My 100 Strangers Project!

[allenlennon]

no1: Kassy/Kathy by AllenLennon, on Flickr


This picture is #1 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/100strangers/">100 Strangers Flickr Group page</a>

Today i decided to start this project, so i grabbed my gear which included my canon 6d with my 70-200mm f/2.8 Lii lens, 5-in-1 reflector, my cards and notpad and pen. First few hours i decided i’ll scout locations first than look for my first possible stranger. I noticed a women with bright blue hair and started towards her, but before i covered half way distance to her she was in her car and drove off. And chickened out on another person.

After lunch i decided i will try again and confronted two people, both of which politely rejected the offer. After the second no i noticed a young adult female and a slightly older female coming out of a cafe, and i quickly made my approach to the younger one asking her if she would like to help me out with my photography project while handing out my card, and to my excitement she said yes. She even walked with me for about 4 mins to a location i scouted earlier, what a champ!

This is Kassy, or Kathy, i couldnt quite her her say her name. As we were walking she told me she was doing a degree in arts and photography and the fact that she saw me walk by the cafe numerous amount of times and figured i was on the look out for something, she saw me approach the second stranger, and the fact that she is into photography to that she said yes, and i was nervouse and excited at the same time that someone said yes, i was expecting a no.

We got to the location and i wipped out my reflector, and i must say that im embarrassed to have blinded her a wee bit. So i got her to step back further to the wall and it was much better. I fired of a few shots. Next time round i will have to pay more attention to the poses, and make sure i keep my focal length at/around 85mm so i dont get any distortion like i did here. But at the time i wanted to get over the first stranger. And im sone what pleased with the results!

Thank you kassy/Kathy for being such a sport and not slapping me for flashing you the sun! Please get into contact with me if you wish to have a copy of your photo, or a photo buddy!

[gregj1763]

Good work mate and congrat's for getting the first one out of the way, I'm sure it will get easier from now on.
I like there image, the shallow dof works well and your focus is spot on her eye's which are quite piercing.
If I had any suggestion for improvement it would be to clone out the black strand of hair coming from her left ear to her neck, other than that, spot on
Look forward to number 2

[Mike Buckley]

Such an interesting project! Congratulations on getting through the nervousness of approaching a perfect stranger. Even though she is into photography, others will be happy to be photographed who aren't. Keep up the great work!

[allenlennon]

Thank you Greg and mike. I will be using this thread for the orhers

[Plumcrak]

Well done Allen, I too will follow this thread with anticipation. I kinda like the strand of hair...doesn't bother me at all.

[allenlennon]

Thank you Jon. I'll be going out after work to hopefully find number 2!

[speedneeder]

Allen, I am jealous of you on two accounts:
First, your equipment is fabulous!
Two, I admire your courage to approach strangers like this. This would be WAY outside my normal introverted comfort zone

[allenlennon]

Brain thank you. The gear is my prose and joy. Saved up for a long time to get it. And yes it is daunting to ask strangers for their photos but it is fun

[allenlennon]

No. 2: Keasier by AllenLennon, on Flickr


This picture is #2 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 strangers flikr group
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facebook page

Today i went to the shopping centre to find my second stranger, but as it turned my second stranger found me! I was about to walk along the car park when this beautiful blond girl waved me down and asked me about my camera, and she pretty much went for my camera, not to steal it i assure you. And i pretty much got photographed by my stranger(even though she wasnt my stranger at that point).

So meet Keasier, im unsure if thats how it is spelt but she goes and says “its easier to say Keasier” with easier rhyming with her name. Easy to pronounce but not to spell. She has a British accent but is an Australian resident. I do love the brits accent! After we talked about photography it turned out she was working for a charity to help get funds for kids in the less fortunate parts of the world. And boy was she is great at her sales pitch, laughing along and making jokes on the way. We stayed sitting on a bench outside the centre as she talked to me about the poor children. She almost got my wallet out than and there but due to financial reasons, even though it is a reasonably cheap sum a month, i had to think about it more.

And it tried to rain, i had my gear out and she automatically volunteered for the project while i mentioned it about 10-15 mins before hand, se we dashed to the wall you see, and she wasnt allowed to go in the centre because she wasnt payed to do so and i couldnt photograph her work shirt and id’s but which is good because i like to focus on head shots. And since i didnt want to wast anymore time of hers i only fired of two shots. We said our goodbyes and went our ways.

As for the editing for the final image, it was a sheer fluke, i mucked around with colour and black and white. And after i was seeing the difference between the colour and b&w versions i some how changed the layer blending options to “overlay and got this result(after i dodged the eyes just a wee bit) and found i really love the image!!!! And so far my favourite all time photo! I may just print this out and hang it!!!!

Thank you Keasier for being such a sport. Please get into contact with me if you wish to have a copy of your photo, or a photo buddy!

[gregj1763]

As I posted on Facebook Allen, well done again.
You seem to have the young ladies eager to have their photo's taken, maybe it's just your charm and wit that is winning them over
Cheers, Greg

[allenlennon]

Oh Greg I highly doubt that that case

[speedneeder]

I get the ID part, but no work shirt or centre?
Why not?

[Mike Buckley]

Good job, Allen! I normally wouldn't like the line in the wall but for some reason I like it in this photo. It's so stark that I do think it's important to be dead level, which it's not.

[allenlennon]

Brian, I think it's because the centre had no affoliation with the company. And the company might have rules about photos.

Mike thank you. After the upload I played around with crops because I was bored. I did another cropped version that is just touching the head(just below that line and a little of each side that she isn't exactly centred. Il upload it when I can