'One Way?'

'One Way?' is a photo that hardly needs a caption or title. Question:

Is this a metaphor for the way certain people tackle life? Your

ratings, critiques and observations are invited and most welcome. If

you rate harshly, very critically, or with to make an observation,

please submit a helpful and constructive comment; please share

your photographic knowledge to help improve my photography.

Thanks! Enjoy! john

This image contains many qualities. The composition. The person driving in the wrong direction and the super handling of colors and contrasts.

Tommy

Interesting idea. I think though that the "halo" around him  is too obvious and don't know why necessary.

Thank you for your watchful comment.

I shot 'larger' than absolutely necessary because things (people and vehicles) sped down this alleyway in Venice blocked from my view until they already were across my view, so I chose a larger frame intending to crop.  It didn't start that way, but the variability of where they appeared (and thus appeared in the frame together with their speed) didn't allow time to frame them properly.

I moved back, shot, and chose the one that was framed properly of several.  One of a skateboarder going the same direction as he was discarded as not telling the story well enough and not being so clear cut. 

You can see from the frame that I spent a lot of time cropping precisely, as I had a certain 'feel' for the right crop, just as I do when framing in the camera -- I dislike cropping generally, but will do it to make a photo look right, but generally crop in the camera as a matter of course.

I am pleased you like the contrast and also the message, which begs the question posed in the request for comments:  Is this the way some people chose to lead all their lives e.g., if a sign points directorily one direction do they purposely choose to go the other when it suits their convenience.  FYI in the state this was taken a bicycle is a defined 'motor vehicle' and thus he is breaking the 'motor vehicle laws' of the state.

I think, however, the cops have bigger fish to fry . . . . and he knows it, which brings up another point, how many times can one ignore laws that are intended to be 'flexible' for otherwise law abiding citizens, when they serve mainly as an excuse for cops to 'get tough' on the believed 'hoodlum' or person who looks like he/she might be a 'thug' or law breaker -- a traditional part of beat policing (whether on foot or in patrol car).

In any case, you can imagine that I 'saw' this photo long before I 'took' this photo, and I just waited for it to appear, saw the 'same photo' several times, but it was imperfect, then along came this guy and with some cropping sides and bottom, the composition was worked out.

I'm proud of it for that, despite its simplicity (or maybe because of it).  Not every good photo has to have layers of complexity, I think, though that can make for some interesting looking photos.  I like also a photo that can make one 'think' as I hope this one does with its central premise (e.g., going the wrong way 'on purpose'.)

Best holiday wishes to you Tommy.

john

John (Crosley)

Thanks for the qualified endorsement.

I don't know which 'action' brought about the halo, but it was not 'selecting' the guy, but probably had to do with shadow/highlight filter and/or brightness/contrast filter or the sum of both of them, for that's all I used, as the photo was much too light to be shown properly as taken.

I try to 'make do' with in camera JPEGs, though I almost always work them up, but this one was too bright and without enough contrast (you can see why, can't you?).

So, I added contrast and darkened, and somehow the 'halo' arose.  If I exhibited it, I'd work on it somewhat, but for now it'll stay, at least so your comment and mine in reply will remain relevant.

Happy New Year and please pardon my lack of earlier response to your greeting; I was under the weather.

john

John (Crosley)

John, I think this image is very good and I rated it that way. Great vision and patience to get your shot!

I agree with the above comment about the halo and I would get rid of it in post.

Based on the philosophical question you pose, I also wonder if the impact of this image would have been heightened if the sign were still in front of the cyclist rather than behind him already. To my mind's eye, the optimal composition has a certain amount of void between the cyclist on the left and sign on the right, with that center point creating tension between those two elements...perhaps something like the below:

/photodb/photo?photo_id=17637208

Forgive my ignorance, but I can't seem to get my edit to embed here. So you can view my attempt at this link: http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=17637208. It's crude versus careful, but it depicts the composition I described above. Hope you don't mind my taking this liberty...I like your vision a lot, thanks for sharing it.

I am indebted to you for you fine comment.  Thank you for the compliments included therein.

I looked at your photo and was struck by a philosophical/practical argument that relates to the idea of this photo (like many others) telling a 'story'.

In this photo, the man has blithely sailed through the sign that indicates the required direction of travel is against him and shows no remorse. The deed is done and he is nonplussed.

In your edit, the man approaches the sign and still has a decision to make, and although he shows no awareness of a decision to make, he still can make one, which is an entirely separate story, in my mind, plus an entirely separate composition.

I'll stick with my composition and my story - my photo - my story, if you get my point. 

Your photo -- your composition and your story if you're in the field with camera and the same circumstance -- that's what makes us photographers.

That's why so few photos are alike.

I applaud your effort even as I find it does not suit my aesthetic or story line, because you dared to think and show me a different thought process, and such is to be encouraged AND it requires substantial work with no guaranteed reward.

In all I salute you and wish you a very happy and prosperous New Year with great thanks.

john

John (Crosley)

This photo is 'hand-crafted' in the sense some beers are 'kraft' beers.  It was 'made to order' in I hope an artistic manner to set it aside from what I often do which is to take spontaneously some scene, often in a second or a few seconds, before they become evanescent (disappear).

Some photos come for only a fraction of a second, and if one is pointing a camera/lens in the general direction properly set, or if one is extraordinarily fast with exemplary vision and can connect the two, then some photos will be captured that might simply never be seen or captured by others.  Some of my photos fall into that category, and others fall between that category right up to strictly posed, but with the subjects being posed at first then when they think the shooting is over that's when I start really shooting in earnest, for as they fall into more normal routines, get upset or joyous, and start gesticulating according to their normal manner (not stilted for 'posing') that's when I start clicking the shutter in earnest.

This photo could stand neither method.

The photo was taken from a street in Venice, California, a street in an name only, as it was narrow enough to be an alley in almost any city/town in America and was typical of 'streets' (so-called) in that mostly bohemian community filled with artists, those who formerly might have been called bohemians, off-beat personalities, and others who see life differently than the pin-strips suit crowd of the overall wearing factory crowd.  It's a free-wheeling community.

The intersecting 'street' was even narrower and it was one-way (as was the street I was on).  It was bounded on left and right by buildings tightly to the edges so from my distant vantage and with my tele lens I could not anticipate any coming traffic so if I saw traffic I had to shoot, then select later.

That's what I did.

I selected an idea, tried to shoot to frame while shooting but found it impossible so I began to 'pull back' and leave room for cropping, which I did somewhat in this frame (though it is not so loosely framed and not too much cropping was necessary).

The allowance for cropping allowed what I felt was for me a perfect crop -- one I wouldn't change for anything. 

I'm not aware of the aspect ratio and because of the tilting 'one-way' sign, where the left and the right fall with regard to distance from the one-way sign, but this one feels perfectly balanced to me.

It's just gut instinct, and I wouldn't change it for any analysis of ratios however great they felt to the scientifically minded.  I trust my gut, and normally it's my GUT that controls when I shoot. I have a good gut (large too) which controls much of my shooting and I trust and rely on it.

It's not wrong to shoot large and crop, just no usual for me.

Helmut Newton (his former printer and good friend before he died) told me in a personal moment.  Newton never cropped in camera for his 2-1/4 square Hasselblad (or whatever other camera he used) preferring to crop as his sensibilities dictated when he had the frame processed.

I prefer to crop in camera almost exclusively, but sometimes circumstances and necessity call for avoiding 'rules' and 'making do' with the expeditious, as I did here.

I hope that explains things to newer members and those who watch my work and my exhortations to 'crop in the camera' who wonder how I got things so 'well' in the camera (I didn't).

Soon after spying this scene and understanding that the sign was sometimes being violated, I understood that it might be a metaphor for life and people's behavior vis a vis the law -- at least 'minor violations', and I set about 'krafting' this photo to make that point.

I also took other photos that made the opposite point (and in color, both of them) not to miss the opportunity, so I have photos of a bicyclist and skateboarder in color and black and white going the direction of the sign and done artistically e.g., with good composition.)

john

John (Crosley)

Rebellion succinctly expressed in a single photo -- nicely done!

What an astute, succinct comment.

It's probably my most concise, humorous photo.

Thank you for taking the time to let me know your thoughts.

john

John (Crosley)

I think everything has been said and I certainly have nothing to add. I just wanted to let you know that I really like witty photos like this! Great eye for seeing the opportunity; nice composition and tones. Thank you for sharing. :)

Thank you for such a nice comment.

A lot of my photos occur because I happen to be at the right time and right place, always with one, usually two, cameras around my neck, with zooms that will capture any subject, both cameras preset for the environment.

This is an interesting photo, in that it is partly a 'found' photo, and partly a 'made' photo, but who's to know the difference?

What is entirely certain is that BEFORE the capture, this man had no idea I was there, on this side street with my cameras, aimed at the sign and passing traffic on the intersecting street.

I had seen pedestrians, autos and bicyclists go down that street in both directions intermittently,  and even captured a cyclist going the 'proper' direction (as directed by the sign), but this guy then had no inkling of that, as I was not 'hidden' per se (I was in the middle of the traffic lane of the side street), but so far as he was concerned, I was 'invisible' -- and in any case I had my 'photographer's cloaking shield on turned up to max power ;~))

I saw the wonderful, muted color on the first frame I had taken with the street, saw the sign, crooked as it was, and centered, knew I had  the start of a good photo, and then did what Cartier-Bresson did -- I waited, firing occasionally, but really not much, waiting for the right opportunity.

HCB explained in a video how he took the famous photo of the white buildings and the running girl on the Greek island where the girl's arms, body and legss are in perfect harmony and synch with the gap between the buildings.

He said he took two significant photos as he waited, one with a priest (Greek Orthodox) with his cylinder hat, and the second was the running girl; the latter, one of his all-time best, most joyful and synchronous photos.

I count this among my very best, both in color and black and white -- because it has what I think is just about (in my mind at least) 'perfect composition' or 'composition at least that can't be improved' and a great 'joke' or 'gag' or at the least a lesson about human  nature, and all within one frame.

Who could have known with a simple street, grays, a side street and a bicyclist, I could attempt to make a photo pointing out what I think is a universal truth about 'man' vs. 'laws' especially the more 'petty' laws, for this is not only a humorous photo, but a didactic one that illustrates something essential about human nature without my having to write a long thesis, take surveys, count traffic tickets, or whatever, and also it says something (I think) about the general 'Venice Beach' counterculture' attitude with its valued 'personal independence'.  

No one looked twice at him or several other such transgressors

Others were caught, some too late, others too early, but this guy (as the baby bear would say) was 'just right' in the frame, so I packed up and moved on.

That's the story behind the little photo narrative above.

One can just look at the photo and hopefully enjoy, or, since this is a photo club and sharing site, some of my followers tell me they like these explanations, and so I try to oblige.

Whether you just like the photo (and thanks again for the compliment), or also enjoy the story, you're always welcome here.  I'm glad to see you're having a look around, kicking the tires, so to speak.

john

John (Crosley)

Thank you for sharing the story with me; you always have interesting ones to share. I really think you should write a book featuring your photos and the stories behind them. I know that I, for one, would love it! Seriously, I really hope you do! Thanks again! :)

I've printed privately one photo book, but the irregular nature of the prints which I uploaded to templates made it dicey looking even though it was a true representation in 100 pages with 200 photos of my work to that time -- about five years ago.

I had pinned my hopes of gaining photo fame in publishing on four books I've already set up, chosen the photos for, entered into templates and which are awaiting money to print (nearly$200 per copy on photo paper from a printer/publisher that does custom work and that's per book.).  

I have one other book near completion,too.

Also, buried in these comments is the entire text, now in rewrite and continual excerpting, of a book on 'how to' take street photographs, both a 'trade book' (book store book) and slightly altered or longer, as a text book for photo students, which might actually become required or supplementary reading.

All I have to do is finish excerpting from the 18,500 comments, all my tips and tricks of 'how to' take street photos and 'how to act' on the street to maximize your gain, set your subjects at east, keep from getting attacked (or arrested), and in general take good to great photos almost every time you go out.  

It's possible.

I don't have skills in setting type and photos myself for do-it-yourself publishing using a program like In Design, but I have found a guy for a small price who not only will help me set my photos up, and help me design books, teach me InDeisgn  (like the ones I have created with publisher templates), but actually he will do the set up for me for really small money in InDesign as well.

Then they can be printed commercially, or just set up as e-books.  That would be (1) for the purely photo books and (2) for the 'how-to' take street photos and 'how to' act on the street book.  It also might well work for an additional book as you have suggested, and perhaps that might be put at the top of the list somewhere -- for as I said above, maybe I've got it all 'bass ackward' (read that carefully and reverse a consonant or two and you'll understand).  

In other words, I might be well to concentrate among the other books on a 'how to' book just on specific photos that I created like the above, by using skills rather than quick instincts, so readers/viewers can understand there's more than just 'being there, f8, Eliiott Erwitt style of photographing (as he described it, but not as he actually did it. He used that phrase to denigrate his work to others or tell others 'how to' take photos like he did, but so many of his he also 'created' once he saw an 'opportunity' as I saw above.  He also did commercial work, and he HAD to create for that work.)

I'm a busy guy, and wish only that the books were published already, but high cost per book of reproducing them on photo paper of nearly $200 each makes copies and sales prohibitive, even for making books for collectors.

Absent an offer from a renowned publisher like Taschen Press, which actually makes money from photography 'art' books, other publishers mostly publish photo books for prestige and to fill a niche, but expect to lose money, and any photographer who authors such a book and expects to see more than his/her paltry 'advance (if any) is a wishful thinker -- books for them are for the prestige, to get that future assignment, and for a lucky few to cement their place in history with photos they'll doubtless never take again, (also to decorate coffee tables).

You may not have thought about it, but I had no idea where my work fell until, a Lucie award winner banged into my head I am a 'fine art artist', and in the greater scheme of things, a photo like the above, probably will stand the test of time and in its genre is 'fine art'.

I have hundreds of really good ones, thousands of ones that are good for a glance or two, literally thousands more that have no value now, but will have in 50 years as documents of 'our time, and of course hundreds of thousands that were 'practice' and stored on hard drives just in case my name ever gets known outside the Internet so people can know the true, high, high,high failure rate. Street photography success is like gold scoring in a way.  one has inevitably to miss the hole a certain number of times to get anything good, but in gold, one only can get it in the hole, but in photography, the 'successful ones' have their own quality ranking, from just plane, worth a glance to 'timeless'.

To switch metaphors, Trisha, every time I go out, I'm like the baseball hitter who swings for the outfield fence.

I don't always make it, but I try very, very hard, and when I get a good one . . . . well, I try to bring smiles to my viewers to match my own.

Wish me luck, Trisha.

I may fail, but no one will say I didn't try.

I do take you seriously, and I'm incorporating your very well made suggestion into my thoughts and plans for (near) future work.

My hearty thanks and very best wishes.

john

John (Crosley)