Painter Backpacker

It's back to school for Mom too and I have a ton of homework already, whew.  So, I knocked out one assignment today...create a new image for your thesis project.  I have to accomplish nearly 2 of these/week so it's going to be a very busy (hopefully not too stressful) semester!  As I was walking out of the grocery store I looked back at the men painting the facade and thought...hmmm, I wonder if they'd be willing to model for me?  As you can see, the answer was yes and they were awesome!  I had some trouble with one guy who kept staring and smiling at the camera, hilarious!  I was trying so hard to be still with the monopod so I could keep the shutter speed very low (to capture the movement) and he kept making me laugh.  I know my subject has his face in the shadow but I really don't think it detracts from the concept.  I am actually quite pleased with this one because of all the fun lines here.  The complicated set really adds to the need for an escape!  He is reading the hub's Backpacker mag and I used his old hiking boots as an additional prop (I couldn't bear to ask this guy to wear a backpack in 100 degree heat when he was already gracious enough to do me this favor--as you can imagine, his workmates gave him crap for it non-stop).  I guess my morale this story is to "just go for it" when you think of a project.  Strangers are nicer than you think!

Tip: Don't forget to use an ND (neutral density) filter when you want to shoot outside, on a sunny day, especially at low shutter speeds!  You can't get your ISO low enough or your f-stop high enough to compensate, trust me, I learned the hard way!