'Misha, the Butcher, Eats Seeds'

Mickael, known to everyone as Misha, is a butcher, and during a moment

at day's end he pauses to eat some seeds, pumpkin, sunflower or other,

at the giant old-fashioned bazaar meat market near downtown Kyiv,

Ukraine where he works. Your ratings, critiques and observations are

invited and most welcome. If you rate harshly, very critically, or

wish to make a remark, please submit a helpful and constructive

comment; please share your photographic knowledge to help improve my

photography. Thanks! Enjoy! john

he seems a jovial fellow with that smile hiding behind his fingers... i like his place in the frame and the real estate to his right and i suppose (i'm a vegetarian) ahead of him... and i don't like those thingummies behind (above, to the right of) his head... but i like the capped head peeping at me from behind them and from behind the hulk on the stool... it is one of those happy co-incidences that the viewer's roving eye bounces between our kindly butcher and two capped heads (one with a body in mid stance, and this gent sort of directing our attention to the other cap)... no escaping from this frame with the nudges (like the crooked elbow) and barriers in place...

Sometimes, you can go out shooting and really can't get a new, original shot for love nor money.

You (I) see things, but they're mostly things I've seen before and taken before.  If you saw them, they'd be original to you, but to me, they're becoming trite.

Not so this guy.

He's here almost gnome-like.

I had been here in this same place a few days before at about quitting time; no customers in sight, as the main butcher cleaned up and started 'molesting' the female assistants with some crude humor and gestures, but taken well by them, much to their delight with tears of laughter and much regaling.

So I was welcomed when I came back and people relaxed around me, including Mickael (Misha), above.  He just continued eating from his plastic bag of seeds, as I photographed around, and when I went to photograph him, he decided he needed another seed.

That's when I shot this.

I kept coming back to it all evening, and that's my true test of what I like -- do I like to look at my own captures.

It has that 'look' - that indefinable something in his expression, I think, which elevates this photo among all the others I took that afternoon/evening.

Raters are the ultimate judge, or course, but this one met my personal test.

(it looks good in color, but mixed lighting makes colors off just enough that  showing it in color is a matter for after workup by a professional Photoshop editor, not me.)

john

John (Crosley)

Yours is again a very excellent analysis and critique.

I seldom in trying to capture an expression like this have the luxury of such framing; the framing is preset, then I start shooting and happen to capture such an expression.

Even so, this is a slight crop - there was too much extraneous area (real estate) to the left of the pole.  I left in enough to give balance, given the importance I felt the man leaning on the pole had, and to emphasize that the pole stood isolated, but did not leave in the entire left part of the photo, and the same time, set my aspect ratio to 2:3 to preserve the 35mm look, and did not miss anything by cropping the foreground (meat in plastic) a little bit.

Believe it or not, the plastic is relatively new, this year or late last, and before that, the meat sat there uncovered (yecch) sometimes in summer with a few flies on it, and unrefrigerated, but it almost always was fresh killed that day, so little harm ever came and frankly few (or no one) actually got sick.

I never did.

I like your analysis about the 'framing' of the subject by the hat and the man's arms -- it's a very good and apt analysis and not immediately evident I think to the casual viewer.  In effect, his arms start to lead in a sort of circle to frame his head, and his finger to his mouth, the other fingers reaching almost into the bag of seeds.

This is a story-teller photo, though I hadn't thought it so.  Surprise to me!

I just thought it was about his expression, but you have helped teach me more, and about the composition too.  I often require tutelage about my own compositions -- they come so naturally to me. 

Thanks for that. and more.

john

John (Crosley)

I felt like this man, caught here, was almost like a Medieval figure, perhaps the sort you might find in detail of a Breughel?

john

John (Crosley)

Good take !All I can add to what has been said is that this man,despite his age, has a youthful and almost mischievous look and could be nicknamed "Misha the mischievous".Keep shooting and bringing out those excellent images!

Salutations-Laurent

Sometimes my work is more abstract and/or concentrates on the composition and/or backgrounds in relationship to the foreground.

At times I need a break from what some see as 'prototypically Crosley' as it's come to be known, though I shoot from news, to nudes to aerials and even flowers on occasion - just so long as it offers a chance to make a good photo.

I do especially love to 'catch an expression'.

That's perhaps the hardest thing of all.

Here, I'm close, and perhaps I've achieved some small measure of success.

I'd like to be able to do more of that.

I'll keep an eye out.

Thanks for constructive criticism and taking time to tell me.

jean

John (Crosley)

All is there, the atmosphere of the marketplace, the busy butcher and his jolly mood and the beauty of the common life! Wonderful tones of B&W! All well captured and composed!

Best regards John!

PDE

You are most effusive with praise today, which can only mean one thing:  you thing it's a pretty good photo.

In the Breughel sense, I agree.

Thanks for the analysis full of superlatives.

john

John (Crosley)

Thank you for taking the time/effort to let me know your high estimation of this capture and scene.

john

John (Crosley)

Very realistic portrait of the seller!

I think this, more than most, has a touch both of humor and humanity.  I'm proud of it for that

Thank you for the comment and the recognition.

john

John (Crosley)

This photo is being replaced and awaiting processing through PN's servers with a new upload that is more 'sharp' in Misha's face, thanks to Photoshop's new anti-shake feature in post processing which have been applied to this photo.  That and a little lightening to Misha's eyes have made a world of difference to the sharp appearance of this photo.  It may take a while for the altered version to work its way through the PN servers and if it is stored in your browser cache you may have to purge the browser cache before you can view the new version. 

It may be worth the effort.  It made a substantial improvement, well worth the work for me.

Its original 'shakiness' was due to an extremely slow shutter speed under very unfavorable lighting with a 'slow' lens.

john

John (Crosley)