'The Kids and the Statue'

Three kids climb over a bronze statue of a Cosak and his armored horse

in Kyiv, Ukraine's most central park, recently. 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

This is my version of a group portrait, completely candid, a one child with arched back obviously completely oblivious to being photographed or just couldn't care.

If I could take 50 such good photos in my lifetime, as portraits or group portraits, I'd feel I'd accomplished lots.

john

John (Crosley)

I have passed this statute countless times over the years, always as a visitor to Ukraine, never living in Ukraine.  (always with a limited term visitor visa, never as a 'resident' and always living in America in one of the states.)

But during stays that sometime lasted a while, I often would pass this statue, sometimes several times a day, and never say such an assemblage, though it's centrally located and sometimes children do climb.

After almost a half year of NOT seeing it, or passing it seldom, I passed it one time and saw kids climbing all over it, unrestrained, and full of energy, incorporating the tonsured Cosak (upper right, see him and 'tail' of hair?) and his horse with three long, crooked stylized teeth (right above the boy), into their play and acting as a support for them.

Who could ask for more, so when I started with the kids playing at the horse's rear, I followed them around to the front, crouching a little sometimes, for best angle.

This is one of several good results; the best in my opinion, but others are pretty good, so it was a harder choice than usual to make a pick.

In this photo, viewed with full resolution and/or in color, the children and horse/Cosak, all seem to be in three-D, with the children literally emerging from the horse and his armor.

This is one photo so show as large as one can show it and in as high a resolution as allowed; the web does not treat it kindly.

john

John (Crosley)

Your post processing is beautiful.  As another has already said, it has great depth an almost 3D look to it.  Well done.

It was greatly overcast, slightly chill and getting toward the gloaming (evening) hours, when I took this photo in Northern Europe, where in late Spring daylight seems to last forever (as opposed to winter, when daylight appears in a few hour flash, then hides for a very long night every day, when it is allowed to come out at all from behind the clouds.)

As a consequence the light was as flat as light could be, yet the statue of the Cosak and his steed were highly reflective, and the kids were wearing bright colored clothes.

My camera metered this wonderfully, yet I added contrast and also darkened it a bit, to taste, which helped.

Yes, it seems a little 3-D, I think, but if you think this blanche et noire version is 3-D, you should see the color version.  That one is 'WOW'! for the same effect.

This is a new experience for me, but I had seen it on the first captures as they kids started to scramble over this huge statue, so I vowed to continue and was well rewarded.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

john

John (Crosley)

When I first looked at this photo and even now, it seemed to me as though these children were emerging directly from the statute.

The statue and the kids seeming to emerge reminded me of some old tree root invaded, SouthEast Asian city overgrown and abandoned, with giant trees overtaking some famous temple, so the buildings seem 'at one' with the tree roots.

In the same way, these children seem 'at one' to me with the statue - to be emerging from it, rather than just playing on it.

That for me is the 'magic' of this photo, if there's any 'magic' in it, and for me, it's full of magic.  You are the judge for what you see, and I cannot make you see anything that is not there and cannot cheerlead a mediocre photo into greatness.

For me, it's already there, flaws and all; for you, let me know, would you?  I know you'll tell me about its flaws and you're welcome to do that, but I'm also interested in its overall 'look and feel' to viewers/raters/critics.

john

John (Crosley)

brings back the "feel" of statue climbing when I was a boy -a soldier in the park. Looking at the number of comments above -1 comment to date- it seems you and I are the only ones who ever climbed statues. However the photo would be better in color. Color can "carry" a low contrast picture.

I have a very good color version of this, but felt black and white was good enough, even very good for posting.

I guess I was wrong.

Some time probably in the distant future watch for a color posting of the same photo, not cropped so tightly either, but I also find that even the most wonderful photos of kids are not well received here. 

Curious.

Very helpful remark and I'm noting it so.

john

John (Crosley)