Strangers

[Pernod]

I love shots of strangers, and thought I would share one of the best 'strangers' stories I have come across... just as a bit of inspiration!
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Original Blog by Cass in South America (Any comments please send to Cass on her blog)



yesterday i met a remarkable man. he was shirtless and toothless and wore visible scars. he was dirty and bescraggled and mumbled his words. his breath smelled faintly of stale alcohol and his skin hung loose on his bones.

he approched me in the main square of santa ana and muttered something that i thought i recognised as english. i quickly dismissed that as impossible. i responded kindly but vaguely. we started to talk. it was english. very good english, only slurred by a drug-slowed mind. - how do you know english so well? - from when i lived in the states. - what were you doing there? - studying for my second degree. seeing the barely concealed shock in my eyes, he explained: - the alcohol.

i stood there, amongst the swarm of children i was with, and talked with this gentle man for half an hour. he shared his story. his name is edwin antonio and he is 58 years old. - call me epa, he said, everyone knows epa. he was from cuba. had lived in el salvador a very long time. had also lived many years in mexico and a decade in the states. he had been orphaned at a young age. all he had had left in the world was his sister. when she died too, he turned to drink. - i was so sad, he explained, so sad. he was put in jail numerous times, for being drunk and in the street. - they did not understand my pain, he sighed. and now he had lived in the streets of santa ana for 7 years.

when he spoke of his sister he cried mud tears. that is not some clever metaphor. he was so dirty from living in the street that when he cried the liquid mingled with the filth and made brown tears.

the children were mesmerised. quietly the pequeños, who were in town for their once a year $10 birthday shopping spree, started coming up to him and offering him gifts. sweets. money. apples. he was so appreciative. i was so proud.

it's been the talk of the last 24 hours as all the children who were not there have heard about it. they come up to me, ask if it was true i was talking to the bolo (drunk) or viejito (old man) in santa ana yesterday. yes, i was. and did he kiss your hand? yes, he did. oh, they say, and walk off lost in thought. i do not know what they are thinking but i am glad they are thinking.

[vgal]

Assignment: Strangers

Taken at the Hudson Elks Balloon Festival in Hudson, MA on Saturday:



These 2 little boys were having the time of their lives whacking each other with little blow-up hot-air balloons. The EXIF data from my camera is slightly off - this was taken at 210mm, not 70mm. Not the best piece of glass out there (manual focus, aperture is stuck wide open), but handy for capturing the moment from a safe distance.

[chakoo]

Assignment: Strangers

The wooden bangle like ornament worn on the feet of the Indian tribal lady or Lambadi. It symbolizes the woman is taken or committed.



EXIF Data:
Canon 400D + Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6
ISO 400
f/5.6 @ 1/320
Curves, Shadows/Highlights & Contrast tweaks in PS

cheers
chakoo

[drini]

Not for the contest, as Picasa (which I use to organize my pictures) tampered with the exif adding "picasa". I wish I had left more space at the bottom, the feet are cut. This is my first post at DPS by the way.

Camera: Kodak Z650 Zoom
Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture: f/3.4
Focal Length: 51 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

[winterminute]

Assignment: Strangers

Saw these two during a photostroll. I don't seem to do very well when I put real people in my photos. Too fake, too borning, too obnoxious, etc, but I've come to learn that the people-element is one of the biggest things that make a viewer connect with a photo, so I'm trying to take more and more shots with people.

[5imon]

Took this whilst on holday in Bari in southern Italy. Everyone went indoors during the heat of the noonday sun except this old lady, her poor pooch, and me.

[sybren]

I took this photo a few days ago from a train on Amsterdam Central Station.



Assignment: Strangers

[rdaw]

Assignment: Strangers

When I moved to Fergus, little did I know that one of the best trout streams in Canada ran just outside town. It was really misty the morning I took the pic, and I think it kind of interfered - the shot isn't wide enough to make the mist part of the pic, just "there" enough to interfere. Oh well - I'll head down and try again sometime soon.



Just as a matter of interest, how many people have signed model releases from their subjects? I had this guy's permission, and a bit of a conversation, but he wasn't going to stop fishing to come over and sign my sheet of paper...

[Sime]

I wont be having a model release form signed just on the basis that it was taken for an assignment and not for any commercial reasons. You can have a look over HERE at Alamys model release "guidlines" and also download a form to keep in your kit bag should you require it. - Hope this helps... Sime

note: Granted, this is more from a stock photography point of view, but it's what I use as my general everyday guidline.

[rdaw]

Originally Posted by sybren

I took this photo a few days ago from a train on Amsterdam Central Station.



Assignment: Strangers

Sybren, you're knocking my socks off with your black and whites!