'The Mad Accordionist'

Super sharp lenses and shutter speeds that render subjects razer sharp

have their place in photography, but some subjects taken under dim

light at night and stretching the limits of equipment with slow shutter

speeds can yield pleasant and unpredictable blurs and an 'impressionist

look'. That is the case with this 'mad' accordionist, who was 'mad

enough' when captured razor sharp, but took on an added dimension

of 'madness' when shot at full extension with a long telephoto and a long

exposure in night's darkness yielding a dimension of the bizarre. Your

ratings and critiques are invited and most welcome; if you rate harshly

or very critically, please submit a helpful and constructive comment;

please share your photographic knowledge to help improve my

photography. Thanks! Enjoy! John

WOW, superb!!!

I felt the same 'Wow'  Fantastic and 'how did I overlook this wonder' when I looked through some street shots from two years ago as one night feeling very much like Garrry Winogrand I decided to 'feel' how to 'experience' my older shots now that the emotive content was drained. 

In seven downloads, I found about 31 photos, many in color and black and white, that were postable and including this gem and another that is even more complex.

For me this is either an ultra high rater, or a 3/3, and little room in between unless the rater is also a 'pleaser' who cannot take a stand.

I see you can take a stand based on your comment (I haven't seen your rating yet), but I can sense that you rated highly, based on your comment.

I am very proud to have taken this and within the category of what might be shown in 'art' museums or galleries as opposed to 'photo' museums or galleries, this makes the grade for me.

It's sufficiently 'art' like, and really has an impressionist or surrealist feel about it. 

And to think that I only went through seven of about 1,200 downloads, but then again an expert had been through about 400 of them two years ago and he caught what was interesting to him (and he taught me this art of review . . . for which again I owe Lucie Award Winner Michel Karman a huge debt which again I acknowledge).

He taught me so much about how to review downloads and 'art' as well as photography in general and the gallery and museum business, I cannot thank him well enough, ever.

I even had trepidation upon uploading this, knowing it would only appeal to a select few, and sometime the 3/3 raters get to these before they ever get seen by those who truly will apprecaite them, then they go unappreciated it seems forever.

Thanks for being first. 

(Now I'll go look at your rate.)

If my intuition is any good, there'll also be a lot of 3/3s from the less experienced, but then your judgment is far superior to just about anybody on the service . . . you've rated everything it seems and your folder of 'highest rated' photos is superb.

Thanks again just for looking, let alone the fine comment.

You have honored me.

john

John (Crosley)

After your 6/6 rate, the next was a 3/3.

Any guesses how much experience that rater had vs. yours?

Very much as I predicated prior to post.

;~))

john

John (Crosley)

This photo is basically as captured, with a little attention to contrast and brightness levels to enhance the contrast (no boost to contrast).

I continue to have minimal interest in photoshopping.

john

John (Crosley)

I've experimented with this myself, and I must say this is very well captured. Nice tight crop gives us the full face and enough of the accordion, colours are well saturated, and exposure is great as you have nothing blown out. The black background adds to the tension and madness that the movement and expression provide. The more I look at it, the more impressed I am!

Gerry,

This, as shown by ratings above, is a 'love it or hate it' photo.

It's either a 6/6 or a 3/3 photo depending on maybe your acceptance of out of the ordinary, and knowledge of 'art'.

You have said several 'telling' things in your brief but intelligent critique.

One is you are looking for technical defects/blown out areas, and can find none, and that is correct, and also for composdition, saturation, etc.  

Bravo!

The other is that this photo is interesting enough to you that you have looked at it by your statement, at least more than once and probably several times. 

To me, it's mesmerizing, and when I publish my second book, with color, it will be in it, no matter what the rates or views.

It's like Bob Kurt said, above, 'WOW, superb' in my view.

I've never met Bob and know little about him at all other than his work and his equipment as well as his taste in his and others' photos, but he's an expert in those things with exquisite taste in others' photos -- a critic extraordinaire.

I saw this one in reviewing my captures from several years ago and about jumped out of my skin. 

It was then too 'noisy', and then I did not know how to use 'filters' to cut down on noise or even have necessary 'raw processing' software, but even so I still took 'raw' captures even while posting processed jpegs, knowing one day there would be good raw processing, and plug-ins or other processing for 'noise', and voilà. 

That day has arrived.

This is from a D2X or D2Xs. 

I've owned several of both, and both were horrible at low light, BUT rendered such low light photos very surrealistically as here, and for that, now may be acquiring another just to replicate this LOOK.

Thanks Gerry for a wonderful comment - it has been very helpful to me in face of so many negative and mediocre rates and viewer apathy.

I figure this is definitely an 'art' photo - destined for 'art' galleries rather than 'photo' galleries if exhibited.

john

John (Crosley)