Via Flickr:
When I first approached Keith he said “No” but for the first time I followed up by saying “it will only take a minute” and handed him a card anyway. Keith stopped, glanced at the card and relented … “yeah sure, if it’s for something artistic”. Nice one!
I took a few shots of Keith as my camera was over-exposing for some reason even though I was on spot metering – possibly because I was focusing close to his sunglasses which I guess contributed to a darker reading than the whole scene merited. Nonetheless, a bit of trial and error and I ended up with a shot that I was happy with after dialling in -1.7 exposure compensation – although it took me a few attempts to get there (that’s the problem with over exposure – it’s a bit of a guessing game). Then I noticed the composition was a bit tardy with a dark sculpture in the background half visible behind his head so I took one final shot to sort that out. Keith was very patient throughout although the whole thing only took a couple of minutes at the most.
I didn’t learn much about Keith but he was on his way to visit his girlfriend and he is a painter, sculptor & musician and plays percussion in a death metal band. Unbelievably it never occurred to me to ask the name of his band so if you’re reading this Keith (and I think you will based on what you said) then it’d be great if you would email me the band’s name or add it to the comments below.
Thanks very much for taking part in my project Keith, I hope you like the photo!
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This picture is #43 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 