On Friday it was a bright sunny day so I loaded my old SLR, an Olympus OM20 with some CineStill 50D film and took a walk into Arnold. At ISO 50 the film has a really fine grain and it is recommended you shoot it in bright sunny conditions.
There is an “old school” pub in Arnold, The Greyhound, by “old school” I mean a traditional boozer, that attracts serious drinkers and has loyal customers (locals). There’s an outdoor space that overlooks the car park and main road and I noticed a group of men drinking at a table in the winter sun. I decided they would make a great shot for my film and asked them if I could take a photo of them (explaining I had a film camera from the early 1980’s). They all said yes and joked that they shouldn’t be here !!!e
One of the men said you need to talk to Rob (one of the group who’d gone to the bar for a top up) as he was a bit of a camera geek.
When Rob returned I showed him my camera and lens and he was duly impressed. He asked was I shooting in aperture priority (I was) and said I should get some god results with the lens / camera combo. Rob told me he used to shoot professionally back in the day.
I then suggested he could be one of my strangers and took my little Sony RX100VII out of my bag. Rob rated Sony equipment very highly and I shot some portrait shots of Rob, with my RX100VII and as you can see I got a good photo. Rob and his mates were smoking, hence the sitting outside. The shot shows Rob taking a drag from his ciggie. I didn’t want to linger too long in the cigarette smoke environment, albeit it was outside, so I thanked them all for their time and photos and said I hope they had a good drinking session.
Note : If you look in Rob's right eye of the sunglasses you can see me taking the photo and if you look in Rob's left eye you can see his buddies drinking
Good to be able to chat to your stranger about the camera equipment. Nice capture of his gritty appearance. I wouldn’t be brave enough to approach strangers I’m sure.
It's interesting how a subject can be made to engage the viewer even though you can't see their eyes. There's something in this full-on pose that speaks of a youthful Rob who had attitude.
I like the balance of subject and background too, it's finely judged.The background detail could so easily have overwhelmed Rob but his pose is so strong that it complements him instead. The edges of the doors frame him well too.
Nice one, Phil!
Btw, how are you now? I hope the pneumonia hasn't left any lingering after-effects.
I like the balance of subject and background too, it's finely judged.The background detail could so easily have overwhelmed Rob but his pose is so strong that it complements him instead. The edges of the doors frame him well too.
Nice one, Phil!
Btw, how are you now? I hope the pneumonia hasn't left any lingering after-effects.
@carole_sandford thanks Carole, I very rarely get turned down for a photo , you should try it , you might be surprised :)
@busylady Several people have said I should do a book Judith :)
@newbank thanks Newbank that's very kind of you :
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