As the sign indicates, this is Maspeth, a part of Queens.  And Maspeth is America, for who could argue with such logic.  Yesterday’s shot also was taken in Maspeth, but a very different area of the neighborhood.  This is from the main commercial strip in the residential section of the town, while yesterday was part of an industrial section.  Yesterday morning I shot in Queens for two reasons: (1) I did not want to get in the way of the marathon, and (2) I live in Queens and want to feature it a bit more than I have previously.

I had one goal when composing this image — get both flags in the picture.  It was harder than it would seem given the circumstances.  This is part of an odd intersection of surface streets, the Long Island Expressway, and a town square.  It has a lot of open space, but few places to set up with camera and tripod.  In addition, the other side of the building with the mural is covered with an ugly scaffolding, so that required an angle that would minimize its damage to the picture.

But still, my overriding goal was “get both flags in the picture,”  which just shows why you should be flexible when composing because, really, I don’t think I took the best picture I could have taken.    I also think my dissatisfaction with the shot hindered my processing.  It’s good enough, if maybe just barely.  I would not post it here if I saw no merit to it, but I mostly posted it to say that you should not let a good idea get in the way of a better photograph.