Well I truly am a stranger here, albeit one given gracious permission by the blog's creators to contribute. I look forward to your comments and, of course, pictures.

And for my first post, one of my favorite Stranger pictures of all time. This man, a seriously-attired biker [the pedal kind, not pedal-to-the-metal] parked his bike outside a coffee shop I was sitting in, bought a latte, and proceeded to chain-smoke half a pack of cigarettes while reading a novel of some kind. I have no idea how he managed to make it home!

Preparing To Set Sail

Saw this Stranger at Inner Harbor getting ready to take his boat out for a bit.

The grime of history...

This Stranger was carefully powerwashing the red brick of a canal-side building in Amsterdam. For most of the day, he was enveloped in a fog of water and ages-old dirt. This photo doesn't capture the noticeable difference between before and after.

Holiday spirit on a warm, sunny day...

These short-sleeved Strangers got to bask in the warm California sun as they hung Christmas wreathes along San Francisco's Embarcadero.

Going for a Ride...

Flower power...

This calm Stranger was working a booth in the Amsterdam Flower Market. When I snapped this shot, I couldn't help but wonder how odd it must feel to know that tourists are taking your picture all day long...every day.

All the intensity of the NFL...

Strangers competing in an intense Flag football tournament.

Captain of his own ship...

This Dutch Stranger was skillfully zipping through the canals of Amsterdam.

tis the season... nearly

i may be a little premature with this one but i thought i'd kick off the christmas posts. i spotted this cyclist and his friend chatting at the cross when i ventured into chester city centre last night to get a few shots of the lights.

Street Performer

The ladies dig guys in bands, right? Does that hold true if your role in the band is playing the wooden flute? I wonder if this guy has groupies? I'm kidding obviously, but I will go on record saying the guy and the group he was playing with were actually pretty good. Not good enough for me to throw my underwear at him or anything mind you, but good none the less.

Checkmate...

These Strangers were sharing a friendly game of chess on the streets of Amsterdam.

sixth sense

it's catching! first james, now me. following in james' current trend i thought i'd post my very own 'busted by a stranger' photo. this kid was watching the fountain when i decided to get this shot but no sooner did i have my shutter finger in place this kid's spider sense must have tingled because he spun his head round and spotted me. i was not, however, worried about my target turning nasty on me as i was indeed larger, more cunning and (more importantly) faster than he was.

Busted Again!

Oh man. Busted again. He's looking right at me as I fire off the photo. He doesn't look too happy either. Dang, he's huge too. What is it about me raising a huge telephoto lens and pointing it at people that suddenly gets their attention? This guy looks like he could snap me like a twig. The good news is I have a large telephoto lens, so I have a bit of a head start if I have to run. I think I'm just going to quickly walk the other way. Very quickly.

Busted!

Oh crap. I'm busted. She totally turned at the last minute and saw me taking her picture. Wow, the shot still turned out pretty good. But wait, is that a slight grin on her face because someone is taking her picture, or is it a grimace of annoyance. I can't tell. She probably thinks I'm a perv or something. Oh man, what if she's upset. Crap. What do I do? Do I act nonchalant? Do I run? This never seems to happen to the other contributors.

Drawing A Crowd

Nothing gets a crowd out like free food.

Oblivious...Part II...

In SF this week, it was pretty darn near impossible to escape the endless news stories and headlines about the oil still in the Bay on Wednesday. If that was not enough, at Ocean Beach today, you could see bags of oily trash and cleanup volunteers wearing oily rubber gloves.

Nevertheless, after yesterday's rain, these Strangers were determined to have a picnic at the beach. Never mind the patches of oil-stained sand.

Oblivious

I've noticed people sort of zone out on the Metro and live in their own little world not paying much mind or attention to what goes on around them.

a stranger walks into a bar...

...with a zebra and buys it 12 pints of beer. the zebra drinks all 12 one after the other and collapses on the floor. the barman says "ye can't leave that lyin' there.", to which the stranger replies "that's not a lion, it's a zebra!"

Can You Talk Louder?

"I can't hear you over this outboard motor that's really loud."
...
"What?"
...
"Yea, I suppose I could stop, but I'm not going to."

Fine, maybe I just made all that up. Maybe that's not what he's actually saying, but it could be.

Your Presence Implies Videotaping Consent

Signs in the area basically said if you walked through the exhibit they had the right to videotape you and use the your image however they wanted. It was a public area, so I can't say I see anything wrong with that (especially considering how we get content for this blog). I assume this was the guy that was doing the actual videotaping.

Did you see him?

The crowd at 66th Street and First Avenue watches the New York City Marathon on Sunday, cheering on friends, family, and strangers.

I Hear Tell Long John Silver's Be Hiring

We've Got Spirit, Yes We Do!

We've Got Spirit, How 'bout You?!

Make Me Some Kettle Corn (Please)

This stranger was making kettle corn. We purchased some and snacked on it all the way home from the pumpkin farm.

Hey! Wait, I Meant "Hay!"

In my apparent quest to author all the posts on the front page I present this guy who was in charge of driving people around on a hayride through the fields.

Eclectic Group

Figured it just wouldn't do to not include a picture of some trick or treaters. This group running around was a tad on the older side of trick or treaters that we saw, they were also the last group that came through and were more than happy to pose for the camera. I know, we're typically not putting up posed shots, but I figure in the instance it's probably acceptable.