'Portrait of a Ukrainian Really Enjoying His Beer'

A Ukrainian's eyes show real pleasure as he downs the final part of a

huge bottle of beer on a hot summer day. Your comments, critiques and

observations are invited and most welcome. If you rate or critique

harshly or very critically, please submit a helpful and constructive

comment; please share your photographic knowledge to help improve my

photography. Thanks! Enjoy! john

Taken under very late afternoon overcast skies at ISO 200 (max), there is absolutely NO Photoshop or other image editing applied to this photo.

Although it was processed through Adobe Camera Raw, the JPEG shot simultaneously, looks almost exactly the same -- you'd be hard pressed to find any difference, and the JPEG might even be better.  I just prefer to work on the NEF's (raw files) in case there is a chance at improvement.

There was little chance here; this is one of the best naturally lighted photos I have ever taken.

john

John (Crosley)

I'm posting here the same photo 'in line' in color so you can appreciate how different this photo is 'in color'.

The bottle is green, standard color for brew, and it contrasts sharply with the browns and yellows of his skin and the background walkway.

As such, even though it has exactly the same composition and the same interesting facial features with those wonderful eyes, the color version looks quite different, I think.

Let me know your view.

john

John (Crosley)

I'm crowdsourcing replacement cameras and lenses for my Ukrainian work, such as this by using a donation site, Indiegogo.com

Please click this link to see the site, even if you don't donate. 

http://igg.me/p/189642?a=944353

(cut and paste in browser if not posted as link, please)

Please feel free to post my campaign and link on  Facebook, Tweet it, or use other social media to get the word out, so I can keep making images like this and others like the 2,000 I have posted.  No cameras means no images, and I've lost mine through theft. 

I get credit for traffic in the crowdsourcing funding promotion site for traffic, and they give my campaign more promotion which eventually means greater chance at getting my cameras replaced and making more such photos.

The donation campaign is new, and very important to my ability to make images like this.

(There's a gallery of my all time best on the donation/crowdsourcing/funding site, also, so why not have a look?)

Thanks.

john

John (Crosley)

John, I really like this shot.  It is iconic.  Great expression.  Funny and earnest.  

There is only one thing that absolutely surprises me.  He is drinking from the bottle and not from a glass.  I know Russians are fanatic about having a glass to drink from and assume that the Ukrainians are the same.  Maybe not..

When I took this, I immediately showed to a group of about seven gathered, watching me take this guy's portrait.  He had decided to take a drink unexpectedly. and someone had said 'take a photo', and with manual focus on, I did just that with a burst, and caught the eyes raised for just one out of three frames.  

Wow!  I thought, showed it to all, and all laughed and laughed and laughed.

I and this photo were the hit of the moment.

I ranked it then and still do as one of my all time best.

Thanks for the supporting words.  I have plenty of photos with beer botttles to the mouth taken on the street or even at restaurants; it seems to be little problem in Ukraine.  This one bottle is much bigger than most, however.

Your comment is appreciated, Alex.

john

John (Crosley)

Another great shot, John. Full of personality. Sorry to hear about your cameras...might be a good opportunity to return to film ;-)

Thanks for commiserating about my cameras.

Just pass around this link to all your friends and on social media:

http://igg.me/p/189642?a=944353

Some may donate or their friends may. 

Thanks for the compliment on this photo; you never know when you'll get a great one, and for my money this is among my all time best, and I knew if from the moment I saw it, and so did my audience, including the subject who roared as did his friends.

I make lots of friends on the street taking photos; I'll miss them if I can't take photos.

I can't afford to take film; it bankrupted me into switching to digital in the first place.

Thanks for the nice comment.

john

John (Crosley)

Nice exiting drink! Well done!

Thank you very much for the compliment.

I like this photo, especially the eyes do catch the viewer's attention. Maybe you could try to sharpen them a bit to make the effect even stronger. Great shot, congrats!

This is one of the great photos of my career for naturalness AND because it required no post processing all.  Almost all photos are made better by some processing; not this one which makes it unique.

I simultaneously shot JPEGs and NEFs (jpegs you know and NEFs are Nikon's raw formulation) and the key was to make them look just alike.  I might as well have posted the jpeg, I processed (so minimally, the NEF).  It required minimal sharpening, as do all NEF photos, and you will remember the camera sharpens jpegs automatically.

To add additional sharpening to this capture to me would be like adding too much salt to the soup and maybe spoiling the broth.

This capture is so extraordinary AS IS, that adding to those fabulous eyes would make it look like I did something in post processing, and now I can swear I did nothing, but with your suggestion, I no longer could, so if someone said in the future, that he looked 'google-eyed' and 'john, did you do something in post processing' then I'd have to say 'well, I did something but it really was nothing' and the other party would be disbelieving'

This way, not adding anything, I can say the truth absolutely -- NO POST PROCESSING AT ALL.

The effects are exactly as seen on the back of the camera by this man and his six friends plus me, to our great delight.

The frame before and the frame after, both show him with ordinary eyes or even slits for eyes, but I shot frames per second (four) and got this as the middle frame.  That goes to show you the value of shooting more than single shots when you press the shutter when there's some expression and/or action involved.

Thanks for the suggestion; this one I'll pass by for reasons stated, however.

OK?

john

John (Crosley)

I came across two photos "Les Deux Amies" and "Nursing Student (with daughter)". And then there is another Mother Daughter I like and commented on.  Why cannot you do photos like that anymore instead of "stuff" like this?

No offense. I can often say the same about mine.

'Nursing student with daughter' is my former wife whom we have discussed at great length but whose daughter now is attending college hoping to become a dentist, sponsored by new stepdad.  I think you know the story.

With  'les deux amies, I remember the title but cannot remember the photo and don't have the photos indexed by captions (titles) as they are ephemeral/things I think up usually at the last minute before posting.

So, with former wife (nursing student) we were separated, but I was seeing her to see my former stepdaughter on a visitation at former wife's request and enthusiastically so because stepdaughter was a pretty nice kid, but ex-wife just as suddenly put the kabosh on that.

Remind me or put a link to 'les deux amies' and I'll comment further, perhaps.

My posting styles vary often much more than the photos I take; I try to post the most interesting photos or the ones that show composition and/or personality the best and/or a combination of the two.

You might be surprised if you reviewed the 400 or so photos I took yesterday to find something exactly like the photos manquees, that you are complaining of, if only you had been doing the curating/editing instead of me (and I haven't even downloaded them yet, but soon, soon, soon.)

i never know what I'll take from one moment to the next; one moment it's an old truck, it's cab and windows stuffed with newspaper, the next an old bum on a rectangular slab with two posts holding a billboard for perfect composition, with him laying out in almost 100 degree [36 degree C.] heat, and my not knowing how stupid I was to be out in such heat because the forecast didn't say it would be that hot, but hot it was.

They getting involved with some younger men in a bazaar selling out of the backs of their trucks/including two bothers, and all eager to be photographed to break the monotony and because they were on the North side, and covered by awning-like structures, the effect was like sidelighting; simply fabulous light and the interaction between the two brothers was amazing especially for a stranger and the next guy in line (the guy next door) picked up a dog for a portrait.  I think you'd be satisfied if you saw those photos.

I really do, because to my way of thinking they are some of my very best work and done completely ad hoc.

I have another I just discovered from the same setting/day as the 'nursing student' photo, showing a11-year old sitting in a book store with a color book opened to a full page photo of a man (nude) laying atop a woman (obscured) in a very tasteful and wonderful photo, but not the sort you'd expect to see an 11-year-old viewing in public (she had picked the book up from the shelves and in her country such viewing is tolerated, in fact in her country whole families sleep in one bed in the winter (for warmth), grandaughter next to grandfather, and no hanky panky because everyone's there when the central heating won't match the -40 Celsius (or Fahrenheit) (take your pick, they cross over at -42 degrees) cold outside.

I may show that photo but worry that it'll upset some religious do gooder somewhere . . . . .

It's taken with a D70 indoors in the basement of a bookstore that I as in in a scene I happened to see, and it's pixellated, but clearly viewable.  I like it very much, though it's not gallery material, I suppose compared to modern equipment captures.

It has 'shock' value if nothing else (young girl viewing 'art' but more 'adult' art. (photo art).

Meir, I take all kinds, and I think you might be satisfied with the 'others' I'm taking now, if you could see them.

Don't give up hope for me as a photographer/I feel I'm making progress; my downloads get better each time I go out (with some notable exceptions, and I'm 'seeing' much better and using my equipment better and more creatively; I'm 'at one' with what little equipment I have, which is good because I have so little.

Also, follow this URL or link (if not posted as link, cut and paste into browser)  (others do the same) for a partial explanation of something you may have noticed.

http://igg.me/p/189642?a=944353

john

John (Crosley)

John, I absolutely understand your point of not wanting to post-process this photo. Pls do not get me wrong, I actually did not thing that it needed any post-processing at all. Just when I post a critique I always try to think about something that could make a photo even better, cause I believe that is more useful than just saying "great shot, congratulations". But yours is indeed a great photo as it is :-)

I would be interested to know the story behind this shot. You mentioned you just saw a guy drinking a beer on the street and some people around him recommended to take a photo. Well that sounds really nice but my experience with street photography is that it is really hard to find somebody who likes to be photographed by a stranger. I am myself quite new to street photography and most of the shots end up being of people from the back... And even like this I got more than once pretty nasty glances by people who felt I was invading their privacy

I'm pleased to hear your explanation of why you made the suggestion that I rejected.  And all the more so because you understand well why.

I'm also happy, even pleased, to share the story behind HOW a photo like this came into being.

I've developed a few tricks about approaching strangers on the street.

There are a few catch phrases that are bound to cause people to think.

1. 'I am a portrait artist (showing camera).'  (with a camera)  I am older, so they can see that, and I carry myself with confidence, like I know exactly what I'm doing.  (that's quite important).  "I'd like to take your portrait' (not 'picture'). Anyone can take a picture, few can take a portrait.  See?

2.  I am seldom deterred by someone saying 'no' because I know that 'no' with certain clues often means 'yes' in disguise, IF you can see certain clues to vanity, so sometimes I keep working on people, either by sneaking a shot and showing it to friends, or even showing it to the subject. 

Once that's done and friends say 'Oh, Sveta (Svieta), he's taken a wonderful photo of you, then Sveta's hooked.  She'll let me take more, especially if I tell her that was a 'bad' one, BUT I think I can take a really good one IF she'll just let me get closer AND go about her business as I frame away. Just ignore me, I'll say.

3.  Sometimes with willing younger individuals, I'll take one photo or two as a photographer-stranger, then with a big smile on my face, stick 'THE FINGER' up right in front of my lens, then after they've seen it, retract it, and as they're reacting, almost always with raucous laughter at the sight, snap the shutter. 

This must be practiced with care, but if you know people, especially younger people, they NEVER expect that gesture from an older person, and all of a sudden you're a FRIEND and a cohort. 

They'll then take you into their inner circle, and almost put their arms around you.  Even younger teenagers figuratively will bring you into their circle -- you're one of them; you understand their rebelliousness.  (and you do, or at least I do; I never forgot).

You're one of them, almost, at least for a short while, sometimes, and often they will mug for the camera, sometimes too much, but if you instruct them, and they're cooperative, they may just agree to ignore you and let you go snapping as they keep kissing or joshing or skateboarding or whatever.  Those are golden moments that escape most older photographers, yet I get them all the time.

Don't try this with Mormon Missionaries or suggest that they see the movie 'Orgasmo', unless you're trying to rid yourself of them.   They're usually nice people.  Use care also when taking photos of the Scientologists with their 'stress testers' being used to fake test strangers on the street for 'stress' for they are famously touchy, not only amazingly litigious, but who knows what else?  [my opinion]

I seem recall at one time the German government banned them as a religious movement because they were called a fraud, but they operate in Ukraine and are entilted to religious treatment in the USA. 

What's kookier sounding:  A 'religion' in which some space invader comes to earth to bring his special word to a chosen few and they sell the secrets for large sums of money, or a religion in which a virgin woman has God's child (even though she's married to a mortal) and a good part of the world venerates her as a 'Saint' even though she was a human and not a God, but was the mother of the child of the God, and that God and her Son as well are in fact part of a triumvirate of something called the God, the Father, and the Holy Spirit (or the Holy Ghost)?

To to each his own  I just take photographs and don't judge people their religions   Just give the very religious and true believers some leeway, because in their zealotry some can become violent and even start wars in which millions are killed, as has happened in the past. 

Without religion, how many fewer people throughout history would have been killed.  For the street photographer, keep out of religion and religious discussions; just record, and don't get involved in judging or discussing. This is an aside, but important for personal safety.

4.  Tell the person, even if you've suddenly wheeled around in your shoes as they passed, that they've got a fabulous face (or an interesting face (interesno litso), and for some, that may be enough, especially if they saw the interest on your face as you suddenly spun around while walking past them --- some may may curse you and continue on, others simply be curious, and still more be greatly flattered.

Like all sales, your job is to CONVERT the wary and make them converts long enough to SELL them on letting you snap that shutter, for however long it takes.

You are a salesman then for getting subjects to interrupt their thing long enough for you to convert their image into a saved photo image in whatever style you can muster. 

Be a good salesman; I am.

If you are a good enough salesman and a good enough photorapher and get out there, you'll end up with a treasure trove of great images sooner or later. 

Just keep at it, be a little bold, but not overly so and also be prepared to be humble as the situation calls for it.

5.  Don't promise or give prints unless you're almost willing to stake your life and reputation on it and even then be wary.

You'll lose addresses and e-mail addresses.   Explain that. 

Tell people the truth - you'd need five assistants to provide them copies since you take hundreds of photos and EVERYBODY wants a copy and nobody wants to pay you; they think photos are made of free pixels and your time is worthless, and since you're friendly, you're like one of their friends and what's a free photo from one friendly guy to them.  (in fact, send me this photo, that photo and all of that series of me making the faces, they'll tell you, and if you do, you're a fool, and worse if you send out photos that aren't photoshopped which can take up to an hour per photo or more.  If you value your photography, and I do, I would never let a less than best photo leave my computer.

Better to tell people the truth 'no photo'  than have them later think you're a liar when no photo is forthcoming, poisoning the well for the next photographer.

Pretty girls are a separate subject.  Give them their prints in person over a cool drink in summer or a dinner in winter, especially if they've agreed to a real photo session.  Everybody in Ukraine knows the word photosessia.  If they're pretty, they'll want a photo session, or at least consider it.  Tell them you can then take more than a snapshot.  You've overcome the first hurdle; they want you as their photographer, and you're available and in touch.

I seldom take photos of pretty women; they're overly sensitive, and seldom can I get a good photo of them on the street anyway.  However, as I wrote this I just got off the phone with one very, very, very pretty and SMART young woman whose photo I took this Spring and we talked for 70 minutes in what I am sure will be a lifelong friendship.  You just never know.  And, oh, by the way she and the friend I met her with (equally beautiful and smart (and also a 22-year-old doctor), both want me to photograph them together.  Two world class young women who would stand out in anybody's book anywhere.  You never know whom you'll meet on the street, and occasionally photograph.

A precious few will become friends, but you never know.

I don't shy away from it, but generally their beauty detracts unless someone is reacting in the photo to a young woman's beauty, or her beauty is the focus of the photo, and in 'street' that's amazingly hard to capture.

If done right, it can make an amazing capture -- two of my highest-viewed photos are of just that circumstance, but they're oh such rare photos.

You have to be aware that not everyone wants to be stopped.  Some rejections are not only sincere, but you genuingly do bother those people; learn to tel the difference, but that will take time and in the meantime you'll step on some figurative toes, as you learn to tel the difference. I still get surprised, though far less often.  I sometimes get yelled at, but sometimes I get invited to take photos by people I would never approached and watch for the tell tale signs of 'come photograph me', which happens more often than you'd ever guess.

Watch what you say to the potential subject.

Being stopped and told you have a 'fabulous face', and 'I'd like to make a 'historical document' with an 'artistic portrait' of your 'very interesting face' sounds better than 'I want a snapshot' of you because your eyes are 'googly' and 'you look strange to me,' which -- even if you don't say it, -- is what most subjects in their heart of hearts think when you aim a camera at them in in a great many cases (very pretty girls and swell headed young women excepted).

You need good words to say to them if they think you're taking photos of them or going to.