100 Strangers : No. 13 : Craig

The local garden centre was holding an event today. Santa Claus (or depending where you live, Father Christmas ) was visiting his Grotto, which had been setup inside the centre.

Santa arrived on a horse drawn carriage, much to the amusement of hundreds (yes 100's) of local people who turned up to welcome him. We are easily entertained in Arnold :)

The car park at the garden centre was full so people were parking on the main road and estate side streets.

This is Craig, who works at the garden centre and his duties today were crowd control and directing traffic away from the main centre.

I don't know if when Craig signed up for his job he knew he would be dressing up as a chimney pot. Well I say chimney pot , my daughter (who we bumped into at the centre) said it was a bottle of beer !!!

I never thought to ask Craig what he was wearing , I just sort of assumed he was a chimney pot , but under closer inspection the top of his chimney could actually be a bottle top !!!

Craig was happy to pose for a few quick shots, in between directing traffic and keeping an eye on the the crowd.

This is shot on the edge of the road with the background uncluttered with bare trees and hedges.

Edited in Rawtherapee, with a few slider adjustments on contrast control and skin tones. I cropped a line off the top of the frame and a bit from the sides too


This picture is number 13 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page

My own strangers can be seen here:
www.flickr.com/photos/57144254@N08/albums/72157657822400168

[Matt Clendon]

Isn't it a bottle of brown ale? :)

[Phil Howcroft]

@sabresun yes but this was a santa run and I don't see the significance of a bottle of brown ale to santa . Lots of children present so a bloke dressed as a bottle of brown ale seems a little obscure !

[Alison Hewitt Bailey]

I bet he was nice and warm in that foam suit. A very different capture for your project, Phil and nicely done.

[Matt Clendon]

@phil_howcroft hahaha. It was a spiced, bottle of mulled wine in a brown bottle. V Christmassy indeed.

[colinbarber013]

Interesting work ware.

[Annie D]

hahahahahahaha
i just love his expression

[Gena Pegg]

hahahaha....I think your daughter may be right. Fun capture Phil. Thanks for the giggle of the day;

[Sylvia du Toit]

At first I thought ???? Alien????? Thanks for sharing. Would like to see more of these dressed people.

[Ali P]

What the.... coming originally from Leicester I always thought people from Nottingham were a little odd, now I am convinced!!!!

[Nick]

Haha, this poor man. I, too, thought he was a bottle of beer! Nice shot.

[Hazel]

Yes, definitely a bottle of beer. The most unusual stranger portrait I've seen so far! (And folk still believe in Santa Claus!)

[Vera]

That definitely caught my attention!

[Allison Williams]

Hilarious! It is like nothing I have ever seen before!

[Phil Howcroft]

@allie912 thanks allison , glad i made you smile :)

@vera365 thanks vera

@quietpurplehaze thanks haze, you mean you don't believe :)

@nickspicsnz i will go with bottle of beer nick !

@alinz case proven ali :) @sdutoit cheers sylvia

[Phil Howcroft]

@eyesmile yes the more i look the more i think bottle of beer :)

@annied thanks annie i didn't ask him to smile or make an expression it was just how he posed :)

@colinbarber013 at least he kepy his high vis on colin :)

[Hazel]

@phil_howcroft

Haha - I think I was about 16 when I stopped believing!!!!!!!!!! Late developer...........

[Judith Johnson]

Where did you get that hat??? Wow what a great photo!

[Dione Giorgio]

I don't know how they managed to convince him to put that costume on and he doesn't seem very happy about it. Still he had courage to pose for you for this shot. Another wonderful portrait, Phil. Did you tell him he would be made famous on 365?

[Judith Greenwood]

I don't know if happy is the right word Phil! Though I imagine that your photo was the least of his worries!