to take good photographs especially when you are at a location (tourist places)  where you are surrounded by lots of people  buzzing around (thinking of how to pose them, camera setting, compositions, trying to remove distracting elements from your picture, worrying that your gear could get stolen, etc2).

To overcome the first challenge, I need a light source to prevent the pictures from looking pretty ordinary and dull. So then I looked around for the light source and found that the building across the harbour was shining pretty bright (reflecting "photons", from the sun) then I thought, hemmmmm that might just be my light source - A GIANT GOLD REFLECTOR.
After I have found my light then started thinking of how to set up my composition (trying to get away from the crowd - leading to lots of distracting elements). I then found a stair steps to be used as my leading lines towards the subjects. In addition, I had the them sitting down and facing the light (shinning building across the harbour). As for the gear, it was all about being confident that you could run faster than  the one who might be stealing them as they are bogged down by the weight (NOT ALWAYS the case, make sure you have them insured).  This was the final shot that I got.

I know this is somewhat a coincidence (lights on the buildings across the harbour reflecting back at where I was snapping.). In taking a decent photograph, it's all about being at the right place at the right time and more importantly it's about being ABLE TO SEE THE LIGHT. Happy snapping guys!