Even though the light today was pretty good, I had various commitments to fulfil, so a quick shot was all I had time for. I tried holding this little Kuala from Australia (given to me by a friend’s girlfriend who is from Australia) up in the air and in various configurations, but I like the natural feeling of the wooden seat my family has at home. I would have preferred to take this against the bokeh of my garden, but getting the exposure and light was too hard and it came out too dark.

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I met Helen walking around the Woodside Ferry Terminal next to the U Boat Submarine exhibit entrance. I Introduced myself and we got talking about what she was doing in the area, which was a bit of travelling with her husband, and she thought the ticket price to go around the exhibition was a little expensive.

She was very patient with me and we took a few shots of her looking at the Abbey Road – Beatles Penguins which were in the lobby, but I can’t help but love her smile and warmth that she exudes in this shot.

This picture is #022 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page

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Today was my “Professional Persons Job Searching Training” at Reed in Birkenhead. I asked if I could take some photos during the course and I was given permission by the group. After, I had a wander around Hamilton Square, and into the Woodside Ferry Terminal. I was hoping to get some decent shots of the Liverpool Waterfront, but the weather wasn’t great today.

Quite like this set of penguins painted up to look like the Abbey Road Cover. There were a few angles I took, but I liked this the best.

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Met a couple of people today for different reasons, but I had a while taking photos in Liverpool city centre. Today’s selection was a hard one, as there were quite a few good photos, especially since the light this morning was so clear and crisp. The attraction of this one particularly was the composition of something smaller against something larger and I feel this it was quite unusual for me to capture such a clean shot of something architectural.

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After buying a “Big Issue” from a Romanian girl (called Rebecca) who’s turf is Liscard, and being refused to take a photo of her even after I explained all the benefits and why I was doing it, she suggested I gave this guy some change and ask to take his photo, I surely did that. John wasn’t very talkative, and just nodded at me a lot when I was talking to him. Felt as if he didn’t want to be disturbed. I took a couple of photos and left him alone.

There could have been a lot of traction in this as a good photo, and I think that this is below average for the potential. But hey-ho the time / patience wasn’t there for me to test a few different compositions, and I don’t have the innate skill to pick the perfect shot out of thin air yet.

Thank you John.

This picture is #021 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page

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I met Kerry & Stephen after an appointment I had at the local Job Centre. I was looking for strangers to photograph, and I thought I’d approach them because I would normally be reluctant to with people dressed like this. I explained myself and they kindly agreed, I supplied my card, took a few photos and wished them well.

This picture is #020 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page

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In an effort to try something a bit different I took a few self portraits at arms length some with Flash and some without. This is the one that felt most right to me. It’s a little freaky and I quite like that.

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Took a bath today, and thought the bubbles and splashes looked cool. The white background and short exposure proved to be a bit of a problem, and didn’t get anything close to what I wanted. However I quite like the way that the auto correct “I’m Feeling Lucky” in Picasa has made this look.

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Sadly my lens was a little damp and steamed up when I took this, thus the diffusion of the light at the top and the slightly soft focus. So this isn’t the portrait that it could have been. Taken on a bus, there wasn’t much I could do. I should have tried standing and taking it from the aisle, then I wouldn’t have been shooting against the light. Live and learn, and this goes to having the confidence to moving and taking a few photos of the person in question without annoying them or over extending the permission.

I met Oscar in the village shop in Thornton Hough after interviewing the office manager of a local private Dentist practice. I was sheltering from the rain, waiting for the bus to come. He walked in and bought a coffee.

We got talking at the bus stop and described what It was that I was doing and had a chat about how he got into delivering cars for a living. Apparently he used to be in information collection and aggregation before the internet became predominant, and lost his interest in it after that, so did a string of jobs after that, most recent of which is delivering cars, and was on his way back from such a job.

The day was too wet for me to take photos in the area, which is really disappointing because it’s really beautiful. Maybe I’ll be able to go back on a better day soon and take some good ones.

This picture is #019 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page

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Today saw me going to my real assessment and introductory meeting with the Job Centre Advisor. A lot more useful than I’ve ever really found the Job Centre before. She booked me onto a Reed job searching and CV writing course for professionals on Tuesday, with a one-to-one session on Wednesday. She also advised that I continue doing what it was I was doing, and that I might consider TEFL /TESOL teaching in the UK as well as the other things that I was up to. A large improvement from the “I’m sorry there’s nothing I can do for you” which I’ve had in previous visits.

This sign was outside the Weatherspoon’s in Liscard (opens at some ungodly hour and I’ve seen people drinking pints there at 9AM). It was behind a parked car and completely obscured from traffic. I have no idea why they need a sign like this, I suppose it is water works and they might need to reassure people that the shops aren’t closed due to this. Such is the way that UK legislation works.

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