Strangers

[rdaw]

Originally Posted by 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.

Yep, I hear you - I find it highly unlikely that I'd be selling the pic I took, just thought the assignment was a chance to actually ask someone to sign something - something I have a bit of hesitation about. That said, the printed forms are in my bag if it ever comes up...

[Sime™]

heh.. me too!... i'm just too big a chicken to ask!!...

[kspaulson]

This was taken last week in my hometown of Minneapolis on the Stone Arch Bridge in the Old Mill City district. From this bridge you can look out to where the collapsed bridge once stood.

[dloumakis]

Great story!! The photo is expressive and great on it's own but when you add the story it takes on a whole new light.

I love this site, I am learning so much from everyone.

[cheri13green]

You may consider this a stretch, but I consider this man a stranger. Yes, he's also my father, but that's simply a matter of DNA. We were close when I was young, but divorce and distance and other stuff have changed that. He is a much different person now than the one I remember as my dad growing up; some ways good, some ways bad. We are re-meeting each other now that I am an adult...

At any rate, here is the shot. It was a funny moment at my Grandpa's 80th birthday party last weekend. I would have loved to submit this in black & white, but I only have the photo editors that came on my computer and with my PowerShot, and I can not find a way to do it anywhere! If anyone out there knows how I can do that with limited resources, I would be very grateful for some tips!


Updated: I managed to get it into b&w! Now, if I could just remember how...I'll be following up on the post-processing thread. Thanks for the tip. :-)

Dad


Cheri

[vinylkemist]

March 27, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, D.C., USA -- I noticed this homeless man sitting near a phone booth at a country market near the Dupont Circle metro. I gave him $1 and asked if I could take his picture; he just nodded. He seemed to be writing his name on the side of an empty Starbucks cup when I approached him. I couldn’t make out the name as it looked like a young child’s writing. I’m sure he was not the one who enjoyed the $4 coffee… I look into his eyes and see pain, sorrow, and anguish - what a story they tell in themselves. -- PHOTO BY JEREMY MINICH -- e-ffx.com

[Morgales]

Damn, I've got some that I took in Stockholm but was 1 month ago

[wulf]

Originally Posted by cheri13green

At any rate, here is the shot. It was a funny moment at my Grandpa's 80th birthday party last weekend. I would have loved to submit this in black & white, but I only have the photo editors that came on my computer and with my PowerShot, and I can not find a way to do it anywhere! If anyone out there knows how I can do that with limited resources, I would be very grateful for some tips!

Thanks for the story with your picture - I think that meets the requirements of this assignment.

Regarding the editing question, how about asking again over in the post-processing section. Tell us a bit about what computer you have (particularly if you know the operating system, eg. Microsoft Windows XP) and how advanced you want to get in your editing. I am sure you will get plenty of suggestions of suitable programs, even if your budget limit is "free".

Wulf

[TeamPoint]

Cheri,

Best of luck reconnecting with your Dad. As for B&W conversions and general fixing of my photos, I use the free tool from Shutterfly (http://www.shutterfly.com/studio/overviews.jsp). I've also used Irfanview and Picasa (both free tools), but find that the Shutterfly app is the best for my purposes. Plus it streamlines uploading to my Shutterfly account.

Art
www.artyoungphoto.com
Nikon D70s
18-70mm f/3.5-4.5
50mm f/1.4
80-200mm f/2.8
300mm f4.5

[shannonje]

This is my favorite strangers photo, although taken back in 2004 so definitely not for the contest. While in China for the summer, I took a weekend trip with a running group to Chongming Island off the coast of Shanghai. Chongming is a farming island that no one would visit unless they had business there (or were looking for a cheap nearby place to run and get drunk in an empty hotel). I got up extra early on Sunday to walk around and take photos (with my old favorite Canon G3, which eventually died in a muddy ditch elsewhere in China). Needless to say, Chongming residents found a sole young white girl wandering around with a digital camera at 6:30 in the morning somewhat strange so I tried to use that to my advantage to take photos of people - essentially waiting until they approached me (although my Mandarin wasn't good enough at the time to understand their accented speech). The couple below lived in a tiny tiny concrete house in the middle of rice paddies - obviously the poorest of the poor. I wandered around taking scenery pictures forever, until finally I piqued their curiosity enough that they came outside to talk to me. They agreed to let me take their picture, standing very serious-like, but started laughing when I showed it to them on the back of the camera (they'd never seen that before) - and I quickly snapped another one - which turned out much better than the first