George Schils
January the 13th was a very busy day with great photos and plenty of new faces, to that George was no exception. While out and about downtown I had already been recognized by a fellow Madison photographer (Kirby Wright ) and was able to include him in my 100 more strangers project. Little did I know at the corner of Johnson and State was my next stranger, as I waited for the light to give me the green light. I looked across the intersection and saw a friend who I hadn't seen in a few months (now before you assume that I've already had interaction with George, hold your tongue). The light turned green and I briskly walked through the intersection, weaving in between people whom of which were walking much to slow. I finally got to the other side after what felt like an eternity, and my friend was still waiting there to chat with me. We shook hands exchanged greetings, and caught up on the last few months of our lives.
The sky was full of large fluffy clouds and I really wanted to capture an image that said "sunshine on the isthmus" so as we chatted I clicked a few frames. Using the 18mm of course, because when you have 18mm why not? After clicking, I heard a voice speak "is that film or digital?" I looked up and I was now face to face with George. I explained that it was a combination of the two, as I have an adapter to use my old Nikon manual lenses on a Canon body. So in theory it's the "best of both worlds," George seemed rather intrigued by this concept of shooting Nikon on Canon. I showed him the images that I had captured with the 18mm, as luck may have it George walking through the frame in one of the images (thus why I caught his eye apparently). As we started to talk shop my friend decided it was time for him to leave, as more of a "enjoy the moment" kind of guy, all the photography talk was a bore to him. So it was George and I left on the glorious Monday afternoon (my last day of vacation at that).
We talked shop for a bit, as George was still quite amazed at the quality of my Nikkor 18mm 3.5 AI-S: I will admit it's my favorite lens on full frame so far. He went into some finer details on photography with wide angles, expressing how "nothing beats a good wide." At this point I realized that our commonality (as with Kirby and I earlier) George would make an excellent subject for my 100 more strangers. I explained the concept and as many artists do, he agreed to let me take his photo and include him in the project. I first tried to use that oh so special 18mm and do an environmental portrait of him with the background of State but I found that was making my frame to busy. I quickly switched to the go to lens of many portrait photographers and put on my 50mm f/1.4, adjusting my settings for the ever changing light that we were presented with (as clouds passed by the sun on/off). Clicking off a few frames to confirm my exposure and focus were right, I snapped five more quick frames.
George seemed slightly nervous, but he was a good chap in allowing me to snap his photo. After clicking the photos, he and I exchanged contact information so that I could link him to my Flickr page to find this write up as well as my personal page Isthmus Portrait. He asked me if I required any compensation for email copies of the photos I had taken, that's a silly question to me. Why should I charge someone for a copy of there photo if they have given me the time of day to include them in the 100 strangers project/group. Alas we didn't exchange currency only email, and with that George now has this photo and I have
a new friend.
044/100
Oh yea one last thing, if you want to see some of Georges' work here is his website Geroge Schils. Check it out, leave him a comment or just admire the work.
George Schils
January the 13th was a very busy day with great photos and plenty of new faces, to that George was no exception. While out and about downtown I had already been recognized by a fellow Madison photographer (Kirby Wright ) and was able to include him in my 100 more strangers project. Little did I know at the corner of Johnson and State was my next stranger, as I waited for the light to give me the green light. I looked across the intersection and saw a friend who I hadn't seen in a few months (now before you assume that I've already had interaction with George, hold your tongue). The light turned green and I briskly walked through the intersection, weaving in between people whom of which were walking much to slow. I finally got to the other side after what felt like an eternity, and my friend was still waiting there to chat with me. We shook hands exchanged greetings, and caught up on the last few months of our lives.
The sky was full of large fluffy clouds and I really wanted to capture an image that said "sunshine on the isthmus" so as we chatted I clicked a few frames. Using the 18mm of course, because when you have 18mm why not? After clicking, I heard a voice speak "is that film or digital?" I looked up and I was now face to face with George. I explained that it was a combination of the two, as I have an adapter to use my old Nikon manual lenses on a Canon body. So in theory it's the "best of both worlds," George seemed rather intrigued by this concept of shooting Nikon on Canon. I showed him the images that I had captured with the 18mm, as luck may have it George walking through the frame in one of the images (thus why I caught his eye apparently). As we started to talk shop my friend decided it was time for him to leave, as more of a "enjoy the moment" kind of guy, all the photography talk was a bore to him. So it was George and I left on the glorious Monday afternoon (my last day of vacation at that).
We talked shop for a bit, as George was still quite amazed at the quality of my Nikkor 18mm 3.5 AI-S: I will admit it's my favorite lens on full frame so far. He went into some finer details on photography with wide angles, expressing how "nothing beats a good wide." At this point I realized that our commonality (as with Kirby and I earlier) George would make an excellent subject for my 100 more strangers. I explained the concept and as many artists do, he agreed to let me take his photo and include him in the project. I first tried to use that oh so special 18mm and do an environmental portrait of him with the background of State but I found that was making my frame to busy. I quickly switched to the go to lens of many portrait photographers and put on my 50mm f/1.4, adjusting my settings for the ever changing light that we were presented with (as clouds passed by the sun on/off). Clicking off a few frames to confirm my exposure and focus were right, I snapped five more quick frames.
George seemed slightly nervous, but he was a good chap in allowing me to snap his photo. After clicking the photos, he and I exchanged contact information so that I could link him to my Flickr page to find this write up as well as my personal page Isthmus Portrait. He asked me if I required any compensation for email copies of the photos I had taken, that's a silly question to me. Why should I charge someone for a copy of there photo if they have given me the time of day to include them in the 100 strangers project/group. Alas we didn't exchange currency only email, and with that George now has this photo and I have
a new friend.
044/100
Oh yea one last thing, if you want to see some of Georges' work here is his website Geroge Schils. Check it out, leave him a comment or just admire the work.