Via Flickr:
This is Tony. I met Tony and his friend Emmanuel outside London's Tate Modern gallery and they kindly let me take their pictures as part of my 100 Strangers project.
They're stylish chaps, great people to meet. They were in a bit of a hurry, as darkness was imminent, so we didn't chat for long, but enough to know they'd recently moved to town and it was their first time at the Tate. We agreed it was a worthwhile institution, and that the walk up to Westminster was a good introduction to London.
As it was only the one request, one story and one interaction, I felt uncomfortable about posting their portraits as two separate "strangers". Emmanuel wasn't entirely comfortable with the picture taking, so I thought I'd just post Tony's picture formally.
Tony and Emmanuel - thank you so much for tolerating my interruption to your day. I've prepared both of your portraits, so just email or call and I can forward them both over - I hope you like them!
On a technical point, this was my second portrait of someone wearing glasses. Having seen Michael's (1/100) images on my LCD, I knew focusing would be an issue, and tried to adjust - by pre-setting my camera on a single micro point, then aiming just above and behind Tony's eyes. The result is better, though it doesn't feel like the full solution yet.
One new issue on this occasion was reflections - the red streak on Tony's frames, and the faint glow in the right hand lens is me in my Cornell hoodie... I was in the centre of the frame too, but removed myself with the clone stamp tool, as it was just too distracting. Still - another thing to be aware of. Steffan Hi did kindly warn me about this on Michael's portrait, but I'd met Tony too soon. Sorry Tony - I hope you can forgive me!
Monday, 7 January 2013
Tony (Stranger #2/100), London South Bank
