Friday 10 July 2009

Lancastrians today

Larry, 82, Regent Street, originally uploaded by Lancaster Today.
Chilled Snowflake, originally uploaded by Lancaster Today.

Short photo narratives:

LARRY: I said hello as I passed. Returning later, he was still outside his flat in the morning sun. "Ah, you're still here then?" Twenty minutes later, I knew a lot more about Larry's life. I liked how quickly and easily he agreed to have his photo taken, and much else about things he told me. Thank you Larry.

YOUNG FAMILY: "Excuse me, are you from the paper?" he shouted across the path. It maybe looked that way, me with my hat and my camera, shooting photos of the Ashton Memorial. "Will you take our photo?" It was only as I got closer that I noticed the baby - five weeks old they told me. * Look at the pride writ large on the new father's face and the gentle happiness on the mother's. * To both of you - if you remembered the address of this site and are viewing this - congratulations and good luck in the years ahead. You make a beautiful young family; I'm sure you'll look after her well.

SNOOZING: And finally, to minimise the human bias, here is Snowflake, a neighbour's cat who sleeps in our garden bushes on warm nights. She emerged yawning again this morning, and after ten minutes of petting, stretched out on the table and dozed in the morning sun while we drank coffee. She's one cool cat!

21 comments:

  1. So beautiful...
    Thank you for reviving the black and white.

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  2. These are fantastic pictures and I do like them in black and white! What a sweet kitty.

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  3. Really nice shots, particularly of "Larry". I like the fact that you're obviously able to interact well with people - it shows in the photos and makes all the difference to the end result.

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  4. Thanks guys - :)

    It was very satisfying to get some shots of people rather than objects for a change. I hadn't planned on it until I started chatting with Larry in the morning. That kind of got the ball rolling I suppose. In the park later that evening (yesterday), people again became the focus even though I went to get shots of the memorial. When I got home and looked at the results, the impressive building just kind of paled in comparison with these characters.

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  5. Superb portraits, especially Larry. The expression of his eyes is incredible.

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  6. How wonderful that no one minded you were taking their photos. Did you tell them you'd be posting them on your blog? This is so cool! And I love it in B&W.

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  7. Yes, told them all and gave them the address. Larry said he doesn't use the internet, but I'm hoping one of the others might visit and make a comment.

    Got a couple more great shots this evening that show something of multicultural Lancaster, something I forgot to represent in today's post. They'll be part of tomorrow's post (in 90 minutes or so. I like posting just after midnight!) and are, I think, more interesting than today's. Thanks for the comment EG TG!

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  8. oh, and thanks cieldequimper - I missed your comment until now. His eyes are expressive.

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  9. Hey nice pics. I like the first one particularly...

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  10. Thanks Sean. That seems to be the consensus. If I see Larry again, I'll tell him so. :)

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  11. You hit the sweet spot with both Larry and the cat, Eamon. I am new to your blog, but like these portraits and the b&w emphasis.

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  12. Yes, if I'm honest, Larry and Snowflake are the two that have meaning for me. In fact, I uploaded the other pair mainly because I promised to do so.

    I'm new to my blog too - so the rules of engagement have yet to settle.

    Thanks Julie.

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  13. I love this. And from now on you will not be able to resist the urge to take more portraits, it's so much more rewarding than just aim the camera at yet another building.

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  14. I think you are right Steffe, and I can see from your blog that you were bitten by the bug quite a while ago! I'll be following your blog more closely for inspiration - it looks great.

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  15. Eamon, you asked about photo manipulation. When creating a post I always work at the HTML level. I upload whatever images I want and then go into the HTML and fiddle. I cannot include the code in this comment, but could email it to you if you want to go further. What it involves is putting photos in an HTML table. My blog template is just big enough to cope with a photo that is 640 pixels, or two that are 320 pixels each or three images that are 160 pixels each.

    Hah ... have just noticed your email address up the top corner ... I shall continue via email.
    Cheers ...

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  16. Many thanks Julie - will wait to hear more from you by email and would appreciate that code. Putting two photos side by side across the post is what I'd like to do. The blogger controls for pics are frustratingly limited!

    Thanks again,

    Eamon

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  17. Larry is a beautiful soul and Snowflake is a beautiful feline!

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  18. @ KnoxvilleM. I'm lucky to live in a street full of great characters. So far, it's stopped me moving out of the immediate area though! Ah well, there are many more days in the year to explore other people and places in Lancaster. ~ Thanks.

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  19. I like that, the sensitivity in the portraits and how you've captured them.

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Thanks for the comment in advance. All thoughts are appreciated ~ Eamon.