pretty darn new 'The Step'

'The Step' is a simple study in composition. Your ratings, critiques and

observations are invited and most welcome. If you rate harshly, very

critically, or wish to make an observation, please submit a helpful and

constructive comment; thank you in advance for sharing your

photographic knowledge to help improve my photography. Enjoy! John

John,

Another wonderful street shot. You have such a gift for capturing people at a peak instant during mundane moments of their lives. My question is, and I am embarresed to ask: Do you ever see a scene like this that has no people in it and then slip a kid a few hryvnias to create a peak moment? And during a typical week how many hours to you spend wandering the streets in search of these moments. Don't feel obligated to answer. Just thought I would ask. GJ

PDE

Thank you so much.  I had barely walked a block and slowly at that, when  I spied this young boy playing.

I took a lot of photos, recognizing some potential.

Only after I chimped (reviewed on my camera) then later downloaded and finally worked up the finals for image editing did I truly understand the worth of this photo.

I caught the moment, and I had thought a previous photo also had caught it, maybe better, but this is the clear winner.

I very much appreciate your periodic visits and comments, Pierre.

john

John (Crosley)

I had walked (very slowly and painfully) about a block from where I was staying when I saw this boy atop a huge modern, Western style but under grade level shopping mall in the heart of Ukraine.

Atop the mall is a park that is famous throughout all Ukraine and even parts of the world for the world historical events that have taken place there.

The round structure, left, is part of the skylight for the underground food court, and the structures in this photo are part of the drainage for the roof.  The boy was playing there.  I think in some seasons it's a fountain, as I recall, but not at that moment.

I saw the circular patterns, the boy and said to myself 'there's a possible photo there' but which one, I could not know.

Only after the boy went off the centermost 'ledge' onto the pipes, then stepped up the right-most circular ledge with an extra 'oomph' to his step was I able to get the capture you see here.

Now, am I ever tempted or do I ever pay some subjects to 'help' me in my captures.  It's a great question.

Let's analyze that in terms of this photo, and the answer will apply to almost all my other photos.

I do not go out every day; I have pain issues and cannot, so I must shoot a lot when I do go out and shoot true.  I often am disappointed until I get my 'eye' or I see something unusual then I go 'to town' and am pretty much unstoppable.  Here the 'eye' came quickly.

I may take 1,200 photos in a few hours, or even 32 gigs worth of photos if out for very long, some in frames per second, so I'll catch just the right moment, as here.

Now supposing that in just one fourth of those photos I paid 8 hyrvnia to a subject -- a mere $1, and they'd only take that after haggling because they'd want $10, then $5 and then after a long time, maybe they'd accept $1 or they'd just go away.

At that rate of shooting a day's shooting would cost me $300, which I cannot afford.

Elliott Erwitt, three times president of Magnum Photography,  who was famous before 'street' was ever called 'street' and when it was called 'magazine photography' or photojournalism, stated it simply:  (in great paraphrase).  I saw early on that all you needed was a camera, a good eye and some shoe leather. You didn't need a studio, no models to pay and you had almost no expenses.  The choice of (doing what he did) was obvious, within the realm of photography.

Now it's called 'street'.

Economics says 'don't pay' and my pocket book says 'can't pay'.

There are other reasons.

This boy is Ukrainian and maybe speaks Ukrainian and/or Russian.  I'd be astonished if one told him to do something and he did it like he was told.  Stage directions are not easily taken, even by small and natural children.  He'd probably end up staring in the camera, doe-eyed, as he jumped or jumping from the wrong place or the wrong way or in some other unacceptable way.

That's IF I could communicate with him at all.

But this is a slight telephoto shot, poppa was around and  you know how tricky it is for an adult to communicate as a stranger with another parent's child.  Scratch that possibility.

One might end up getting crippled for life, even with a kindly Ukrainian parent, so proud of a child being photographed.  If they say 'no' you're doomed and still the issue of how to tell the child what to do and have him actually do it.

And then there' s the problem of my understanding in viewing the scene BEFOREHAND what will make a great or good photo.  I often do not know until the very last second.

I often see a  situation 'ripe' for a good photograph if 10 or 12 other things happen, position myself and then sometimes all of those things happen or new things happen, and people say 'how lucky John is!'

Of course!

Cartier-Bresson explained his photo taken on a Greek Island of the running girl, her arms aligned with the buildings and roadways in front and behind her and the buildings that framed the roadways and her.

He had seen the situation, positioned himself, then waited.

He tried once for the proper photo, but it did not work out so well; he took one or more photos of a Greek Orthodox cleric with the cylinder hat, but it was not the best.

The little girl came running by, he caught her at the precise moment and the rest is well known as a great photo.

Cartier-Bresson was lucky!  No one could have foreseen how the girl's arms would align.  How many such setups did he make until he got one perfect one?

You get lucky, but you preposition yourself for that luck.

Which is how some photographers seem so often to 'get lucky' so often.

If I tried to tell this boy how to do stuff, then maybe I'd be a director, or a cinematographer and we'd both have to enroll in some Stanislavsky course or another to find our motivation.

Instead, I positioned myself and waited.

Sometimes it happens, and I 'see' a situation developing and other times I shoot and only 'see' it when I review my captures or sometimes even years later (I'm reviewing captures now from 2005, 2006 et cetera and finding wonderful stuff I overlooked, was too naive to understand, or just lacked Photoshop skills then to properly show.  Some of the shots had been prescient; I had 'seen' them but did not then understand their importance. 

Some of them are in recent postings; more to come over time.

Many are hits with viewers and critics alike.

If I become a director, then I give up my credentials as a candid street photographer.

In doing portraits or close up work, I may say to someone who knows they're being photographed and whose cooperation is needed, to 'look left' or 'look with eyes only to the left (or right).'

Then I hit 'frames per second' or just watch carefully after the first capture and keep on firing well beyond when they reasonably might believe their cooperation was ended, but there I am firing away, as they look bewildered, astonished, full of mirth, gleams in their eyes, angry or whatever.

I think you get the point.

Stage direction only goes a little way even when it is given, then the rest must be by instinct, and with digital cameras, the saving grace is that either the subject or the subject's friends will point out that one or the other is a great photo, and if the subject him/herself is upset by that, friends often will convince the person that the photo is 'worthy' and talk them out of their upset.

It's a lot of fun on the street, sometimes with lots of interaction, sometimes with none.

The best thing is to make the most of whatever situation and let nothing go by that is avoidable which requires being sharp (no booze on the streets, EVER!,  No 'herb', or other 'medicinals' either, as they cloud vision, judgment, and timing.

I try to catch every little moment, before it disappears into nothingness, to be able to show photos like this to you and my other many cyberfriends.  Maybe some day I'll be exhibited, maybe not, but I'll have had a hell of a good and interesting time doing what it is I'm doing.  The process is the goal and all the rest is extra.  Viewership by people like you, GungaJim is part of the process; you and your opinion are important to me.

If I took the world's greatest photo and had no one to show it to, it would be an interesting to take to my grave.

To have shown thousands of photos in my life, some of which may some day be regarded as 'great' or 'wrothy' possibly, is what I live for and what consumes me.

That's my raison d'etre.

Thanks for asking, GungaJim.

It was a great question, worthy I hope of a studied and I hope interesting answer.

© 2010, John Crosley, all rights reserved, no reproduction without prior express written permission of copyright holder(s).  This comment is intended solely for readers, members, subscribers and administrators of Photo.net web site; any other use is strictly prohibited, including but not without limitation, rewriting.

john

John (Crosley)

Thanks for your thoughtful answer. It was exactly what I was hoping you would say with some nice twists added that I hadn't considered. I presume this shot is on Independence Square. I wandered around Kiev for 4 days in late August, 2008 spending much of the time around the Square as it was a national holiday. I never was aware of the shopping center beneath it.

I like you idea of waiting around a location that has promise. Now I must learn the patience to do that.

Hope your pain subsides. I've been dealing with a compressed verterbrae and a torn rotator cuff which somedays make me wonder if I would be better off with my right arm!

I learned my lesson about paying subjects in Guatemala a few years ago. I was out in the countryside and gave a few pesos or whatever to a woman who was dressed in native attire. She gratefully accepted the money but as I backed up and was checking the camera settings, she made a dash for the nearby forest, never to be seen again.

Thanks again, GJ

Ukrainians are not stupid.

Their weather ranges from very cold in winter, especially last year (almost as bad as neighboring Russia) to over 100 degrees Fahrenheit in summer.

Much of their residences are not air conditioned for summer heat, though in 'western style residences it is becoming de rigueur.

In the 'center' they make use of every square meter, and because weather is such a factor, and with no place i in the center to expand and some rather nice buildings and a good central area downtown and a wonderful main street, Kreshatyk Ave., it's unthinkable to start tearing down buildings.

So, they just go underground.

Under one end of Kreshatyk Street, one of the Western World's most people friendly streets, bar none, is the beginnings of a huge underground shopping complex called 'Metrograd' that extends underneath the length of a street called Krasnoarmaeska Street (Red Army Street).

it's full of mom and pop shops,  (we would call them leased departments) of every description). It's an underground city most westerners don't ever see, but in Winter, it's wonderful and away from the elements. One never sees or feels the winter cold; same in summer's muggy heat (and Kyiv is muggy all year around, it's a very humid city, and same with other cities along the Dnipr River, including Dnipropetrovsk, eight hours south by bus or train.

So, if you didn't venture underground, you missed out on an amazing part of the central Kyiv shopping experience.  (there are not great things in such places, but it's amazing nevertheless, because no square meter goes unused.

[Moscow also has a one decade old shopping center near the gates to the Kremlin, all underground, and reachable by Moscow Metro, as one gets off to go to the Kremlin.  It's UltraModern, and when it was opened, few Muscovites could afford to shop there, but now, I understand it does a 'booming' business'.]

Metro entrances are also great shopping areas, and many have bazaars with kiosks and many also have 'farmers' markets with fresh produce, meat, cheese, eggs, and other things. I buy special potatoes ONLY at such markets.  I guess they're too much trouble to grow mechanically, but work out fine in a vegetable garden and are about the same price, or a few kopecks more (they're wonderful.)

It's folly to start paying 'street' people for photos.  Tourists who go to Africa often come back with photos of hundreds of smiling, extremely happy black kids following them around,  That's because they give them coins.  They've bought artificial (albeit 'magic') smiles of happiness with their money as well as their presence.  I've seen it over and over, in village photos.  Those are not 'real life' photos, as I would see it.

Those kids would ignore quickly enough.

If I have a companion, I will tell my companion to lag behind or go ahead and pay money to some needy beggar who may not even photograph, but do NOT want to be associated with 'giving' in any way, shape, manner or form.  People remember, and if you come back after giving money, they will never let you alone, but if an associate they do not know is with you doles out some money, they can figure you're a tightwad and never know the truth.

I'm always prefocused, exposures, etc. preset and that woman in Central America would have had 20 photos of her taken by me before she could ever even think of soliciting a peso.

If I gave her a peso, it would have been through another whom she did not associate with me. 

You have to be ready for the shot, which means knowing if shooting auto focus, where your auto focus point is at all time, having your thumb on the switch that will change focus to 'nearest object', knowing your aperture, shutter speed, and constantly adjusting those things as you move from light to dark and back.

Then it's mostly a matter of framing.

I don't usually wait a long time, though for one great photo (jaguar vs. man in Honolulu) I waited several hours and read newspaper after newspaper in my wait.

Unless there's a lot of likely people coming by, I'll get my photo of consign it to 'next time' and to get something better.

A few circumstances cause me to go back and back and back until it I get the perfect shot.  It can take weeks or months.

(see photo of dancing girl poster with psychotic bum to her right, seated, looking directly at camera.  I went by there 20 or 30 times and took dozens of likely photos before i got that one, and now I don't stop there any more.

You KNOW when you've got your best photo usually.

Sometimes during shooting you think you've got a 'great one' and then things get 'better'.  That's icing on the cake.  Just keep shooting and while a situation's active and has potential, don't leave.

Let the subjects leave or break up as a group, then you leave, confident you got the 'best that could be obtained.

Here, this child' father lead him away, and so naturally I went away too, confident I had the best I could get.

GungaJim, I also meet some wonderful people on the street, even though I don't get out every day or sometimes every three days, and often am house confined (no car where I stay).

Tonight I explained to political skeptics why their president didn't cause their currency collapse last summer but why corruption in American, UK, Spanish and other lending practices did, fueled by an excessive world demand for credit.

To lead them step by step through the entire history of the collapse of global trust which underpins the global banking system took one hour.

At the end, they understood.

They may have disagreements with their president, but he didn't cause their currency to collapse by 60%. 

(I don't just understand law, photography, but also once worked on Wall Street, have a degree -- I think -- in economics  . . . . I was not forced to declare a major, and my degree was given in haste after students caused my university to collapse so to this day I don't know if I ever had a 'major' or whether it was 'government', 'economics' or both or neither.

And it just doesn't matter.

My camera doesn't know the difference.

Best to you, as I fly overhead in a few days.  (I'll try not to flush until I'm past the 'front range'. ;~)).  (don't eat the blue snow!!!)

john

John (Crosley)

Hi John,

Another simply overwhelming photo from you. Perhaps I should not write this, but I cannot but help...this brings to my mind another timeless photo by the one who has influenced us both. I suppose you know what I mean.

Of course, comparisons can sometimes take the sheen off an original work but I hope you understand that any comparison is because I hold this photo in such high esteem.

No questions here, just the everlasting joy to behold an amazing creation.

Regards.

Of course, you mean Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Just after being hired as a photographer in San Francisco by Associated Press an 'old China hand' and onetime friend of Cartier-Bresson, Jimmy White, noted the similarity in our 'styles' and said "you must meet my old friend 'Henry'".

I didn't know who this man 'Henry' was from a hill of beans.

Jimmy, a news writer, and fellow AP worker, said 'Henry' was 'in town' and 'showing some photos on Van Ness'. He meant that H C-B was having an exhibition at the giant De Young Museum, San Francisco's largest and most prestigious art museum.

I went there, and only years later, finally have remembered meeting the guy giving the exhibition and shaking his hand but who cared? I didn't know him or care very much.  Who was this guy Henry, anyway, I figured?  I was not impressed by names.

That is until I went though his exhibition afterward, and saw amazing photo after amazing photo, and they were for sale for $100 to $400 or so.

I lusted after buying them but I made either $135 or $145 a week before taxes.  I couldn't afford to buy them.  I was impressed by the photography behind all reason.

Instead I bought his book, 'The World of Henri Cartier-Bresson' and kept by my bedside for 35-40 years, and never even though to have him sign it; many photos were great but some escaped me in their meaning or their 'art' for years.

Now I 'get' almost all of them; having shot street this time for about six years since resuming, I can crawl inside his head, and there is little he saw, that I can't imagine -- and much I can see that he couldn't imagine or 'see'.

I shoot differently, quite often, but every once in a while, I produce something that overlaps, as another has noted -- and you also now -- this minor work is one of them.

Thanks ever so for comparing me to my ideel.

I left photography for fear of being forever compared to him, not knowing he eventually would be called (by Charlie Rose and Richard Avedon) - One of the ten greatest Artists -- not photographers but artists - of the twentieth Century!

I just figured he was a fair to middling name in photography who had some fabulous work that I lusted after, and he 'occupied the field, and did everything I ever could hope to do.

I do different things as well as this which bears a resemblance, and am proud of the other work as well, as he did NOT do that, and for that, it's all mine.

But your is a fine tribute.

Thank you ever so.

john

John (Crosley)