Today we went to the BBC Gardeners’ World Live and BBC Good Food Show at the NEC in Birmingham.
We were having our lunchtime picnic, sat on some seats, watching the world go by and listening to a 3 piece girl band singing a nice mix of 60's and 70's music.
I was also on the lookout for interesting strangers . When I saw Chris walking by with his "Good Food shopping trolley" I thought he might make a good subject.
I nudged my wife. "Shall I ask the man with the spiky hair to be one of my strangers?"
"Yes He will be a good one"
"Save my seat", I said and I followed Chris to a big garden ornament stall.
I was also looking around for possible backgrounds, with no people in the shot.
I followed Chirs for a couple of minutes and then told him about the 100 strangers project.
Chris readily agreed to let me photograph him.
I asked Chris if he was from Birmingham, but Chris told me he had traveled from Mansfield (which incidentally is only a few miles up the road from where we live in Nottingham) .
Chris had visited the show two years ago, so I asked him what he thought of it, as we were disappointed compared to previous visits.
Chris had only done the garden section when I spoke to him and had not been in indoor food section, so couldn't really compare it to his precious visits.
I showed Chris the shots on the back of my camera, shook his hand and thanked him for his time.
My wife had been watching me from and distance and liked the shots when I showed them to her on the back of the camera.
The image was edited in Rawtherapee and GIMP. I used the wavelets setting to bring out detail in Chris's hair and cloned out some bright blobs of sky through the keys to help make the spikes prominent in the frame.
This picture is number 32 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
100 Strangers Flickr Group page
100 Strangers Flickr Group page
My own strangers can be seen here:
www.flickr.com/photos/57144254@N08/albums/72157657822400168
@happypat ahhh well Pat, by the time I had caught up with Chris, I was some distance away from Jane in the crowds , although sh is a bit of a 'stranger spotter' for me :)
@sdutoit thanks Sylvia :)
@irisr thanks jacqui, chris was softly spoken and happy to let me take his photo .I saw no tattoos :)
@sangwann thanks for your support dione. I think it was more a case of me trying to find a good place before I approached Chris, I knew he would say YES :)
@maggiemae good shout maggie, i think you are right :)
@colinbarber013 ahh colin, I didn't ask chhris about his hair care :)
@nickspicsnz thanks nick glad you like this