'The Metro Entrance Trilogy, Part I'

This is the first of three photos taken almost at once 'The Metro

Entrance Trilogy' and is Photo No. 1 of that series. Others can be seen

elsewhere and are being posted at once, to keep them 'together' in the

critique process, so they may be seen individually and as a 'whole'.

Your critiques, ratings 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,

Very interesting shot. I like very much. Regards.

Robert,

Any feedback, even the kind which says you like (or don't and why) is helpful to me.  I marked 'helpful' on this one for you; I wasn't sure how it would be taken and yours is the first indicator.

Compared to how I imagined it might be received, I like it a whole lot, but it's out of the ordinary, and sometimes Photo.net raters strike down things they are unfamiliar with.

I'm OK with that; I'll shoot and post what I wish.

Nevertheless, ratings are just a good means of telling popularity, but critiques, well, that's entirely different.

Thanks so much, Robert, for sharing your thoughts. It takes extra effort and motivation to write something, positive or negative, and that usually says something about the power of the photo in and of itself.

john

John (Crosley)

Dear John, photographing people out door is not an easy task but you did a great job here and managed to bring the man original expression superbly, your choice of the b/w format also adding a great interest to the composition of this capture.

I did like it, thank you for sharing it and wishing you all of the best.

From my very first two rolls of film, I photographed out of doors.  I just assumed that was what I would do. I had no studio, no models, no lights -- nothing but life around me in New York City.  It was somewhat of a cliche in fact -- a 'street' shooter's cliche I didn't even know about.

I was a natural, and one frame from my very first roll is posted in my black and white, then to now, folder.

I originally bought a camera to convince women to take off their clothes to be photographed but that didn't happen for 35 or more years.

Go figure!

I found my strength from my first roll!

This is just a continuation, and the photos vary from day to day, week to day and month to month.

Best to you and thanks.

john

John (Crosley)

metros are such in motion, in your face places. i hope you keep your shots as abstract and intense and in your face as this one. cheers, dp

I know 'metros are in motioin in your face places' but this is at the entrance.

Notice, he's smoking.

That's not allowed inside a Metro or even an most tunnels, for good reason.

The Metro is down the stairs behind him and through doors to the right.

The sign is visible over his shoulder; those who know Kyiv can figure out the Metro stop; it's famous and highly trafficked, especially by students.

I was delighted how this turned out, but others did well to and I didn't want to pick one, so I picked them all and put them all up for critique, interested in how the PN audience would react and have been favorably surprised.

Thanks, Donna.

john

John (Crosley)

My principal query, John, is where did you position yourself to get this shot? I cannot see any detail of the equipment used, hence I want to know how you got this "on your face" composition.

There is a certain geometry to this shot. The glare near the man's ear is not a distraction in my humble opinion, but I feel that makes a connection through the person's head to the tip of his lit cigarette. The expression is priceless, conveying the pleasure he is getting from his act.

Did you anticipate this?

He was taller than I, but I still had to crouch somewhat to take this photo, taken with a very wide angle 12-24 Nikon zoom f 4 wide angle very, very close, as you can see at about 1/9th of a second, if you can believe that !

I 'see' when I'm shooting quickly, a sort of gestaltist view, and sometimes when my camera strap short end is poking me in the eye, I'll shoot knowing I have everything framed, not even knowing exactly how it'll look but knowing it'll look 'right' or at least one will, perhaps more.

It's been almost a year, so I cannot pretend to perfect recall, though sometimes I have it; I did plan to continue the striations in the roof beind as a line as an extension of the line of the cigarette line making a full diagonal.

The apperance of the blur of light, from a light fixture, I am certain, by his ear, cannot have been planned, and was merely to be included and hoped for.

I also shoot lots, when in friendly surroundings and iffy shuter speeds as here, so ther will be often something good to pick from.

Here there were three keepers, (this is part of a triology, you are aware, right?) See other critique posts from today.

Thank you for apt questions; I hope I have given proper answers that are understandable, typing in my sleep (truly).

john

John (Crosley)

(touchtyping too!)

John this is a fantastic shot mate!  Many thanks for your advice on the wideangle too, I found it most informative.

I'm loving your gallery too man, really good stuff!

All the best,

John

I am thinking you have a wicked first name!

And am very thankful for your compliment; there are two generations between me and this man, but there's really no problem in spanning them.

He, his friends, and I, got along well; and part of the reason is that photos bring people together when shared; everyone has a personal interest in being portrayed well and/or interestingly, and they'll relax traditional barriers the minute someone shares with then a good job, mate!

'Street' shooting requires special skills, when getting so close and not shooting tele, and one of them is being able to interact, and doing so safely, especially when some may sometimes be drunk, showing off, egotistical, aggressive, etc., and plus numerous other less negative characteristics.  Getting the shot and coming back safely with it, and not causing a scandal (in the Russian sense, where 'scandal means 'fight') is a special skill, especially now where people realize they can now 'see' your captures and may try to 'insist' which CAN be resisted and MUST be in the appropriate circumstances, (or you'll be commanded to 'delete' some and then there's another problem.)

But not with this nice guy or his friends, either; good people, who liked me as I liked them; I hope after almost a year they see their captures.

Cheers, and thanks.

You made my day.

john

John (Crosley)

Great view and composition.

Best regards.

Xavier Corcobado

xcorcobado.blogspot.com

Thanks so much for the compliment.

I'm in bed with severe orthopedic difficulties that I'm sure are going to require surgery (much delayed, but I'm going through 'the best of the best', and I'm just stunned.  When you take all the cr*p away, I've managed to produce some extradinary shots; this isn't one of them.  This is an 'ordinary shot' that one takes to fill in the time and absorb the energy, while one shoots hoping for a major success.

I happen to like this shot, also, and it is very much 'my' style, as many who have seen this whole triology, seem to have noticed.

I can't seem to 'hide' my style, maybe because nobody I know of shoots like I do.  I share my 'secrets' with any and all comers, knowing that no one is going to pose a threat to 'me' being 'me'.

So, I'm very happy to help almost everybody who seeks help and/or sharing out, because I am so litttle threatened.

Many members produce far better work and superb Photoshopping to boot; I don't.  I'm not a Photoshopper at all, with my meager skills in that image editing program.

But I know how to approach taking photos on the 'street', and that seems to flummox so many, and many who do just take photos of bunches of people mostly standing around . . . . and dont try for good composition, although many are classic Leica shooters in broad daylight so their reproduction values often are terrific.

I'm pleased you dropped by.

john

John (Crosley)