'Bum, Brilliant, or Both? You Decide'

This bearded man shows somewhat dark in thumbnail but when clicked on

the photo shows exquisite tonalities and detail and fills a histogram

well. He's a man I stopped on the street, was cooperative, and either

was a bum, brilliant, or possibly both, you can decide for yourself,

and in any event he was most cooperative for a total stranger (look at

how close I was for just having met the man, a total stranger!). 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

The darker image was replaced by a previously worked up somewhat lighter and more contrasty image.

It has not yet worked its way through Photo.net's servers.  If you have seen the prior version, it will be caught in your cache and you must clear cache, or try Control F5 to renew or refresh your view, or try to double click to view the 'large' version if you have not done so, as the large version often works its way through the system when the older version gets stuck in your cache or the resized version takes hours or days to get purged from Photo.net's servers.

Give this image some time to see it brighter and then try those tricks above.

I think you will be rewarded.

john

John (Crosley)

I just tried the 'larger' version by double clicking on the image and got the newer upload, the lighter version.

I am still stuck with the murkier small version, and don't know if it's stuck in my cache or if the PN servers must resize and replace the new upload and if that will take hours or days.

john

John (Crosley)

A brilliant bum (not so sure about this "bum" but there's the sadness in his eyes, in a way"I saw it all already - you just wait and see for yourself).

Technicallities? - excellent as always (don't know now lighter of darker but I like it for 7 and it goes to my favorites).

All the best.

I was talking fractured Russian (extremely fractured) with a bazaar vendor who's friendly, saw this guy, rushed over to him, said 'Ya photo artist portrait, tebia litso interestna, or some such, meaning I'm a photo portrait artist and you have a very interesting face (litso), and asked him if I could take one photo, and then showed it to him and that led to more.

He looked where I asked him, turned his head when asked, all there on the street in front of a line of vendors, and didn't ask for money, and seemed delighted to see himself and his glorious whiskers be the star of my photo.

His eyes lightened up a lot; I've seen lots of drunken bums, and he was neither drunk nor besotted in any way by anything, and if anything was maybe involved in his own world, but if that was one of disease or brilliance or both, I couldn't tell because of language difficulties, but no bad smells, which was a good thing and properly dressed for the weather and no other bad signs.

I think he was caring for himself well and just liked his whiskers and may be eccentric.

Not an alcoholic by any means and if involved mentally, able to care for himself.

Whiskers are not big in Ukraine; except among the deeply religious, it's fashionable to be clean shaven and short shorn, so a guy like this stands out, which accounts for my rushing over . . . . damn the consequences.

That's how I can bring him to you.

I can't thank you for a high rate, or blame you for a low one; that's a personal decision, but I'm certainly glad it filled the bill for you.

It did also for me; one of my more interesting portraits, and consider this: 

Download it and crop just his face and whiskers, and see how powerful that is. . . . .

I could have done it, but if anyone wants to do it and post it here, it's welcome.

You'll be surprised at how powerful this face REALLY is when the extraneous is cut out and you're looking into his eyes (in the lightened or darker versions, either).

john

John (Crosley)

This was taken with Nikon's favorite short kit lens, stopped down to f8 at ISO 200 on a rainy/overcast day but with plenty of light and an even cloud cover allowing for nearly perfectly even lighting.

Although some post processing was done, there was not so much, and mainly to ensure that there were no overexposed or underexposed areas; I'm not much on post processing, though my skills finally in my ninth year here are getting to almost 'average' in that department.

I believe that it's first most important to start with 'the image' and worry about post processing later, and now with new skills, I'm starting to tackle problematic images taken eight years ago, I couldn't then handle and now am getting pretty wonderful results, thanks in part to innovations by Adobe and innovations in NEF (raw) handling which were practically nonexistent when I shot 'raw' then on the hope such innovations might come eventually.  Eventually has finally occurred, and I am rewarded.

Sometimes I planned ahead, even though Windows still can't 'see' NEF (raw) captures because they see Nikon and Adobe as rivals and won't accommodate their imaging systems.

Same with Adobe and Apple re:  Flash

john

John (Crosley)

Ah,if one could see under this beard!Surely discover the same soft grin detected in the un-intimidated direct and almost challenging look offered by eyes much younger than the surrounding wrinkles and gray invasion in the hair indicate.The scarfed lady is indicative of the area and is proper background for this excellent street capture.Good B/W and sharp details down to the dandruff on the shoulder.Bravo for another good one.

Meilleures salutations-Laurent

From time to time a critique is so 'right on' that it bears nothing but acknowledgement and thanks for sharing insight, often on a level I hadn't yet been able to attain, for lack of thinking so deeply about my own capture.

Yours above is just that quality of critique and shows that level of understanding of my subject, the background, and the photo in its entirety.  

Merci, mon ami, for an excellent job.  You have done well indeed. 

Felicitations.

jean

John (Crosley)

John

Fantastic details and tones, and as Laurent says, if only we could see "what light though yonder window breaks" under his beard (... I'm still recovering after Shakespeare's recent 448th birthday celebration here in the UK ... ), but I think this latent detail is part of what adds pleasure to the image.

Your added description of the smell (or lack of) and the context of the character in the scene adds wonderfully to the image.

Well captured Sir, and another lesson in social communication mixed with photographic expertise successfully delivered.

"Bum" or brilliant? I think both, we need variety in life.

Hope you are well, regards Doug

It is a largely unexpected pleasure to get such kind reviews; I have taken some rather good portraits of men, mostly middle age or older, but with one teen, and most have done well.

I'm about ready to begin taking women and pretty young women at that again; I need the variety.

I have rapport with these people, as I'm bold enough to pronounce myself a photo portrait artist which is largely cognate between English and Russian, with accents in different places, and otherwise basically the same words.

People understand, and if they don't I always have a few from my last photos previously to them to show and readily show my work on the street; I don't have to keep my old cards to show, but occasionally with 16 gig cards, they don't always get erased, so even when starting out for the day I usually have something good to show from a previous day.

But then I usually ALWAYS have something interesting to show, often LOTS of interesting stuff. You can't believe how interesting my downloads and flash cards are.

Getting the photo.net critics to agree, however, is not always something that has been so easy; there are tons of brilliant photographes on Photo.net, then there's me, lone John, who takes his 'street' photos, full of grit and dingy, dirtiness, aiming for the essence of people's joy and darkness at the same time, occasionally catching their juncture in people's souls.

That's what I aim for, and I see, in your mind at least for this capture, I seem to have succeeded.

I'm happy.

Try what I suggested above.

Crop out all the surrounding area, and just show this as face and beard, then see what is left; it's still a very, very powerful portrait, perhaps even more powerful than shown here, but devoid of its environment, it's hard to call it 'street'.

Thanks Doug, you made my heart unexpectedly swell.  (as did Laurent, above.)

john

John (Crosley)

I like a lot this personage,his expression and brilliancy eyes,not so sure about scarfed  woman as Laurent said,I think that this man portrait is so powerful and don't need anything else,but you know each one with his opinion,the essential is that you caught an excellent subject,compliments.

Right now, this is a photo you can enjoy four different ways.

It shows darker in the 'small' size and if shown full size, my redownload (two clicks on the image) shows much lighter.

You can then, with your choice of darkness or lightness, choose to self-crop the man's face, beard, eyes and forehead, ignoring the rest, or treat it as a classic street portrait.

There seldom is such a choice in a single posting and that will disappear when the redownload works its way through the PN servers, which may take hours or days to lighten the small version.

Many may stay away from the 'small' version because of its darkness, which is why I uploaded the lighter version (already worked up for such an eventuality).

Thank you for the positive feedback (and really ANY feedback, positive or negative coming from you, a trusted critic, is appreciated.)

john

John (Crosley)

Best regards John!

PDE

You've practically been lord of the Photo.net great photos.

Thanks for such recognition from you, my liege.

john

John (Crosley)

When I was a child, there was a woman who was known as the 'bag lady'. Whenever you saw her, she was pushing a shopping cart. Always brimming with articles picked from the garbage and I'm sure as many other locations as she could find. She was disheveled in her appearance. Not as clean and well kept as this gentleman. As a child I still felt very sorry for her. How could someone not have a home over her head, live out of a shopping cart, pick through garbage for food. I wondered if she had a family, and if so, "where were they"? We were quite poor ourselves, but my parents always made sure no matter what we had a good breakfast and supper each nite. Once while reminiscing with my Dad about where we had lived in the 'downtown core' of our city (I saw so much as a child), I got to talking about the 'bag lady'. Dad surprised me by saying that he had talked to a lady in the bank one day about her, and the woman had passed away, but surprising to everyone, the woman was worth THOUSANDS. (go figure) Some, for whatever reason, choose to live this way.

This gentleman seemed pretty 'with it' from your description. While his beard is 'wild', he has such character in his face. I am drawn right away to the 'sparkle' in  his eyes. They smile for him, and while it would be nice to see his smile, we don't really need to. It may always remain a mystery as to his 'status' in life. Perhaps he is the 'Saviour of the Slums' so to speak. The 'kind heart' that lends the helping hand, 'the protecter' of those who cannot protect themselves, the 'kind word' when one is so desperately in need of 'hearing one', the 'outstretched hand' that saves one from the 'pit of despair' , the one who 'offers the penny' when even 'just a penny would d0', the 'smiling eyes' that a lonely soul searches for in a 'sea of expressionless faces', the 'one who shows the way' when the 'lost' are devoid of 'direction', OR perhaps 'an Angel' who is just there, the vehicle through which we are 'given the opportunity to redeem ourselves' when we too, have lost our way and are so caught up in ourselves to care about others.

I made a mistake one day while waiting for a Dr. to see my son in an Urgent Care Clinic, one I shall not repeat. The youngish Dr.'s  grey/yellowishy-white beard was nearly down to his mid-chest as was his curly/disheveled long hair. He wore, while very clean, jeans, western boots, casual shirt and suede vest. He looked like a 'biker'. I questioned whether I wanted my son to be seen by this man (?). Not usually one ot be so judgemental, but perhaps it was my son's illness that had me worried. It turns out he was an outstanding member of the community, owned a local farm, taught 'clogging lessons' in his barn whenever he had the time (loved by all who shared his company), and his wife was our member of parliament. God bless your 'new' friend John, most sincerely, Gail

I treasure that my simple photo has so profoundly affected and brought forth such memories of your life and your prior judgments and experiences.

I too have my judgmentalism; I am no saint. 

But on the street, I approach each individual as presenting a new challenge -- here to present this man's complexity -- for I could see from his appearance he was complex -- and ultimately to approach in some way uncovering or revealing his 'soul', or what would pass in a photo for some approximation of what I believe is his most complex character as it interacts with his heart.

You have told me I have come very close to my goal.

You have seen and been affected by just that, I think, and I feel that is what has motivated you so profoundly, and because of that, I am greatly heartened.

Thank you for the very special tribute to my work, Gail.

You honor me greatly.

You have done so with graciousness.

john

John (Crosley)

It is your image John, THANK......YOU. most sincerely, Gail

Very expressive eyes!

If you saw the original capture before the eyes were 'brought out' you would have thought they were 'beady', but experience has shown that there is much intelligence in eyes that often show as 'dark' in photos, so I often lighten them a little bit, as here, to bring out the personality of the person being photographed.

The same thing happens when there is studio lighting - special lights or lighting is used to capture the fullness of the eyes, so I don't feel that I'm cheating or deceiving when I enhance them in street photos where the photo is more a portrait.  After all the 'eyes are the windows to the soul' and if the eyes are dark, one will assume the soul is too, but one has no control over whether his eye(s) are dark or not when photographed/ that's the photographer's and the environment's domain.

I choose to exercise mine to maximize the view into the 'soul' or whatever passes for a view into the individual being photographed.

Thanks for the comment.

john

John (Crosley)

T'is you who are brilliant, sir.

I don't know what you're shooting with these days but it must run circles around my Nikon and Nikkor lens. I downloaded this file to view up close the reflection in this Brilliant Bum's eyes (one of my favorite things to do when available) and kept enlarging and enlarging until finally I could enlarge no more and still I saw a photo, not just an assortment of differently shaded pixels. I am in awe of your skills and jealous of whatever equipment you put to this task. 

Have you published your photography yet? I Googled but couldn't find anything. Getting close? I too love photos in print and promise to be a customer.

Usually I don't give ratings but I had to this time: 7/7 !

Peace ~

Alberta 

Thank you for such wonderful compliments.

I don't know where to start.

Certainly the equpment is the most rudimentary, a $360 refurbished camera, but functioning well and up to date, (two generations behind now with lateest announcement but better than a $3,000 camera from 5 years ago for image quality, even if same size exactly image).

Lens, a kit lens, poplarly selling used in the USA for $100, though I broke mine and had to replace mine in Ukraine for somewhat more.  It was stopped down to f8, its optimum aperture, so it was just as sharp as Nikon's finest pro glass, much of which I have owned.  I lightened the eyes, which were formerly 'beady' or you'd be seeing nothing for reflections but obviously all the information was there.

I have published, but privately and expensively for galleries and museums only, and not for private use or sale, but have five books left over, which I'm selling at cost, and I'll write you to see if you have interest.  They are private editions, printed on photo paper with 200 photos apiece, 100 pages, which I laid out myself.  Those who pick up the book typically don't even stop glancing before they've looked eat every one of the 200 photos.

One thing, it's a collector's item, I think because no more of that edition are planned.

;~))

Interested?

Thanks for the fine compliments.

john

John (Crosley)

Don't under estimate your equipment.

With your D700 and Nikkor 35mm-70mm/2.8 you can make 17"x22" prints without a single pixel and sharp as a tack with a steady hand or tripod, correct shutter speed and a good Nikkor lens, "good" meaning I'm not sure about zooms because I've never owned one -but I think your 35-70/2.8 should be great. You are not shooting for bill boards.

Color tones and White Balance change from camera to camera. Some people prefer Canon color over Nikon. 

I have been shooting with the same Nikkor lenses for over 20 years without even a clean and lub. I doubt that an "aftermarket" lens will do you for 20 years. I also have several medium format Zeiss lenses and I can't see any practical difference versus Nikkor on 16"x20"paper.   Pixels on monitors are a normal thing. This (John's) image has no less pixelation on a monitor then your D700 for a given screen  image size.

Pixels have nothing to do with the lens.

So keep your camera and Nikkors.

But if you decide to sell your D700, John would like to buy at the right price :-). 

Meir is basically right.

It's whatever gets the job done.

I was not a snob about equipment, but I once believed that only high priced 'pro' equipment would get the job done.

In many cases it gets the job done better and/or easier, but as my skills have improved, I've learned ways to compensate.

I once knew a recital concert pianist who occasionally gave community recitals also and those on furnished community grands, sometimes with keys that stuck in the down position once played.

So, as she hit a note  or chord, one or a series of notes would stick and could not be played until she came up from under the key with her finger and brought the key 'up' to its normal position.

She was skilled and used to adversity, so she simply played the key and in the same movement as she learned which keys were stuck, played the stuck keys and in the same movement as her hand  went up, she stuck out her finger(s) and flicked the keys up so they could be played again.

A horrible circumstance, of course, but only a serious music critic (if that) could tell the difference in her playing.

Really.

I'm much the same way with my photography.

I can make do with just about any equipment, though I love pro equipment and have shot with hundreds of thousands of dollars of such equipment.

I've had a D700 or two, and they're fabulous.  One was lost in luggage by an airline, but fortunately they eventually paid me for it (the airline luggage exclusions for cameras and lenses no longer apply thanks to the Obama Administration rule changes.)

But the value of full frame and large pixels, such as the D700  rapidly is miniizing with the D800 announcement.  The camera will produce excellent photos until the end of time if maintained and the 35-70 f 2.8 -- not an expensive lense -- is noted for sharpness. 

I've owned one and though of marginal utility for DX cameras, for FX format, they're pretty darn good and have excellent image quality, though developed for film cameras and the angle of the light hitting the sensor is an 'issue' which I don't know has been discussed - and in theory conceivably could degrade the image for such a 'film' engineered lens on a sensor camera, but you'd probably already have seen artifacts if that were so.

I would definitely LOVE to see when you get rid of your gear that you let me know because it's excellent, but I am only interested in lower prices. The 35-70 long has been a bargain price lens anyway, as I recall, sadly for owners of such a pretty darn sharp lens.

john

John (Crosley)

I've decided this is among the top 50 to 100 photos I've ever taken.

The more I look at it, the more powerful it becomes.

john

John (Crosley)

Wow! What a beard! Amazing! Great work done here! :)

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