100 Strangers : No. 21 : Martin by phil_howcroft

100 Strangers : No. 21 : Martin

I spotted Martin at the bottom of Hockley in Nottingham. He was on his bike with his colleague Tim.

I approached Martin and Tim and explained I was an amateur photographer doing a project on street strangers. They both readily volunteered to be a stranger for me.

Using the word volunteer in the paragraph above is quite apt as both Martin and Tim are volunteers for St. John Ambulance.

I asked Martin what there role was on the bikes. I was surprised to hear that they respond to 999 calls.

Helping keep the streets of Nottingham a safer and better place is a great voluntary service, so top respect to both Martin and Tim

I normally shoot with my nifty fifty lens, but I had lent it to my friend Gary who was at a wedding over the weekend, so this is shot with my Sigma 55-200. The Sigma has a tendency to blow highlights out a bit (either that or it is my camera technique), so this was a tricky shot to do as Tims coat and hat were very reflective and I needed to utilise the highlight recovery slider when editing in Rawtherapee.

I used an Ilford XP2 film emulation for my mono conversion.

I was going to crop some of the helmet off to reduce some of the glare and highlights, but I think the helmet is important to help tell the story, so you get a full helmet.

I had trouble with Tim's image as he had some riders glasses on and the reflections made the portrait a little too confusing, so only Martin appears on this photostream

Thanks again to Martin for the shot. Martin said he would check my strangers project out on flickr, so if you see this and want an email copy of the shot please contact me :)

This picture is number 21 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
Fabulous portrait, my daughter Millie used to be at St John Ambulance cadets, then moved to Red Cross in September she will start Uni doing a Paramedics course she has 3 Uni to choose from Greenwich, Liverpool or Northampton at the moment Greenwich is winning as its a Degee course
March 26th, 2016  
@bizziebeeme thanks lou , good luck to millie seems a while since my daughters went off to uni ' :)
March 26th, 2016  
He seems a youngish fellow and good to hear he rides bicycles as well as helping with ambulance needs! Good photo!
March 26th, 2016  
Love his direct gaze. I always find it interesting when you tell us how and why you processed your images the way you do. Looking forward to the remaining 79 portraits.
March 26th, 2016  
Great portrait - an inner confidence radiates through. Looks good on black
March 26th, 2016  
@maggiemae thanks maggie, the bikes can get around the city centre easier than paramedic vehicles

@bluerose15 yes isee the inner confidence blue

@allie912 thanks allison, for your kind words on the photo and my narrative technique :)
March 26th, 2016  
Great street portrait as always!
March 27th, 2016  
Another terrific portrait, Phil. You handled it well.
March 27th, 2016  
Never heard of St Johns on bikes before. They do a great job. Nice shot of him too.
March 27th, 2016  
Beautiful portrait and he does such good work!
March 27th, 2016  
Great portrait Phil..love the twinkle in his eyes. ALways love your stories too!
March 27th, 2016  
Like the clarity in the portrait and the dof. An interesting narrative too. I'm also surprised to hear about the 999 2-wheel response. (I sometimes use my 55-210 lens for portraits simply because I can then possibly take other shots (like hypothetical kingfishers!) whilst I am out.)
March 28th, 2016  
p.s. yes, full helmet essential, I think.
March 28th, 2016  
He has super smiling eyes. Good portrait capture.
March 28th, 2016  
Technically great capture and a very beautiful portrait
April 2nd, 2016  
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