Dayle

I met Dayle at George's Paragon Restaurant in Sanctuary Cove Marine Village. We arrived there for lunch and he introduced himself as our waiter. I asked if it was OK to photograph the amazing murals and he said yes. I recognised his New Zealand accent. I hadn’t planned to take a portrait but later I asked if he would mind if I took a photo of him and we discussed Flickr and the 100 Strangers project. He was happy to oblige but said that he would be moving between tables, so couldn't chat for long.

It transpired that he is the head waiter at George's and has worked there for five years since he arrived in Australia. He hails from Christchurch in the South Island of New Zealand and was a policeman there. Dayle doesn' t see this job as being that different as it is also about customer service and relating to people. He gained his experience in hospitality while in Europe. We also touched on the earthquake in Christchurch and he said he had helped his mother clean up after the disaster.

Thanks so much Dayle for sharing this. It was a pleasure to meet you.

The light was very bright outside, with large windows all around so the lighting was tricky once again. I had the camera set on auto white balance which didn't cope well in this scenario. I was able to take four photos, although Dayle was pretty busy. One photo was with the flash which didn’t really help with the light. I selected the two best expressions, cropped them, and attached some originals.

This picture is #06 in my 100 strangers project.

Queensland, Australia.