'Two Girls'

These 'Two Girls' might have come from any time except for the facial

adornment of the girl, left. Posted for expressions and distributions of

light/dark--composition -- all else was felt secondary. 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. Thanks! Enjoy! John

I had a feeling this was yours before I even looked at the name (via the dreaded cowardly anonymous rating queue). Something distinctive about your knack for intimacy and connectedness with your subjects.

Mostly I engage in what I have termed on the street 'predictive human behavior'.

If a boy kisses his girl and hangs around, he's likely to do so again.

If they playfully jab at each other then stop, it's likely to occur again.

If they're having a good, uninhibited time with friends, perhaps boisterously, as here, they're probably going to incorporate a photographer nearby who introduces himself in a fun way very briefly into their fun before moving on.  Perhaps I am spied taking a photo, am challenged to show it, do show it, and it captures them having good fun in a really good way (and they like it).

And if one can briefly enter that fun, perhaps by popping some of the most popular member's pompous balloon of pride with a gesture (perhaps mimed) or by refusing to take a requested 'stiffly posed' photo because it is, well, 'stiff' but then engaging in jests which result in breaking up the crowd with laughter, and then firing away in 'iffy' circumstances from a photographic point of view (e.g., chancy light, focus, etc.), as they laugh with 'motor drive' ('C') drive on, then one sometimes gets rewarded with wonderful captures . . . . or at least one very good or extraordinary one out of some substantial number of possible throwaways.  It's often then a game of numbers, but often likely to 'pay off' with at least one real good 'keeper'.

Briefly one is allowed to get close in to the company of entire strangers and briefly to share their fun, and maybe even intimacy, if only for a moment. 

I never saw these girls before or since the three or four moments I encountered them on the street, and they may only marginally recall me as that old goofball with the camera, but I make a point of showing one or two good ones (photos) to my subjects at the outset, which binds them to me and allows me an opportunity to shoot more . . . . sometimes even to heart's content.

That's what you see as 'intimacy' - and it's a form of boldness, I guess, but in a very, very studied way that produces some amazing results at times.

I got low rates on this initially because it is blurred and entirely original and certainly not to the taste of those who shoot 'flowers' only or those who only like 'landscapes' with pinpoint sharpness, but it is one of my best, and I thank you for what I feel is a genuine compliment.

Thank you Lex.

And, Lex, any rate or comment from you means the world to me.  Your excellent judgment and reasoning is among the very best on Photo.net and always has commanded my respect.

John (Crosley)

who cares about blurred? this is fabulous and very intriguing to me.

I have a Photoshopper on staff (at Ukraine prices) to whom I assigned this photo to work on (this Photoshopping above is MY work).

I said the same things to him when I gave it to him.

I said it may get 'low view' and 'low rates' maybe 'low interest' but it's a 'fabulous capture' - one of the best.

(his version is even better, but won't be seen here, it's for hanging on walls).

Thanks for the validation.

As I noted six years ago when I joined, I intended to be less influenced by rates and views than others, yet still got plenty of views, even though I posted hundreds of photos that never were put up for ratings at all (and many were in folders with almost NO photos submitted for rating, but still pulled in millions of views - as they then were counted).

I follow and trust my own instincts; but still value the PN audience and ratings as a true guide to popularity, because for popularity rates are an unprecedented indicator, both in number and rank.

I'm glad this one pleased you Frank.  Thanks for letting me know.

john

John (Crosley)

i find it fabulous

Thank you so much for letting me know.

More to come from recent shooting, yet to download.

I think Lex J. was right,above.  So do my 'victims',  I think, who seem to enjoy my visits, then seem to want to cruise these pages.

;~))

john

John (Crosley)