After I’d photographed strangers Beth and Paula in the daffodils I shot some photos of the daffs. As I was shooting the daffs I heard the sound of music coming from the hill behind me. It wasn’t Julie Andrews (see what I did there), it was Rafal, who was playing the hand pans.
I walked up the hill and met Rafal and his friend. I introduced myself and told them I was drawn towards the beautiful sound. I asked what the instrument was. Rafal told me they were the hand pans. I asked why he was sat under a tree playing them. “ I am just practising “ was Rafal’s reply. Rafal told me he had been playing the pans for six months. I asked Rafal where he was from as he spoke with an Eastern European accent. Rafal told me he was from Poland and came to the UK just over two years ago (just before we went into lockdown). To my untrained ear, Rafa seemed an accomplished player.
Rafal poured himself a drink from a flask as I was talking to him. Enjoy your coffee I told him. Rafal told me is was a Peruvian drink, Cacao, “It’s good, do you want some?”. I declined the offer
I took the shot with the sun behind Rafal, to ensure I got good skin tones and nice rim lighting. I think my decision was a good one. I’ve sent a selection of images to Rafal and he thinks they are all great.
Thanks for being stranger 303 Rafal, good luck with your hand pan playing.
I am impressed with your street portraits and how for every each of them you find the pose and location that fit your model. Rafal looks relaxed and friendly. A great portrait!
This is a nice sunny portrait & I think he looks as if he may have a sunny disposition too. He looks to have a friendly face. I like how you find out about your subjects, it adds interest.
I saw this in passing some time ago and came back for another look.
I heard about these drums some years ago (I'm a folkie - we get to know about some of the less well-known musical instruments. Not so many people have heard of the instrument I used to play: the hammer dulcimer)
I know them as hang (pronounced hahng) drums but googling has taught me that the inventors say that hang is a misnomer and discourage its use.
It's interesting to see someone playing this instrument and it's a particularly pleasing portrait of Rafal with that lovely light.
@dulciknit Alison, it has a beautiful calming sound. I actually saw Rafal a week later, he'd moved from practicing in the park to busking in the city ! He was doing it on his way to work , killing an hour before work started ! He works as a fork lift truck driver .
April 6th, 2022
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I heard about these drums some years ago (I'm a folkie - we get to know about some of the less well-known musical instruments. Not so many people have heard of the instrument I used to play: the hammer dulcimer)
I know them as hang (pronounced hahng) drums but googling has taught me that the inventors say that hang is a misnomer and discourage its use.
It's interesting to see someone playing this instrument and it's a particularly pleasing portrait of Rafal with that lovely light.