The Stranger Project

Now don't get too excited; it's not another amazing thread by m.shalaby.

I normally shoot land/cityscapes, and other random odds and ends (jack of all trades, master of none type of thing), so I don't have much experience shooting people (you know what I mean). I was blown away by shalaby's Stranger Project that I finally bit the bullet and gave it a go. I was hoping to have more for my first post but I'd like to get feedback before I head out again. I realize I really need to watch my backgrounds seeing as I'm shooting the 50 1.4 on a 40D. Also might want to get the next lot framed in somewhere other than the left 1/3 of the shot

#1 - My first willing victim/subject

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/56105639@N02/5​654351092/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/56105639@N02/5​654351096/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/56105639@N02/5​654351100/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/56105639@N02/5​654351110/

I would say you are on your way to doing a very good strangers project.

They all look good, the last photo you should sharpen more her eyes look soft. You should do the sharpening at the last stage of post processing. Just after you resize to save for web.

A subject eyes has to be in focus as that is where one eyes tend to be drawn to first.

Thanks for the feedback. Yeah the last one I shot at 2.0 instead of 2.8 but didn't take the distance into consideration, so she's a bit out of focus. If you click through to Flickr though they appear much sharper, as they should be.

Great job. My only suggestion would be to choose a processing style and stick with it, to make more of a connected series. I really like the feel of #1 and #3.

Nice shots. m.shalaby's stuff is great.
Are you handing out cards with your site for them to check out?

Spiiral wrote in post #12291390
Great job. My only suggestion would be to choose a processing style and stick with it, to make more of a connected series. I really like the feel of #1 and #3.

Good point. I was a bit PP happy seeing as I had never used Lightroom before. I really like how 3 turned out, so I might tweak that a bit and make it my standard and then also have a b&w option for situations like #2 where she had horrible orange construction cones behind her.

windpig wrote in post #12291672
Nice shots. m.shalaby's stuff is great.
Are you handing out cards with your site for them to check out?

Nope. This was at the end of a long day exploring/shooting with a friend from work, so I kind of did it on a whim. Both of us are introverts, so he stood well back and let me do all the work I just sort of did like m.shalaby and ask people who looked like decent subjects if they would let me take their portrait for a project. I was evenly split on responses and their reactions ran the gamut from very honoured to out-right rude.

Dr Lazarus wrote in post #12291848
Nope. This was at the end of a long day exploring/shooting with a friend from work, so I kind of did it on a whim. Both of us are introverts, so he stood well back and let me do all the work I just sort of did like m.shalaby and ask people who looked like decent subjects if they would let me take their portrait for a project. I was evenly split on responses and their reactions ran the gamut from very honoured to out-right rude.

Thanks for the info. It's an upcoming project of mine when the weather improves here in Seattle.

not a bad start at all my friend! much better than my first attempt!

just go look at strangers # 1-10 on my flicker -eeeeek

keep at it - you learn a lot about portraiture this way.

very nice!

good start there dr lazarus. this is actually something i just decided i wanted to do while i was at work today. im the same way, i vary from day to day what i photograph. one thing ive never done tho is portraits, and since im living in a new city and only know a couple of people i figured i could go ask some randoms. i was just wondering to myself how i could ask someone if i could take their picture without sounding like a wierdo. a 'project' does sound a little more official. im definitely gonna give this a try tomorow.

Dr Lazarus wrote in post #12291848
I was evenly split on responses and their reactions ran the gamut from very honoured to out-right rude.

Really? It's hard to imagine people being rude. I can imagine people saying "no," but why would they get upset? What did they say?

m.shalaby wrote in post #12292108
not a bad start at all my friend! much better than my first attempt!

just go look at strangers # 1-10 on my flicker -eeeeek

keep at it - you learn a lot about portraiture this way.

Thanks very much. Unfortunately I won't be able to upgrade my equipment anytime soon (a longer focal length would be great) , so I'll just make do with what I have. It really is great practice for portraiture because you have your subject for maybe 20 seconds and have to have the shot ready to go. No second chances.

TONEB1146 wrote in post #12292126
very nice!

Thank you.

PaulfromTexas wrote in post #12292563
good start there dr lazarus. this is actually something i just decided i wanted to do while i was at work today. im the same way, i vary from day to day what i photograph. one thing ive never done tho is portraits, and since im living in a new city and only know a couple of people i figured i could go ask some randoms. i was just wondering to myself how i could ask someone if i could take their picture without sounding like a wierdo. a 'project' does sound a little more official. im definitely gonna give this a try tomorow.

Thanks. The 'project' angle seemed to be well received, and the fact I was dressed a bit nicer probably helped alleviate the 'weirdo' persona.

thenextguy wrote in post #12293712
Really? It's hard to imagine people being rude. I can imagine people saying "no," but why would they get upset? What did they say?

The very first guy I asked was with his early 20s (?) son. I'm not sure if they were in a hurry (didn't appear to be) but after his refusal, I stepped back because he was giving off a vibe that he would have taken a swing at me. Not exactly confidence building, but then #1 and #2 came along a few minutes after that. Most people were very polite in their refusal, simply giving a 'no thank you'. Some people seemed genuinely weirded out (perhaps my attire didn't help that much after all ), but the ones that accepted were very open and friendly. It's an interesting study in trying to read people.