Unlikely Target

I won’t even pretend that I’m not cowering in fear from the cold weather… so until the weather warms up, I’m only going to be posting text-updates to the site.  Maybe I’ll figure out how to adapt my site to accomodate more than 1 project – although I doubt that I’ll manage more than that at one given time.

The main update that I’ve been working on is my watermark.  I was trying to be fancy and artistic, only to realize I enjoy the classic and simple look of a URL.  I’m not concerned about image-theft or anything, the watermarke is just in case the images find their way to some other non-profit site, I get bit of the credit for the work done.   I’m still learning WordPress design, so I’ll be working on prettying up the site a bit and allowing for better flow through the images and the site.  I also want to get rid of the hideous “Unlikely Target” text at the top and replace it with my typewriter-font watermark image.  Consistency is nice.

As strangers 2-4 asked about the site and whatnot, I figured I’d actually get some business cards made.  Super plain an simple, exactly how I want them, and they should be here in 2-3 weeks.  It was $18 for 250 cards, so why not help people find my site and share with their friends.  I like the minimalist approach, and although my name is no secret, I don’t want it smothering my business cards or anything.  All people need to know is that unlikelytarget.com is where I’m posting pics, and it’s not some creepy pseudo-voyeurism site.

Day 2 involved much less anxiety and urge to throw up, so it was a better start right off the bat.  I was hanging out in the Byward Market while Lauren (fiancee) was getting an assessment for her wedding head-piece (mine is called ‘hair’).  I only had about 40 minutes and it was busy in the market.   I thought that a drastic increase in the number of people would have provided me with massive numbers of potential subjects, but all was not great in the realm of photography.

1. Lots of people travel in pairs.  I saw many people that would fit my criteria (interesting looking and friendly), but they were either in couples or in a group.  I don’t know how to approach a couple of people and single one out for my shoot – and I don’t like interrupting conversations, so I find myself at a loss when I want to photograph both the people.  (I suppose I’ll get over that one and just jump out and interject)
2. People that are alone seem to be on a mission when running through the market area.  Many trudged along with their heads down at a pace that I couldn’t match (I walk faster than most jog).  I’m not in the business of making people late for previous arrangements, so I’m not going to pester them.
3. The weather was supposed to be about 5-6º, and it maxed out at 1º that day.  Didn’t really affect people that much, but it caused issue #2 to be increased in severity, and also caused my hands to be very dry and my nose to run like a faucet.

All that said, I had a great day.  I couldn’t have been happier, meandering about the Byward Market, snapping shots of people.  I’m getting freakishly excited to continue this project, especially as the days are getting warmer and people are getting happier and more accepting of lounging about around the city street.  I’ll post up my new subjects in a few minutes/hours and hopefully people will be pleased with my attention to the male subject.  I had received a few comments on my focus towards women during my first day, so here’s my gift to those people – a couple gentlemen that were happy to participate.

So far, I’m 5/5 from subjects – huzzah!

Here begins the 105 Strangers Project.  Rather than 100, I’m going with “105″, dedicated to the fact I’m using my 24-105 f/4 for the whole adventure.  See how quickly I gave up on “random people”?  It was too awkward to explain that naming convention to strangers on the street, and I don’t think they’d appreciate being called “random”.

I expect the first several (dozen) shots to be horrible, at no fault of the models.  The most I’ve done with portraiture has been candids at family events – yes, as “that guy” with the oversized flash and 50mm lens.  So here’s hoping that I see improvement over time and find a flow that works for me.

Although the 24-105 f/4 isn’t the best lens for this type of photography, I’m using it to the best of my abilities, and will learn to develop skill rater than depend on gear to compensate for my lake of artistic capabilities.  I would, ideally, have an 85 f/1.8 for the job, get that wicket short DOF for all my shots, but hey, I’m taking what I have to find out if portraiture is even my “thing”.  (after today, I’m leaning towards yes)

Now let me regale with you tales of my first day shooting complete strangers.

I got off work and hit the streets around 4:20pm and didn’t think much of how quiet the streets were – people work until 4:30pm, right?  Well, I didn’t think of it, but it’s March Break this week, and that means a LOT of people are not at work.  And I would hazard a guess that my fellow mid-20s people either don’t work downtown, or decided to take an early close due to 1. March Break, 2. St. Patty’s Day.  So I was left outside in 5º weather, looking for interesting people in a diminished sea of people.  Impossible?  Not likely! But definitely not as easy as I thought it would be. My mind focused on the difficulty of approaching complete strangers and facing massive rejection.  I spent the first hour or so looking at people whilst holding my camera, hoping someone would inquire as to why the dapper professor-looking gentleman was holding a DSLR in downtown Ottawa during rush-hour.  Nay, nobody inquired, and after 50 minutes of people walking past me without a second glance, I started pacing Bank Street, looking for interesting people that I could photograph for my project.

Well, I chased one such person down the street, and found my first 3 subjects, and apologize to them for my poor skill – but this is a learning endeavor.  Track me down in a few years, and I’ll be glad to give you all proper portraits, assuming I’m still alive/photographing/not-a-ninja-assassin.

Well, lets get the ball rolling on this.  I bought this domain 6 months ago, and I’m now ramping up to actually fill this thing with content

I consider myself to be an amateur photography hobbyist, at best, but this site is the motivation to better myself in the photography realm.  I figure that if I can appreciate and understand something, I can reproduce and even produce my own version of what it is that I appreciate – in this case, the something is a nice photograph.

BTW – this whole blog will make as much sense as that previous sentence.

The first endeavor that I’ll undertake is something called the 100 Strangers Project.

To make it more my style, it’s going to be the 100 Random People Project.

The idea is not original, I found someone on http://photography-on-the.net that got the idea from Markus Schwarze that probably got it from someone else.  It’s pretty simple, you take your camera out on the street and ask strangers to take their portrait.  No candid shots without them knowing, it’s pure portraiture with amateurs posing with no prep time or special lighting.

I live in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and that will be my base for my project.   I’ll poke/yell/flash people in order to get their attention and then ask if I can take their portrait.  I’m sure I’ll face much rejection, but that’s nothing I haven’t felt before ;)  There’s no harm in photographing someone and posting on the internet… right?