'No Loitering'

Sometimes signs apparently are contradicted by the circumstances

surrounding them, as here. Your good faith ratings, critiques, and

observations are most welcome. If you rate harshly, critically or wish to

make an observation, please post a helpful and constructive comment;

please share your photographic knowledge to help improve my

photography. Thanks! Enjoy! John

I like the way you treaded this image. It has a mood, a story to tell a controversy, sign, most of us never read. The shadowy figure with the shadow is an excellent central point for this composition. Bravo.

 

Cheers; Bela

Thank you.

 

I feel your analysis is 'right on'.

 

Many of the higher-scoring photos here tend to be more complex, and perhaps rightly so in most cases.

 

Many of the more simple photos are uni-dimensional (one dimensional) -- just a photo of something, say someone focusing on something they find 'of interest' but having no relationship to a background or anything else -- and they fail for that.

 

I could give a thousand examples, but what's the point.

 

As you rightly point out, this photo has a 'mood' and in line with almost all my better photos (even if it is graphically very simple) this photo has a substantial contrast . . . .

 

A story and a contrast are a photo reduced to its essence -- one that is extremely efficient.

 

I am not required nor do I feel a necessity to make every post a 'home run' as some seem to think . . . I'd rather be judged by the overall impact of my 'style'

which one critic (Matt Vardy, a PN member and now a respected professional photographer) long ago opined contained some better images and others that on first glance weren't so appealing, but when taken as a whole, they turned out to be more substantial taken together than the sum of the individual parts (substantially paraphrased, but I think that captures the essence of what Mr. Vardy said).

 

So, greater or lesser, this photo fits within my 'style' -- it is representative both of 'street' with a design (however simple), a 'story', a mood and a contradiction evident within the photo as well as visual contrasts.

 

This is not a 'feel-good' photo, but then I'm not always in the business of producing 'feel-good' photos, unless they also meet other criteria.

 

My best to you, and thanks again.

 

John (Crosley)

This photo got interesting mood and light , I like it

To cut a long story short: This is wonderful in its own journalistic sense. A photograph that encapsulates a moment of purity, a snap of time as if the camera wasn’t even there... and that what is street shooting all about - creating and freeze framing the random and fleeting juxtapositions of real life. Quod erat demonstrandum...Have a nice day!

Thank you.

 

Not every photo has to be complex and have 'hidden meaning' or be difficult to read.

 

This one is simple,and conveys a mood, nothing more intended.

 

I'm glad it succeeds for you. Thanks.

 

John (Crosley)

You are a consummate street shooter (as well as other styles/subjects), and a kind word from you about such a moody shot is treasured.

 

Thank you so much.

 

john

 

John (Crosley)

I'd agree to Alon and your reply: it's straight and has a strong message. I particularly like the subversive character of the figure so obviously disobeying all the loud messages around.

- Wolfgang

Thanks.

 

His 'subversion' of the signs was precisely the reason for this photo.

 

And although I had information in this or other captures to bring out his face, that would have contravened the intention of this photo -- to express that subversion and subterfuge.

 

John (Crosley)

Not only the contrast is striking and so well seen (as usual) but the overall balance of of this photo is captivating. Thanks for sharing, ciao, Giuseppe

Giuseppe,

 

Sometimes I take a photo I consider a 'trifle', because it is so 'easy' to take and certainly not spectacular, such as I consider this, but it has a mood . . . . which some of my other shots do not.

 

Of course it has balance . . . or I would never have considered posting such a shot; I look for 'strong design elements' within each shot I post that is not super rich in other elements . . . and somehow it seems pretty easy in the viewfinder to find such.

 

Occasionally, I'll look at a capture on review and decide I could have done better by cropping, but that is relatively rare; and mostly confined to problems with rotation where I have to 'trim' after rotating, or where some intefering element is there, and finally where the 'aspect ratio' simply is wrong for the alignment of 'subject and surroundings' so there is no way they could be captured and placed within a 35 mm frame equivalent, such as the 2:3 aspect ratio affords us.

 

Otherwise, all framing is natural and most times 'split second', -- as I noted long ago and have not said for a long time, I'm a 'speed photographer' in great part because of the type of photography I do, and in part because I get restless.

 

I can take landscapes, and tonight got complimented on them by someone who reviewed them, so I suppose I could do that well.

 

But I just am not a "go hike and camp in the woods and get up a 3:30 to catch the perfect 'mariner's sunrise'"sort of guy, who'll endure mule rides with bags of equipment in the back country just to take a photo of a lake and a mountain.

 

But 'street' -- now that's interesting to me.

 

It's ever changing as you know and constantly challenging.

 

Thanks so much for the recognition -- coming from someone who's been exhibited in a gallery, published several times in photo magazines and who is a rising photographic 'star' in street, that accolade really means something.

 

Best to you and thanks.

 

john

 

John (Crosley)