Portraits

I met Margot at the Noosa Yacht Club on the Noosa River in Queensland. Colour version in note top left of the photo. Prime lens 1114

Mooloolaba, Queensland.

Photographer on the 2013 Worldwide Photo Walk in Mooloolaba, Queensland. I did not ask to take the portrait. He was on a lower boardwalk at the Mooloolaba Marina, looked up and gave me this great smile.

Mooloolaba, Queensland.

On Saturday 5th October there was a Worldwide Photo Walk, with a local walk in Mooloolaba, Queensland. Lois was one of the other photographers.

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 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 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 really had no intention of taking a portrait on this occasion but then... We were having breakfast at the Noosa beachfront restaurant Bistro C. Morgan organised our coffees and I noticed his foreign accent. I took a few photos of the view of the boardwalk and beach on this brilliant day. One of the photos included a back view of Morgan looking out to sea. Later, when we were about to leave I asked if I could take his photo and explained the 100 Strangers project. He was OK with that. Morgan told me that he is from Toulouse in the South of France and has been in Australia for 1 year 3 months and in Noosa for a couple of months. He has been travelling around Australia, working as a waiter, starting in Freemantle in Western Australia. He has been up to Broome and recently was in Bondi Beach in Sydney. He plans to return home to France later in the year for a friend's wedding. We exchanged details and I said I would send on the photos and links. I hope you enjoy the rest of your time in Australia, Morgan, and many thanks. It was a pleasure to meet you. I took four photographs, all with the flash in the restaurant interior. Morgan is quite tall so I was looking up at him. I chose a crop of a photo with Morgan looking at the camera as the main photo, and the photo of the beach is also included. This portrait is #10 in my 100 strangers project.

Tree roots were pushing up our driveway which was badly cracked. Adam was the man for the job. Hailing from Yandina, he and his brothers all worked in the family business and Adam branched out a few years ago to run his own concreting business. He said that there is plenty of demand, and that he has been working six days a week recently. To fit us in he did the concreting on Saturday morning, bringing along his young son, who helped out :-) He was happy to be on the Internet. Thanks Adam, it was great to meet you. I have learned a little. I asked Adam to move out of the direct sun so the light was good. I find I tend to use Program AE, as you don't have the luxury of set up time in these situations. Adam's portrait is the 20th in my 100 Strangers project... Noosa Hinterland, Queensland.

I went to the RSPCA Noosa Shelter on Wednesday hoping to photograph a cat for the feline topic in the project 113 photos in 2013. Michelle kindly assisted me in taking photos of a handsome cat called Dave. She then suggested we could go to the outside pen and try some photos of Panda. I went inside but Panda was very friendly, and continuously on the move. I asked Michelle if she could hold him. She obliged and asked what the project was about. I explained it and also mentioned the 100 Strangers project and asked if she would mind having her photo on the Internet She laughed and said yes as she hadn't told me her name at that stage, so was still a stranger. It was kind of her to help as they were very busy. I asked a few questions. MIchelle said that she lived locally and had worked at the shelter for the last 7 and a half years and loved the job. She added that she couldn't do it without the help of the volunteers. She told me that there are 4 paid staff and 50 volunteers and they operate 7 days a week. The manager has worked there for 20 years. Thanks very much Michelle for participating. It was lovely to meet you. What a great job the RSPCA does. This is the 17th portrait in my 100 Strangers project. Archive Airings AA34 Cats

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.

I was taking photos of a White Heron on the jetty at Chaplin Park when the fisherman there said I could get closer to it as it was a bait thief so pretty tame. I took a few more photos and a back view of Daryn fishing and then wandered off with the dogs. I then thought of going back to take a closer portrait of Daryn and the bird. I explained the 100 Strangers project and where he could find the photos. He said he comes down here regularly at the weekends to fish, before the footy. Daryn is a local, having lived all his life in the area, living in Tewantin. During the week he works on pipelines. Many thanks Daryn for participating, it was lovely to meet you. I took a couple of photos with the zoom lens and a couple with the standard lens, all in very strong sunlight at the end of the jetty so Daryn’s face was in shadow. An atmospheric portrait of a ‘Weekend Fisherman’. As a bonus, you can see the reflection in Daryn’s sunglasses of me taking the photo with our Border Collie, Sooki, and the long jetty :-) The main photo is cropped. This is portrait 12 in my 100 strangers project. Chaplin Park, Noosa River, Queensland.

Mooloolaba, Queensland

Kate on the day she married William. William was born 13 January 1897 in Semley, Wiltshire; his father was from Tisbury, Wiltshire and his mother was from Odstock, Wiltshire. Kate was born 4 December 1900 in St Andrew’s, Battersea, London; her father was from Frampton Sapperton, Gloucestershire and her mother was from Chelsea, London. They married 17 February 1923 in Southampton, Hampshire. My grandparents.

Noosa Marina, Queensland

I went to the RSPCA Noosa Shelter on Wednesday hoping to photograph a cat for the feline topic in the project 113 photos in 2013. Michelle kindly assisted me in taking photos of a handsome cat called Dave. She then suggested we could go to the outside pen and try some photos of Panda. I went inside but Panda was very friendly, and continuously on the move. I asked Michelle if she could hold him. She obliged and asked what the project was about. I explained it and also mentioned the 100 Strangers project and asked if she would mind having her photo on the Internet She laughed and said yes as she hadn't told me her name at that stage, so was still a stranger. It was kind of her to help as they were very busy. I asked a few questions. She said that she lived locally and had worked at the shelter for the last 7 and a half years and loved the job. She added that she couldn't do it without the help of the volunteers. She told me that there are 4 paid staff and 50 volunteers and they operate 7 days a week. The manager has worked there for 20 years. Thanks very much Michelle for participating. It was lovely to meet you. What a great job the RSPCA does. This is one of the two photos taken, Noosa, Queensland. Archive Airings AA52 Two, a couple, a pair

Every Wednesday there is a race at the Noosa Yacht Club on the Noosa River. Known as WAGS (Wednesday Afternoon Gentleman Sailing) , it has now been modified to include Ladies WAGLS.