357/400 - Mac
This was one of those rare times a stranger approached me instead of the other way around. What a treat.
I went downtown a bit early for my astronomy class and strolled through the university campus with my eyes open for someone to meet. The first two people I approached were very polite but said they were late for class and I had to wish them well and send them on their way. I changed gears and instead of my usual choosing a stranger and then trying to manage the background and light issues, I was looking at a large boulder which is part of the campus landscaping and examining how the light was falling. As I was standing there, this young man appeared out of nowhere and asked me how I like my camera. This led to an animated conversation between two photo buffs about cameras and it took me several minutes to “wake up” and realize I may have met my Stranger. He clearly wasn’t in a big rush so I popped the question and the answer was “Sure.” Meet Mac.
We shook hands and I explained the project and my boulder idea. Mac was happy to oblige and after reviewing the first photo (“Oh, that face!” he said) we decided to do a few more. I was pleased that his glasses weren’t causing reflection problems because I thought they gave the image a nice touch. We played around with my reflector and Mac gave me a couple of tips but in the end I concluded the reflector wasn’t doing a lot so I put it away and took a couple more photos and were back to our conversation.
Mac was a very likeable fellow and fun to chat with. He is 20 and a Sociology student at the university. He grew up in nearby Brampton. He’s clearly a guy with varied interests and told me his photography is mainly photojournalism. He’s pursuing a project on a community near Lake Erie which has undergone considerable change over the years and is using photography to document the theme. He has sold some of his photos to magazines. He has also been a sponsored skateboard enthusiast for several years which tells me he is skilled enough to represent the sport in a commercial capacity.
Sometimes even brief interactions with Strangers gives a fair glimpse into their qualities. I experienced Mac as a very friendly, mature and confident young man who I expect will succeed in whatever field he chooses. I was impressed by the way he has already combined his interest in photography with his academic field - Sociology.
Mac uses a Leica for his journalistic pursuits but also owns an Olympus E-M5 which he likes for its compactness and the quality of its lenses. He is considering upgrading his Olympus to an E-M1 and is interested in adding a prime lens or two to his Olympus kit. I told him how happy I am with my E-M1 and we discussed lenses. I offered to let him check out the viewfinder etc. of my camera. He thanked me but said he’d played around with one already at the camera store. (Something tells me he's already caught the camera upgrade bug!)
I discovered I was running late for my class and had to part, telling Mac how much I appreciated the chat and how glad I was he'd stopped to ask about my camera. I will email his photo and he will email a link to his work. We talked about meeting up sometime with our cameras.
Thank you Mac for participating in 100 Strangers. You are now Stranger #357 in Round 4 of my project.
Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page
To browse Round 1 of my 100 Strangers project click here: www.flickr.com/photos/jeffcbowen/sets/72157633145986224/
To browse Round 2 of my 100 Strangers project click here:www.flickr.com/photos/jeffcbowen/sets/72157634422850489/
To browse Round 3 of my 100 Strangers project click here: www.flickr.com/photos/jeffcbowen/sets/72157635541434065/
357/400 - Mac
This was one of those rare times a stranger approached me instead of the other way around. What a treat.
I went downtown a bit early for my astronomy class and strolled through the university campus with my eyes open for someone to meet. The first two people I approached were very polite but said they were late for class and I had to wish them well and send them on their way. I changed gears and instead of my usual choosing a stranger and then trying to manage the background and light issues, I was looking at a large boulder which is part of the campus landscaping and examining how the light was falling. As I was standing there, this young man appeared out of nowhere and asked me how I like my camera. This led to an animated conversation between two photo buffs about cameras and it took me several minutes to “wake up” and realize I may have met my Stranger. He clearly wasn’t in a big rush so I popped the question and the answer was “Sure.” Meet Mac.
We shook hands and I explained the project and my boulder idea. Mac was happy to oblige and after reviewing the first photo (“Oh, that face!” he said) we decided to do a few more. I was pleased that his glasses weren’t causing reflection problems because I thought they gave the image a nice touch. We played around with my reflector and Mac gave me a couple of tips but in the end I concluded the reflector wasn’t doing a lot so I put it away and took a couple more photos and were back to our conversation.
Mac was a very likeable fellow and fun to chat with. He is 20 and a Sociology student at the university. He grew up in nearby Brampton. He’s clearly a guy with varied interests and told me his photography is mainly photojournalism. He’s pursuing a project on a community near Lake Erie which has undergone considerable change over the years and is using photography to document the theme. He has sold some of his photos to magazines. He has also been a sponsored skateboard enthusiast for several years which tells me he is skilled enough to represent the sport in a commercial capacity.
Sometimes even brief interactions with Strangers gives a fair glimpse into their qualities. I experienced Mac as a very friendly, mature and confident young man who I expect will succeed in whatever field he chooses. I was impressed by the way he has already combined his interest in photography with his academic field - Sociology.
Mac uses a Leica for his journalistic pursuits but also owns an Olympus E-M5 which he likes for its compactness and the quality of its lenses. He is considering upgrading his Olympus to an E-M1 and is interested in adding a prime lens or two to his Olympus kit. I told him how happy I am with my E-M1 and we discussed lenses. I offered to let him check out the viewfinder etc. of my camera. He thanked me but said he’d played around with one already at the camera store. (Something tells me he's already caught the camera upgrade bug!)
I discovered I was running late for my class and had to part, telling Mac how much I appreciated the chat and how glad I was he'd stopped to ask about my camera. I will email his photo and he will email a link to his work. We talked about meeting up sometime with our cameras.
Thank you Mac for participating in 100 Strangers. You are now Stranger #357 in Round 4 of my project.
Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page
To browse Round 1 of my 100 Strangers project click here: www.flickr.com/photos/jeffcbowen/sets/72157633145986224/
To browse Round 2 of my 100 Strangers project click here:www.flickr.com/photos/jeffcbowen/sets/72157634422850489/
To browse Round 3 of my 100 Strangers project click here: www.flickr.com/photos/jeffcbowen/sets/72157635541434065/