this is charlie.

This is Charlie. He's from St. Lucia and I met him in the parking lot of Hardee's shortly after I went in and ordered food after taking photos of Joe. I saw him sitting at a table and reading a newspaper and was really intrigued. I kept my eye on him and was waiting for the perfect moment to go over when he suddenly got up and walked out. I almost admitted defeat when my friend Debbie made some comment about how I'd lost my chance. Never one to give up, I bolted out of my chair (almost hitting a Hardee's employee while doing so) and ran out the door to grab a photo of him. It turns out he wasn't leaving at all, but going to the payphone on the corner to make a call. I stood and talked for him for a few minutes while taking his photo, then went back inside to eat. (Debbie got this shot of me chatting with him outside…I've never had a photo of me interacting with one of my street portrait subjects before, haha.)

Shortly after I finished eating, Charlie came over and asked me to come out to his car to hear his music. I happily obliged and even got a short clip of video of the experience…his music was fantastic!

I love how many great experiences I get simply from walking up to strangers and asking to photograph them. If there was ever a reason to get over your fear of approaching strangers, the entertaining stories alone should be it!

this is joe.

Joe was hanging outside Hardee's smoking a cigarette and leaning on a newspaper dispenser when our group of campers walked up for lunch. I couldn't resist his amazing chops and bright blue eyes, so I hung back and snapped a few photos while he told me about the new paint job his 4x4 had just received. He even offered to let me take a few photos of him with his 4x4 (because of the awesome paint job), but I declined because I wanted to get inside and grab some food without holding up the group. I really just loved his features…I don't think I'll ever get tired of taking photos of old men. They have so much amazing character in their faces!

around the campfire.

This weekend, I spontaneously hopped in the car and drove down to Virginia to go on a camping trip at Hungry Mother State Park. I'd been invited by my roommate, and I figured it was a better way to spend the weekend than on the couch watching tv with my cat. It rained on us in the evening, but we were lucky enough that it cleared up in time for us to get a good fire going and cook some dinner. I didn't really participate in the fire-starting or cooking though because I was too busy off in the trees trying to get "the perfect shot" of everyone around the campfire. This is one of my favorites so far.