Faces: Bonus

When I started this project, the first faces were from the fire department.  Julia said, "Mommy, you need to do the police, too."  I thought it would be fun to come full circle, since the police department and the fire department are in the same building.

Chief Havas wasn't toooooo thrilled about getting his photo taken, and I caught him at a bad time, but he obliged for a very, very quick image.

Thanks!!

And with this image, my 30 faces in 30 days project is complete.  Whew!  

What I learned:

• People are generally friendly and accommodating.
• Going up to complete strangers is HARD, but the interesting people you meet are worth it.
• Doing a project like this is a good way to get over shyness with strangers.  Oh yes it is!
• It would be better to do this in the summer time when there are plenty of events going on where people gather.  There aren't a lot of places here for that once summer is over, which I found challenging (and why I got to the last day behind).
• When an opportunity presents itself, don't hesitate.  Take it!  I don't know how many times I saw someone that had a unique look or something, but by the time I hemmed and hawed about it, the moment had passed and the opportunity lost.
• Bring your camera everywhere.  Today I saw a guy walking his dog.  A handsome, older gentleman smoking a pipe.  You don't see that very much these days!  But I was rushing to the school to bring something in, and left my camera at home.  Interesting face and photo op gone buh-bye.
• Rain stinks.

And with that, I bid the Community Portrait Project adieu.  I hope everyone enjoyed this journey as much--or more!!--than I did.  If you're thinking about doing something like this, dive in!  It's hard, I won't deny, but you will see definite improvement in your confidence and people skills, so it's well worth the shaky knees and butterfly stomach!

:)

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Faces 30: Meet Hailey

Hailey learned a lesson today.  Unless you WANT your photo taken, never EVER make eye contact with let alone greet someone walking past you with a camera!

She was great, though, and when I turned back and asked for her photo, she agreed.  Whoot!

She's studying premed here, and then she's off to chiropractic school in Ohio (edit:  oops.  Davenport, Iowa!). Her dad's a chiropractor as well, which is pretty cool.

I've never been to a chiropractor before, although I probably should...my shoulders are stiff just sitting here.

Anyway.  Here's Hailey.

Thanks for letting me take your photo--and for agreeing to get down onto the grass!

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Faces 28 and 29: Sam and Emily

Sam and Emily were sitting under a tree, hangin' out, so I approached them, and they were so nice and friendly!  Sam is studying Political Science, while Emily is doing a double major in Criminology and Psychology.

Here's Sam and his awesome Jamaica shirt:

I think Emily is gorgeous, and I didn't know which picture to post, so she's getting a bonus one:

I took a quick shot of them together but...it didn't turn out so well.  :(  For some reason, these aren't as crystal clear as they appear in Lightroom, so I think Blogger is having resolution issues.  BUT trust me--her eyes are gorgeous!  

Thanks for allowing me to take your photos, you two, and good luck with your studies!

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Faces 27: Jon

Four people behind and the last day.  Wanted to take some photos of the military, but nobody was at the recruiting offices.  So off I went to the university.  It's a nice day, so I thought there would probably be people around.  Jon and a friend of his were having lunch outside, so I approached them, and Jon agreed to a picture.

Thanks Jon!!

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Sustenance

Although I couldn't take a photo at O'Shea's (my favorite chocolate place), I DID score these fabulous sea salt caramels.

Yummo.

Just enough sustenance to go off on a marathon of photographing faces, since to meet my goal I need 4 more by the end of the day!

Cover me--I'm going in!

Faces 25 and 26: Deb and Taylor

My favorite theater--the Westwood Plaza Theatre and Cafe.  Nowhere else can you go, order a nice sandwich platter, go inside to watch the movie, and have your food delivered to your seat. Then you can sit back, relax, watch a flick and chow down.  The prices are also really good, so if I want to just go to a movie with the kiddos in the afternoon, it's really economical.  :)

I love the names of the platters, all named after actors or movies.  One of my faves is "The Last Action Gyro."  Yum.

I'm still not sure exactly how the little lit candles work out, but the system somehow does the trick!

They've also recently gone digital, unlike many small theatres, so the quality of the film is really good, too.

So here's Deb, who has been working at the theatre for 12 years.  I've seen her plenty of times, but would have never gotten to know her name or have a chance to visit her without this project.

Goooo project!

And this is Taylor.  He has been at the theatre for about 3 years.  Now I know who's making my food--and maybe since we've had a chance to chat today I can hit him up for an extra pickle next time I'm at a movie.  hehe.  I looooove the pickle spears at this place.

If you live in the area (or in Latrobe, since they recently opened a theatre there), check 'em out!  You won't be disappointed with either the smile at the ticket counter or with your meal.  

Thanks you guys.  Not only for the shots but for being patient as I struggled with a glitchy camera.  I think it needs a tune-up...

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Face 24: Alexis

Went into my favorite chocolate store today to see if I could take a photo there.  I need to make a phone call to have permission first.  BUT, Alexis was in the store with her grandmother, and I asked her if she'd like her picture taken.  Who wouldn't jump at the chance to take her photo?  And she's dressed as though it was a planned shoot!

What wasn't planned, though, was trying to find a place to take her picture.  The chocolate store is in a strip mall, so finding a small piece of wall without glass next to it or parking lot behind was a bit of an adventure.  This photo was shot on about 2 feet of wood perpendicular to a glass window, with the parking lot showing on the other side.

I thank my lucky stars every day for the invention of Photoshop!  If I knew who invented it, I'd send them chocolate from O'Shea's!

But without further ado, I bring you Alexis.

For fun, I edited it this way, too.

Which one do you like best?  I think I'm partial to the full colour.   I love the gorgeous tone of the wood against the turquoise of her necklace and cami.

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Faces 22 and 23: Brian and Tim

Everyone wave to Brian and Tim ("Hi, guys!!")

The other day I was reading an article about electronics shops going the way of the dinosaur, what with Amazon and things, and the article specifically mentioned Radio Shack working to reinvent itself somewhat to meet with changing demand.  The article said that Radio Shack has been working hard to be offer phones (and you can see by the lanyards that that's the case), and to try to back away from only being known as the place to go for electronics parts.  Talking about dinosaurs--that's my cell phone.  So really I don't have a need for fanshy shmanshy.  BUT I did need a miniport to VGA adapter, and went to Radio Shack to see if they had one and to price it out before purchasing one.  Buying online wasn't an option.  I needed it for Wednesday.  So you see?  Electronics stores aren't obsolete.  Just sayin'.

Brian and Tim were great.  Friendly and willing to get their pictures taken.  Brian gave me permission to count this as TWO rather than one, so I am.  You can blame Brian!  But I figure at this point I've taken well over the number of faces required---I've just generally been counting each "stop" as one.  But today I'm not.

So there!!

If you have anything to say about it, go take it up with THIS guy!  HA!

Tim said that he isn't particularly photogenic, but I think that's a crock.  He just needs to relax, man.  We took a couple, and he says he usually stays serious.  And much of the time men look best that way in photos.  But I'm not posting that one, because I think THIS one is the best.  This smirk is so dang cute!  You can see the twinkle in his eye.  The other one of him...meh.  Yeah, it's fine.  It's serious.  But I don't think it shows what a fun guy I think Tim probably is.  So there.  Looking at this picture makes me smile--it looks like he's going to break into laughter any second.  And I like that.  So this is the one I'm posting, because if anyone needs to grin, all they need to do is meet Tim.

Thanks guys.  You saved my heinie today on this little project.  Whew!

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Faces 21: Michael

Yes, I've wanted a picture of a guy with his Harley since starting this project, but I didn't start until after Thunder in the Valley, and whenever I see one I want to shoot, they're on the highway.  Not a good place to have someone pull over.  Today was my lucky day, though, because on the way home from church, I decided to take a turn downtown and see if there was anyone interesting--after all, I'm behind and have to do two people a day to complete my goal of 30 folks in 30 days.  Drove by Michael and went, "Whoa--hang on!  Harley!  Person!  Not going anywhere!"  Whereupon I screeched to a halt.  And Michael was kind enough to agree to an image.  So I took photos while he kept a lookout for cars, since I was right in the middle of Main Street!

Gotta love the leather streamers.  Sorry if streamers isn't the correct term, Michael.  As a non-biker, I'm clueless about what to call them!

Such a nice guy, too.  He told me that biking is the best therapy in the world.  He and his wife travel all over the place.  

My dad had Harleys when he was young, before he got sick.  When we lived in Ferndale, we'd hear the roar of the bikes heading up the highway on both directions during Thunder in the Valley, and I'd call dad and go out on the porch with the phone so he could hear their distinctive sound.  He loved it.  I guess, even though I've only been on a real motorcycle once (the dirt bike that I had no idea how to ride and consequently tore up the Swenson's lawn with doesn't count...) I still have a bit of dad's "Harley gene" that makes me see their appeal.  There's just something about the idea of the wind...the leather...the freedom.  

Don't worry,  my husband.  That's about as far as it goes.  Once I think about the bugs in the mouth and the pouring rain, I'm cured!

Thank you Michael, for allowing me to capture you and your bike.  I hope you like the images!  

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Faces 20: Yup--I'm behind!!

Say hi to Bob.  He built this bicycle about 25 years ago to help deliver papers.  He said the bags that he used to deliver the papers hurt his neck, so he thought, "Hmn, I wonder if I can build a bike that will hold a trailer."  Inspired by chopper motorcycles, he set to work.  He is happy to report that even in heavy rain, he doesn't get his feet wet, because he designed it so the pedals are high off the ground!  When we first drove by, I though he was riding a pennyfarthing bicycle, but nope.  It's an original design!  The trailer behind supports the bike, so he can sit comfortably up there for as long as he wants--the bicycle doesn't tip over.  He likes to bring his bike in parades, and he showed me pictures from the newspaper, including an article about him and his unique cycle.

It was pretty fun talking to Bob.  I'm talking to all kinds of folks I wouldn't otherwise meet, and it has been really fun to see the interesting things that people do.

He even lifted Adam up.  Adam was soooo happy!

And yes, I'm behind.  Lots happening around here that kept me from getting out, and I had a plan for getting a few shots tomorrow--but it's supposed to dump rain.  So.  Plan foiled.  I'm starting to panic, because I've got 10 shots to get by Friday!!  Any ideas where I can go?   This is a hard town for this type of project, and with the summer over, there's not a lot going on.  

Faces 19: Justin

Justin plays the stand up bass for the Whiskey River Panhandlers.  They play such toe tappin' music, you can't help but get dancing.  Great fun.  During their intro, they said that if anyone wants music for, say, a funeral, be sure to give them a call!

Like what I did with texture?  The tent he was under was bright red-orange.  Blech.  But considering the band name, the kind of music and all--a nice gritty texture seemed appropriate.

Thanks for agreeing to the picture, Justin!

This is the orange we were dealing with.  Lovely, isn't it?

Love the t-shirt.  The Anderson side of my family has a thing for crows.  It's like a mascot or something, so the "Old Crow Medicine Show" shirt was intriguing.  I'm going to have to check out their music, too!

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Faces 18: Nicole and Chloe

Isn't this fun?  Nicole is gorgeous, and Chloe is so dern sweet.  It was really hot, so she was panting up a storm.  I was busy looking at some plants, and Nicole came up next to me.  Then Chloe moved--and it startled me!  I wasn't expecting her cute little self.

I've never had a small dog, but seeing Nicole and Chloe makes me want a little dog in a bag to carry with me wherever I go.  Serious "squeee!" factor going on with these two.

Chloe couldn't stop panting...

...until it was time for her closeup.

Thanks for stopping and startling me, Nicole and Chloe.  It was fun taking your picture.  :)

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Sunday Bonus: Spidey

It appears that there isn't much work for crimefighters in Johnstown these days, so Spidey is doing other gigs, including parties and community events.  Someone told me they saw him washing windows at a children's hospital awhile back as well, so he's getting around!

Sorry Spidey, I didn't get your contact info, so if you see this please be sure to comment with information for anyone who might want to thrill their children by inviting you to an event.  :)

I don't think you blinked in this photo...whew!

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Faces 17: Nancy

Nancy and her husband, Neel, own the Sunny Sprouts Greehouse, and they were selling their plants at the Log House Arts Festival.  We needed an aloe-vera plant, so bought one from Nancy.  Neel showed Julia the bugs inside a pitcher plant!  Ew!  We also saw a venus flytrap, and it was actually a really beautiful plant.  Maybe we should have gotten one.  Might have helped with our fruit fly problem.

But I digress.

I think Nancy looks beautiful amongst her plants.   When you see her, you'll probably notice as I did that she seems the type who spends loads of time outside enjoying the outdoors and digging in the dirt--she has that healthy, outdoorsy glow.  I think she would do wonders for my garden, coz although I love spending time in it, I really have NO clue what I'm doing.  HA!

Incidentally,  I love her hat--don't you?

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Faces 16: Meet Amanda

Amanda was selling tutus at the Log House Arts Festival.   The fam and I saw her waaaay ahead of us walking away from us, and I thought, "That's really cute!  I wish she was closer so I could take her picture.  Ah well."  And I thought that was that.  Quite awhile later, Julia and I turned a corner--and there she was!  She looked so fun in her tutu that I had to ask her for her picture!  Again, bright sun, so I placed her the only place I could--right inside in her tent.        As much as we love sunshine, taking photos in it isn't particularly fun--unless you're REALLY into weird shadows and bright spots everywhere.

But anyway, enough about that.  Go buy a tutu from Amanda at the Arts Festival.  She also has some other cute crafty things for sale as well.  :)

Thanks, Amanda!  

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