Passerby, Woolworth Building, San Francisco

This is NOT a posed photograph. This man was walking full speed and I was turned away When I saw him as I turned around, I recognized the possibilities, snapped and prayed. This is the result. John

I just adore it. Really.

The moment. Emotion.

The focus should be better though.

Apologies for the scans in this and the rest of my B&W portfolio. I didn't own Photoshop when posted two months ago, or know how to crop, trim, edit or anything else, but I have subsequently acquired an Epson Expressions Graphic Arts 1640 scanner and Photoshop CS, have learned basic functions and am able to remedy the problem, but am caught with a dilemma, ditch the photos as scanned with their views and ratings and start over with replacement scans, or ask your forgiveness. John.

One thing you are going to find on photo.net is whatuseeisnotwhatuget on the web. I'm old school darkroom trained and it took a while to figure out the web posting on p/n. I agree on the leave it as you shoot it, but posting on the web requires bumping up the contrast and on color bumping up the saturation, both in PS, then save for the web...pay close attention to what it looks like when the view comes up. If need be, bump up to post. Printing, especially with a good Epson, Canon or HP ink jet, WYSIWYG....

I am sure that the next upload will be better technically, but it is such a good photo. Why don't you keep them both on for some time and then delete the older upload later.

 

No comment on the photo - it speaks for itself.

very fortuitous capture. great tension and texture. there's no sense of movement tho-- to me it's more like he's suddenly stopped to pensively consider something on the sidewalk-- maybe a child is approaching that reminds him of someone from long ago. (there's an andrew wyeth painting in the 'cristina' series with a similar expression).

You are exactly right about the "Wyeth" look Christopher. You might browse the rest of my old B & W works and see if any of them remind you of Hopper. I'll bet one does. ;-)) John

Simply a great portrait

Congratulations

This is a new scan. If you have previously viewed this photo, the old scan may be stored in your browser cache, and to view the new scan you may have to refresh your browser. Enjoy! John

fantastic.. the light and tones are gorgeous. the gaps in the tile - marvelous. love it.

Very nice photo.

 

(btw, I asked my wife to view this photo, and she said that maybe he has lost someone, and I was thinking it's almost like an image of a sharpshooter viewing thru his optics or something like that...)

I had missed your earlier comment. Thank you for the nice comment, especially coming from the Photo.net grand champion of chronicaling the streets of Your Fair City. Regards and highest respect. John.

Timo, this guy was "just walking by . . . " and I snapped as explained above . . . and prayed. I got what I hoped for with only one opportunity in my life, (or anyone's) or this image was unrecorded on silver for all time. Luckily I got it. I am greatly interested in what both you and your wife saw in it.

Have any other viewers seen something in this image other than just a "guy walking by"?

I'm interesting in seeing postings here, as this photo seems to mean many things to many viewers.

John (with appreciation for your meaningful thoughts, Timo, et ux, et al.) (In law, "et ux" meant "and wife", a very disrespectful term, coming from a time when women were "property" and bargained and sold, and when marriage deprived them of things like the right to manage, buy or sell their own property, and marriage gave a husband the right to raid his wife's accounts if she were rich, with nothing she could do about it, unless she could catch him in a divorceable offense before he squandered it all). So, Timo, please tell your "ux" thanks for the observation, (and kiss her gently -- times have changed. If you're in a community property state with a long marriage, she owns half! John ;))

Did anyone ever stop to think that maybe if this man did not cover the white line behind him, he would be literally walking into the cross-hairs? Like, say, a target rifle or other sighted scope? That's almost precisely what a camera viewfinder is, isn't it? J

John, the target rifle thing is just what I meant in my earlier comment.

Timo, I remembered now that you had commented and came to correct, but you beat me to it. It does indeed look like he's walking into the crosshairs doesn't it? We actually had independent thoughts, as I had long thought that, but yours came quite independently. I still can't believe I got it right in one "shot"! (no straightening or rotation) (Pun intended) ;~)) J

This is a super composition .I love that + on the wall and you waited for the person to be in the best place.What ca i say-i love it.Regards,judy

He was 'just walking by' in full stride as I 'caught him' for the most miraculous of shots, and I actually 'visualized' this one -- how I actually captured it and so well is beyond me -- maybe there is a photo God looking over my shoulder from time to time.

 

Thanks for the kind remark(s).

 

John

Hi, John. Even before opening the thumbnail I thought of a target and a sniper. I see this point is already discussed and I only want to underline how important it is. It's like the "forest" (thumbnail) and "trees" (big picture). In fact we're always uploading two pictures -- a general view and a detailed view. The general view is provoking the viewer to open the thumbnail, otherwise he'd skip the picture. Maybe, for a web presentation it's important also to consider how a thumbnail will look like before taking a photo. :-)

 

 

 

 

Another point. If the cross on the wall is a target and the shooter is the photographer, than the latter is also a subject of the photo! Here the connection is very strong, though a little strange -- nobody is going to gun down the passer-by. That's the main value of your picture, imo. You constructed some strong visual association, forced the viewer to open the picture, and then told him a story about a sad old man wrapped in thought. I know, in general, every photographer is shooting himself, one way or another. But I'm far more interested to know how this could be done in particular. And I'm not talking about shooting my shadow. :-) You show me now one way and today I found another way. Regards. Blago

 

 

Yours was a most interesting comment, erudite and astute as always, and your linked photo with comment was most educational -- you taught me something I hadn't thought through before, and I thank you for that. I always like it when someone opens my eyes, as I can sometimes be most myopic.

 

My highest regards.

 

John (Crosley)

This man was walking by the 'Woolworth Building' in San Francisco

some long time ago. This is a 'single shot capture and definitely

was not posed and was entirely extemporaneous.' See existing

comments. It already has been rated and critiqued by those

who 'found' it in my 'Early B&W Folder, but I am interested in how

the general PN members will rate and critique it. Your ratings and

critiques are invited and most welcome. (If you rate harshly or

very critically, please submit a helpful and constructive

comment/Please share your superior knowledge to help improve my

photography.) Thanks! John!

I just love this one, John. He looks very sad.

Such a great expression and pose that man has.. i love the composition here as well.. The lines adds alot here as well! Tones are also working great! 6/6

 

Regards,

 

Patrick J

Just found your site and I opened this photo, not sure why it attracted me. I'm about this guy's age and I know his feeling. Others have commented on technical and esthetic points. Obviously it all works or it wouldn't be so poignant. I envy your talent. I watch people carefully but can't bring myself to photograph them.

Try this.

 

Point camera at something, anything.

 

Friends, enemies, or any willing subject.

 

Then press button.

 

Do it enough times and you'll be de-sensitized.

 

Try it with friends first and tell them to be very patient with you . . . and it'll take a half hour or so and move around them and take them walking or something and use them as models, posing them in front of things and get used to the idea of shooting from near and far.

 

(I do that when I go to Ukraine with professional studio models to get my studio skills up to snuff -- the beautiful models - stone cold models are sufficiently inexpensive through a fabulous agency that it doesn't break me).

 

Then, when you're done with one friend, try taking photos or just framing them or someone else, anyone else, especially with a telephoto, say an 85 mm to 200 mm lens, so you are unobtrusive to them. A 200 mm lens will put you right 'up close and personal with a subject and they won't know you are examining the veins in their eyes' when you're 20 feet away', especially if your lens is in daylight and doesn't have a large aperature as mine (f 2.8).

 

(The above is with a 'normal' lens, a 50 mm lens, approximately).

 

One of the things you do is just point the camera and press the button. It takes some guts at first, but if people take offense of object, offer to show your digital work to them, or say you're just practicing (lawyers practice all their lives! . . . , why not photographers?)

 

I still tell them I'm practicing. If I have a new piece of equipment, I tell them I'm trying it out if someone questions why I'm taking photos.

 

At one time I felt like a thief, and there's that old canard that you steal someone's soul when you take their photograph -- of course that's hogwash -- none of the religions even contemplated photography -- although Islam eschews idolatry and some sects don't allow depiction of the human form.

 

Try it a little bit, then a little bit more, and desensitize yourself to it. Go to a public event, like a rodeo and photograph the clowns and the participants, or a motorcycle race and photograph the racers and the spectators . . . people will assume you're from a newspaper or a hobbyist and the felons and probation violators will make their presence well known by turning away, hiding their faces or letting you know upfront not to take their photos.

 

Try it, you may like it.

 

Especially if a photo like this appeals to you.

 

I was a young man when I took this photo, and now may be older than this man (but thankfully, do not at all look so old, as all my hair is still blond/brown, and people tell me I look in my 40s, early 50s), but I'm older than Clinton.

 

If I can do it now, so can you when you get some practice.

 

With respect.

 

John