Today we have our moment with Elizabeth, stranger No 95/100.

95/100 Strangers: Elizabeth

She’s the real-life friend of Will, stranger 94, from our previous post.

Elizabeth had gone to a few drop-in art classes at OFFcenter Arts, and she said that the people who run it provide an asset to the neighborhood. The event was her first time at the OFFcenter Folk Art festival. Already she was having a lot fun and the parade hadn’t even started yet.

We stood in a small grove of large shade bearing cottonwood trees. Filtered light was streaming down on us through the tree canopy. Behind her, a person was carrying a large umbrella decorated with silver tinsel. I had merely a few seconds to frame her with the glimmering dots of bokeh as a halo above her head.

Several attempts to have her hold my light reflector were fruitless. The reflected light would not land on her exposed skin in the right places. Her friend Will already had his hands full with a papier-mache puppet. I took over and held the modifier. After trying a few of my reflective surface options,  I settled on the white-faced fabric side. The silver and gold reflective surfaces of the produced too bright a bounce on her at such a close range. After we made her portrait, she left for the costume pile to search for something to wear in the upcoming parade.

In post-processing, I retouched her face to address two issues. First, I healed a few temporary blemishes on her skin. Then I used frequency separation to remove dark circles underneath her eyes.

Here she is wearing the dolphin costume she decided to wear.

If you wish to enjoy my whole album from this fun-spirited event, visit this link here!