'Natasha' (The Flower Seller)

This is Natasha, flower seller from Kyiv, Ukraine, captured unusually in

an underground retail center, interestingly isolated and separated by

close up building features. (flowers are a big part of life in Ukraine and

much of Northern Europe, which often is dull and gray during winter, and

flowers brighten things year round). Your rates, critiques, and remarks

are invited and most welcome. If you rate very harshly please submit a

helpful and constructive comment; please share your photographic

knowledge to help improve my photography. Thanks! Enjoy! John

really GREAT!

THANKS!

john

John (Crosley)

Yes! Very tender and even we do not see too much, we do see so much! Like that much.

Ciao Axel

 

A very engaging and original composition.

It's amazing what one can do with opposites, which are much of the core of my photography - not all, but much.

Here the opposites are 'detail' and 'lack of detail' or simply 'super plainness' vs. 'something interesting and viewworthy'.

She is attractrive, though not a model, and very animated and 'cute' so the pose fits her well.  I say 'pose' when mean 'capture' as it certainly was unexpected on her part, as she is almost hypervigilent when she knows I am around and to capture her unawares of my camera is a herculean task, which is why this photo is framed thusly.

Thanks for the endearing comment.

john

John (Crosley)

Soometimes orinality comes from necessity.

This young women is vigilent.  She sees me near the area where her and her mother's flower stand is on a regular basis, photographing strangers, and her mother and friends regularly suggest, to her embarrassment I photograph her, and as a result she always is watching me, almost hypervilgilently.

In any case, she seems always to be aware of my presence when I have cameras (almost certainly always) and to be reactive.

To catch her in a moment of reflection, is an almost impossible task, but I judged a desirable one.

I passed her on my rounds in her underground area, relatives made motions I should photograph, she became hyperaware and embarrassed as usual (not a good combination for candid photography), then I passed silently away after saying 'hi' in Russian.

The giant underground area supports a huge traffic circle called a ploeshit, above, and has huge underground supports, as well as shops, etc.

I went around the shops, supports, etc., and found her leaning against a support wall, observing her shop.

In order to hide my presence, and seeing only her head and shoulders project, I pressed up against the support and took this photo, accounting for the large amount of out of focus area.

Original:  yes.

Intentionally so:  yes.,

I'd definitely do it again.  I think it captures her well; she and her relatives and cohorts liked it very much.

Thanks GungaJim.

john

John (Crosley)

John, your photo may benefit if you play more with the contrast and saturation, but use the color image if available and convert it to B&W by using the color waves.

Another option is turning the photo into a sepia one.

I modified your photo in the terms that I mentioned but I don't know how to upload the sample.

What about giving her a printed copy of her photo. You may become friends...

This started out as a 'raw' capture in color.  It had color channels, what maybe you call 'waves'.  When it is converted to a Photoshop version for further editing from its 'raw' version the channels are converted usually to gray scale.

In any event there was only a hint of color; the huge foreground supporting column for the square above was largely gray anyway.  She had some flesh colors, but lighting was bad and fluorescent.

I would never color anything sepia/I dislike sepia coloring very much in my own work; yours may be entirely appropriate, but it is NEVER my choice for my work.  It may be idiosyncratic, but it never feels right, same as cyan.

So, I don't know the term 'waves' but I suppose you mean channels, and there really weren't any here, as the scene was largely monochromatic.

I tried using tonality and contrast auto adjustments in Photoshop but they greatly lightened the foreground, for an effect I didn't like.

So, I nixed those ideas and went with this, which I like.

Thanks Jorge for potentially helpful suggestions; they always are taken seriously.

john

John (Crosley)

Even without giving her a photo copy (which I never do or I'd be bankrupted), I consider her a friend, or 'friendly'.

She will be told how to find this on Photo.net and download a copy and to contact me for a higher resolution file.

We are friendly enough, but my Russian and her English do not allow for good conversation - just friendly banter.  I show her better captures from her area from time to time, which she seems to find interesting.

Thanks, and sorry for not completing my previous comment.

john

John (Crosley) 

I am new to this area but I have to say that this is an excellent shot!!

I like the the way she seems to emerge from the white veil of shadow.

Her expression is also natural and she does not look conscious of the

photographer !!

Best regards,

Raj

Welcome Raj

Newcomer or not, your critique, I think is right on.

And it brings home the twin points that I was trying to accomplish with this brief capture.

Because my subject here knew who I was, had seen me photograph others quite clandestinely (and her once briefly to her embarrassment and astonishment) she mostly was hypervigilent whenever she was me with a camera.

So, after I walked by her, traded a brief smile and showed her a capture, I walked on, but this time in a circle of the foundation (shown left) helping support the overhead traffic and square.  It is a huge support and also there are shops and kiosks, so it was some walk and she had completely forgotten about me.  She was leaning over, as she was far from her shop, leaning against the support, but craning her neck to view her flowers.

Voilà, as I rounded the corner, this is what I saw.

I raised my lens, decided that if I tried to capture more than part of her neck and her head's front (face) and hair, she would startle and ruin the photo.

I took this and a couple of other photos, and sure enough she spotted me promptly and all the rest of the photos were garbage.

I showed her this one; she liked it very much along with her mother and neighboring shopkeepers.

It's a happy story.

You like it, she likes it, and I like it.

It was a good capture - a true 'keeper'.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

john

John (Crosley)