Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Just a Bunch of Guys

Meeting these guys and taking their picture might be a turning point in my blogging career.

They were getting ready to leave just as I pulled into the gas station to fill up. I've been shy about asking people if I can take their photo. I could have let them go.

But I grabbed my camera, jumped out of the car, told them who I was and and asked them to pose. They were most obliging. Admittedly, it's easier to approach a group, even a motorcycle gang. It's a Pasadena motorcycle gang, after all.

I asked if their group had a name and one of them told me they were "just a bunch of guys." What a pleasure it was to meet them. From now on, I think I'll be braver about asking people to pose for the blog.

I asked the guy on the left how we'd know if he was smiling. I think we know.

26 comments:

Latino Heritage said...

Ah ha, you've been lured over to the people side. Not that you've not shown folks, but there is something of the character of this place that is always surprising. Our history is so vital - the one that we can only write about and the one the meet on the streets. Love your masked man.

Dina said...

Cool! We are proud of you, Petrea.
The next stage, next time you see them, will be to ask if you can sit on one of the bikes and get your picture taken. OK?
(I did that once, posing on a shining BMW, the cycle of my dreams, but the riders were only two young Swiss boys and the place was in the monastery courtyard.)

irinapictures said...

Dina and you are adventurous girls))).
Great idea, I have to try it with Moscuvites.

TheChieftess said...

Oh you brave girl you!!! Everytime I go into the local coffee joint, I think about taking my camera in and then I chicken out! You and Virginia are inspirational!!!

Italo said...

Great name "a bunch of guys".

Curly said...

Ahahahah you're great! Really! :-DDD
Easy rider...

Genie -- Paris and Beyond said...

Yep! This is my kind of shot... just bravely go forward and make contact! I mean it is daylight and you are in a parking lot.

So glad you grabbed this one!

Bises,
G

Katie said...

Fabulous photo! So glad you found the courage to ask this bunch of guys to pose. I hope they stop by your blog! I'm with Dina -- what a hoot it would have been to also have a photo of YOU posing with the guys, sitting on one of the bikes.

Petrea Burchard said...

There was nothing scary about them, really. I'm not sure what I'm afraid of--of hearing "no," I guess. They were so nice! It was fun to joke with them and to know they enjoyed the experience as much as I did. I hope they stop by, too.

Desiree said...

Turning points. I love 'em.

Petrea Burchard said...

We shall see, Des, if I get up the nerve to do it again.

Susan Campisi said...

Love it! What a fun photo. Congratulations on the turning point. I once asked a guy in a coffee shop in Seattle if I could take his picture and he barked a hostile "no" at me. These guys are a bunch of sweethearts.

Birdman said...

Daring shot.

Petrea Burchard said...

I guess you never know, Susan. If that happens on my next try, I may quit.

Birdman, I wouldn't call it daring. I could tell as I approached them that they were the gentle kind of bears, so I trusted my instincts.

Margaret said...

That's a great picture, and they look like a lively bunch of guys.

John Sandel said...

Bikers like that never rumble, but they grumble.

Speedway said...

Could the guy on the left have come from the "undead"? A Mummy riding around with his buds? Did he have a gong belt?

http://youtu.be/yB1z2USriZs

Ms M said...

Fun shot! Spring brings out the bikers around here, too.
Good for you for moving into "people shots". It's hard for me to ask strangers about taking photos, too, so I tend to "chicken out" and do the scenic and nature stuff instead. :-)

Petrea Burchard said...

I hope he wasn't "undead," because he was about to drive on the freeway.

Trish said...

undead driving the freeway in LA? Who could tell? ;-)

Years ago, I wish I'd had my camera with me when I saw a similar band of boys in leathers in SF, stopping traffic and escorting a mother duck and her ducklings across a busy street to a water feature.

You can always ask. Sometimes the answer is "no", sometimes a LOUD "no" but you don't know until you ask.

Petrea Burchard said...

Looky! Ibarionex posted about the same thing today, albeit in a different way. He calls it "the Gift of Moving Past the Fear in Photography."

J.J. in L.A. said...

Love it! And, yes, I think a 'thumbs up' means he's smiling. lol!

Have you ever been to Tom's Farms? They have TONS of motorcycle riders/groups during summer weekends.

Ibarionex R. Perello said...

Awesome, Petrea. I hope to see you more stuff like this. I think you'll enjoy discovering this new, exciting, fun side of working with a camera.

Petrea Burchard said...

JJ, I was once at a Tom's Farm and I thought I was in the Twilight Zone. (That's not necessarily a complaint.)

Ibarionex, if they're all this fun it'll be easy. I know they won't all be this fun, but I'll try again.
I love the way you wrote about your experience and how you and your subject persisted to the experiment's conclusion.

Freddy San Diego said...

http://ygtbkm.blogspot.com/ This is the blog I was speaking of at my little nephew's birthday party. (Colin)

Petrea Burchard said...

Hey Freddy! Good to see you. That is indeed a cool blog. I like yours, too, sparse as it is. Can't beat the title.