old man crossing the railroad tracks in Chengdu, south China.

from Chengdu in south China. Old man crossing the railroad tracks

behind the steamtrain used around the steelworks compound. In 2002

they still use steamtrains in China!

Very nice tonality and excellent use of DOF.

I agree, and also great timing. The subject looking directly at the camera as he takes another step. The fellow climbing the ladder behind also adds extra interest.

Do you have a color version too? I like the DOF and or lack of here. Great shot..

Darren, there is no color version of this frame since I used B&W film. I took some color pictures from this location with another camera, but I think this was the best one.

Robert,

Great capture here. The character of the old man and the location with the steam train all ad up to make a great shot. You used DOF to your advantage here. Nicely done.

 

note:

On the use of steam and other outdated forms of technology in mainland China ...

 

I once had film confiscated after taking shots inside an industrial glass factory (Xiamen). They (factory owner + security) said that the technology was proprietary and that it was illegal to take pictures in a place like this.

 

The shots - pictures of workers stripped down to their undewear shoveling coal into massive city block long furnaces. Something I think most of the western world stopped using roughly around the turn of the century. ;-)

This is simply one of those photos that tells a story.

 

Well done!

An outstanding picture.

A great photo- in many ways. You have a lot of great "Capture the Moment" photos in your folders.

you captured a great moment her...it all been said.....A moment in time of ordinary people!

I love photos with great color; however, this takes me back in time. There is something to be said about B&W photos that bring out a classic look.

 

Great job! I am going out to take some B&W!

its got that something

A wonderful photograph - the b&w conveys a feeling or mood that suits the subject. Nice work.

Timing is everything......just to be in the right place at the right time is hard enough, but to take a compelling photo like this is great.

 

I love the moodiness and motion in this image. There's a universiality to it ... a crossing of milestones in one's life. Very beautiful!

I think that every thing has been said!

 

Great shot!!

I'm back. This photo will remain a classic. Well done again.

This is truely a photo of the week. It's all been said above. Most of all it's the kind of shot that makes you almost sense the smells and temperature there. The whole story in one shot. Good work. Brad

Superb! Visionary!

 

This is what photography is about.

 

{good taste in lenses to}

For all it's worth I want to tell you that I had a bunch of people around me when I uploaded it for the first time and they/we all went WOW! People who couldn't care less about photography or art in general locked their eyes to the screen staring at it and adoring it out loud. It made me happy to hear positive emotional reaction from my coworkers who tend to be very 'cold' techies :)

Thank you for sharing! AMAZING!!!

Very nice. It looks like it was taken 100 years ago.

I'm usually a tad more articulate but, heck. In-freaking-credible.

 

One minor nit: the entire image looks ever so slightly off kilter, as tho' leaning leftward. Would it be possible to nudge it clockwise and post another version to see whether that's "better" (not to imply this version is in anything but outstanding)?

I really WANT to love this photo but one thing gets in the way.That man only just remotely looks chinese(saved by the beard of course).As usual for me i'm only critisizing because it's SO close to being perfect.I'd ignor it otherwise.Well done technically!

A good picture, for sure. But imo, it misses the great Bang simply due to the fact that the frame is a little busy, and because the man's face is so small in it. Living in Asia, this isn't THAT extraordinary to me. I found your camel shot even stronger than this one, appearently going against the flow here. But surely both are good. Regards.

Now this is a seven