Via Flickr:
I spotted Phil’s bright orange helmet first and thought it slightly unusual for a cyclist as it looked more like a canoeist’s helmet to me – but then sports fashion isn’t my forté – in fact neither is fashion if I’m honest ;). Anyway, it looked like he wasn’t about to cycle off in the immediate future so I approached him to ask if he would take part in my project.
When I asked Phil if I could take his photo he said “sure” and asked where I wanted him to stand like it was the most natural thing in the world but as usual I handed him a card and explained about the project anyway. We chatted a bit about what he was doing and at this point his friend arrived and for the second time in a row I was presented with the one or both question so after checking that Dylan was OK with this I again went for both.
My focus was a bit off and unfortunately my sharpest shot of Dylan was also my first closed eyes “100 Strangers” shot so although I shot them both together a few times my diptych is drawn from two different photographs. I guess I should have stopped down the aperture given the bright light and distant background and got both of them sharp in the same shot.
Phil and Dylan were at the end of a Sea-to-Sea cycle run from Whitehaven to North Shields and after 3 days cycling had just 10 of the total 140 miles left to do. Today they had already managed to squeeze in a couple of pints but yesterday sounds quite gruelling and Dylan reported that it involved 4000ft of ascent and descent.
One of the reasons that Dylan agreed to have his photograph taken was because if nothing else “at least it would prove that they hadn’t been womanising for the last 3 days” – I can officially confirm that at 13:20 today – they were most definitely not womanising …
… what they did whilst enjoying their pints is anybody’s guess ;).
Phil and Dylan – thank you very much for taking part in my project – I hope the last 10 miles went smoothly and that you are enjoying a few more pints as I write this up.
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This picture is #40 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
99% Digital 