100 Strangers

I met Ayla at the local Vet where she is a busy Vet Nurse. She kindly allowed me to take her portrait after I described the 100 Strangers project. After I had seen the Vet with my dog Angus, Ayla posed for a photo and we sorted out the prescribed medication. Ayla likes living and working in the Noosa area because she calls it home. She loves the beaches and the fact that it has a slower pace than city life. She has been to the Northern Territory for a couple of months, has travelled to New York and would like to travel to Europe next. This was a spontaneous photo taken with the Samsung Galaxy S, one shot only. Thanks Ayla, it was a pleasure to meet you.

I met Simon at the Noosa Surf Festival Tiki Bar on the Beach. Simon was really cool with having his photo taken. He was working part time as a Barman during the Surf Festival, and was pretty busy at the bar. He also has his own car detailing business as well as being an enthusiastic surfer. A fun character, he is a Noosa local and he was happy to pose for a second photo. I said he was my number 2 stranger and he said he would rather be number 1. I said that number 1 was a pretty girl and he said "so it's beauty and the beast" :-) Thank you Simon. It was great to meet you. The first photo was spontaneous with the Samsung Galaxy S. The second was with the Canon SLR. It was difficult to choose the main shot. Technically the image from the SLR was much better, but the first photo on the Samsung was more appealing. So appeal won.

I met Ian during the Noosa Surf Festival on Main Beach. I had taken a couple of photos of a Canon 7D camera with a very large zoom lens, which was set up in a prime position to take photos of the competing surfers. Then Ian stood up and started taking photos with the impressive camera. I asked if I could take his photo and he was happy to oblige. He lives in Coolum which he likes as it is quieter than Noosa, and is a keen Surfer himself. He was the chief photographer for the Noosa Surf Festival event. He describes himself as a semi professional photographer and before this he was the head of a TV station, WIN channel for Wide Bay. Ian is originally from Wollongong in New South Wales. Thanks very much, Ian. It was a pleasure to meet you. Read more about Ian at www.oceansurfphotos.com.au This was a flash photo with the Canon SLR against the background of the very bright beach and ocean. It looked very dark in the LCD screen so I was relieved when it turned out as a reasonable result. B&W version in the note on main image. Stranger 03 (2013)

I met Steve at the Noosa Surf Festival Tiki Bar on the Beach. He is a Noosa local, loves the area, and loves to surf. He has been manufacturing surf boards for 15 years and has his own business doing this. He makes all shapes and sizes of unique wooden surf boards and paddle boards, having a passion for lines, curves and flow. He also likes working in other areas, helping out friends occasionally in their businesses. He was very happy to have his photo taken and to be on Flickr. He gave me his business card and I said I would send a copy of the photo and Flickr link. Read more about Steve at www.woodensurfboardsshapesbysteveo.com.au Thanks very much Steve. It was a pleasure to meet you. This was a flash photo with the Canon SLR EOS 550D. I was happy with the light in this, with resulting good natural colours. This photo is a square crop. This picture is #04 in my 100 strangers project.

I met Jenni at the Sunday Market in Tewantin. I had bought a dress at her colourful stall in the Market and wasn’t planning to take a portrait that day but as I was walking away it just occurred to me to ask her. She agreed, although she doesn’t normally like having her picture taken. I explained the project and she was happy with the idea of being on Flickr. Jenni has lived in Noosa for the past 35 years and is originally from Sydney. She comes to the Market at Noosa Marina every Sunday with her stock of clothing which she sources in Bali. She makes regular trips to Bali and buys more clothing on each visit, and would love to live in Bali. That is her plan. We talked about the 100 strangers project being photos of people all over the world. She asked if I was a professional photographer and I replied that I was an amateur. Jenni asked if I had been to Bali and said that she had just created a Facebook page for her partner who is a Tour Guide in Bali, and that I could see her collection of photos from Bali on it. Looking at the photos, they are a great advertisement for Bali. www.facebook.com/pages/-Ari-Tour-Guide-Bali-/376177332460... Thanks very much Jenni. It was lovely to meet you. I took two photos using the flash and like the second best as it has a colourful background, so have attached the first photo in the comments. This picture is #05 in my 100 strangers project. Noosa, Queensland, Australia

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.

I met Andrea at The White House, a Furniture and Homewares shop which is at Noosa Marina. I was taking a couple of photos for the White in April project as the shop has a white beachy, coastal theme and is full of interesting gifts and homewares, and then thought to ask Andrea for a photo, explained the 100 Strangers project on Flickr, and she agreed. Andrea has lived in Noosa for six years and loves the lifestyle. She likes to enjoy everything Noosa has to offer with her two young girls. This includes swimming, bike riding, walking around the National Park and going out in the boat. The White House is run by long time Noosa residents, Andrea's in-laws. Thanks so much Andrea. It was a pleasure to meet you. I took two photos, both with the Canon SLR, and both with a backdrop of The White House interior, deciding not to the use the flash. The first portrait was in relatively low light with a soft focus. The second photo is cropped as the main shot, with the originals in the comments. This picture is #07 in my 100 strangers project. Queensland, Australia.

I met Sheena at The Boathouse, a floating restaurant on the Noosa River in Queensland. www.boathouserestaurant.com.au She told me that she was from Tonga originally, grew up in Fiji and also lived in New Zealand, a proudly Polynesian girl. She came to Australia in 1970 and has lived in Noosa for the last 17 years. She used to own a business and now is happy living and working locally. She was happy to have a portrait taken and the idea of the 100 Strangers project. Many thanks Sheena, it was a pleasure to meet you. I took two photos, both with the Canon SLR, and both with a backdrop of The Boathouse interior, using the flash. Both portraits were in very low light. The first photo is cropped as the main shot, with the original and other photo in the comments. This picture is #08 in my 100 strangers project.

We were walking our dogs on Noosa Dog beach which is great at low tide revealing a large sand bar. When crossing to the bar our Border Collie started playing with another black dog. Then our Westie joined in and another dog, a brindle. These were Russell’s two dogs Jet and Bowdee. We started chatting about his young dog Jet’s big feet and how he was going to be a big dog and that he was from working Collie stock. Later on I asked if I could take a photo of Russell, explaining the 100 Strangers Project, and he agreed. Russell is a visitor to Noosa, having worked recently in Beaudesert, fruit picking. He is originally from Bundaberg and his family are from further North in the Mackay area. He is travelling around Australia with his two dogs. He remembers working as a bean picker at a very early age and has worked as a fruit picker, mainly citrus, all his life. He has a bad back from Strawberry picking. His grandmother was a South Sea Islander, he thinks from Vanuatu, and his grandfather was from a long Aboriginal bloodline. Russell doesn’t live in the past and thinks that everyone can live in harmony. It was lovely to meet you Russell, thanks so much for sharing this. The photos were taken in bright sunlight on a brilliant day with the Zoom lens 55-250mm, which is the only lens I had with me that day. The main photo is cropped and lightened a little. I took some other photos of Russell smiling as well as Russell with his dog Jet. There are also some photos of Bowdee, Jet and our dogs playing together. This picture is #09 in my 100 strangers project. Queensland, Australia.