More Strangers

OK, well here's another batch of my photographs of strangers. From my previous 'stranger' posts you should all know by now that this is a hobby of mine.
Just to make it clear though, when I take these photos, it's strictly to capture a moment in time, a little slice of life that may otherwise go undocumented. There is never any ill intent or malicious thought to them, I'm not looking to shoot people at their worse. And although in this group there is one of a child, I don't photograph children very often, only because I don't want to creep out the parents and for the fact that the parents are usually already documenting what I see. I couldn't resist with the little girl at the beach though, I love how the colours looked and how she seemed to discovering the wonders of the beach for the first time. Also bear in mind, I have a pretty decent zoom lens so it's not like I'm in people's faces, they usually don't even know that their photo has been taken. Though this batch also includes a few exceptions to that too, as I believe that I was spotted taking the photo in 2 from this grouping. First one being the guy on the balcony talking on the phone, it appears that he's looking right at me, might be kind of hard to see in this posting though.
I actually took that photo while sat in the passenger seat of a car that was stopped at a red light, so I didn't have much time to capture it, as is the case with many of my stranger photos. None the less, it looks like I may've been spotted. Second one being rather obvious from the photo, is the man with the tie on that reads, 'I'm Perfect'. I was standing alone waiting for the kids to get onto the roller coaster at the PNE when I spotted Mr.Perfect, it just struck me so funny that someone would wear that tie, I really admired his chutzpah. By the time he was close enough for me to read what his tie said, it was pretty close to impossible to pretend that I was capturing something else, so I just took my shot. Luckily for me, he didn't seem to mind, he just smiled at me as I lowered my camera. I'm sure when you're perfect you get that kind of thing happening to you all the time.
So hopefully that'll clear up any concerns in regards to my love of photographing strangers. My oldest son, who is very sensitive (just like me) started to seem bothered when I would take such photos. He said to me, 'I don't understand why you like to take photo's of people that you don't know'. He said it in a suspicious and protective way, like he thought I was maybe in some way making fun of them.
Now he, and anyone else who knows me should know better, that simply is not me.
So I assured him that in no way was I taking these photos to be mean, further adding that I'm sure if the strangers that I have photographed saw the photos, I would like to think that they'd like to have a copy for themselves.
Many of the photos are taken of people on their own, so if I didn't capture these moments, they wouldn't be documented. Even if they did have a friend with them, they still wouldn't capture the honesty that my photos reveal, simply because it's not quite the same to say to a friend, 'hey go take a photo of me quietly reading on my own', sure you'd still have a nice photo, but what you'd be capturing would be a set up moment. I love to capture the moment as it is naturally occurring.
OK, so I've already describe a few of this latest batch, onto the rest.
The couple on the bench, happened to be sitting on the same bench where I captured my 'On Golden Pond' man...see my February 5, 2010 post for that photo. This couple looked so happy, they were laughing and looked like they were in the midst of a great catch up. They just warmed my heart so much.
The other three beach shots were taken on pretty cold days, it's a rare occasion to find me on a beach in the summer, but any other season, I just love it.
The lone gentlemen was a lovely sight, I'm sure this is a walk he probably does daily. What a great way to clear your mind. The two girls in the tent, was taken on the same (freezing) day and I loved their enthusiasm despite the cold, they were going to enjoy the view from their little shelter. These shots were taken at Centennial Beach in Tsawassen, a fantastic place with so many beautiful rocks, I'm pretty sure I have at least 5 pounds of them at my house. I kept saying to the kids, 'OK, last one, don't bring anymore home'....then I'd spot another one that I couldn't resist. Not to worry though, there must be millions there, still lots for everyone. The lady with yellow boots was spotted at Stanley Park, and I just loved how her boots gave a great shot of colour to her outfit.
Still at Stanley Park, we have the lady peacefully reading against the tree, despite the fact that the park was fairly busy, she still found her own little escape.
Which brings me to the photo of the man facing the water, also enjoying an escape.
The same escape that I was enjoying when I took his photo, because what you don't get from this photo, is the fact that only about 100 yards from where he is standing, thousands of people are filing past en route to the roller coaster or maybe to grab some mini doughnuts, yup, this one was taken at the PNE too! I can only handle heat and crowds for so long before I need a break from it to recharge my batteries and this little tucked away oasis was just what I needed.
The last photo in this batch was taken in Steveson. The man riding the bike reminded of the character, Holling from Northern Exposure - one of my favourite shows.
I thought, you never know, maybe Holling was heading back to his birthplace in the Yukon or biking back up to Alaska to see his love Shelly? Either way, it was nice to see him.