Wife Killer -- Author (Focus on Embers)

McGee, San Bernardino, 15 years hard time North Dakota for

manslaughter, wife. "Good grub, plenty of exercise," he says,

stopped for long drag at Greyhound bus stop on Yreka California. Age

52, it's been a long, hard life, and he's thankful for his freedom.

He entertains bus passengers with readings from his unpublished works

as he heads south from Oregon. Focus on tip of cigarette, 2:30 a.m.

available light, no fill flash. Nikon N90s, Nikkor 85 mm manual

focus f 1.8 color print film. Unmanipulated in any way, full frame.

I really like this shot, I don't have a good reason, but I think it's excelent.

Thanks Chris.

If only the curators felt as you do . . . . sigh.

FYI, that's the bus and running lights in the background over his shoulder. If you view this "large", the glow of the tip of the cigarette shows most clearly.

This and my previous two critique request images were all taken in the same morning. . . . as I drove to Seattle. Kind of a rest stop portfolio.

For some reason this comes across as B&W to me. Doesn't matter, though, because I like it so much anyway.

I thought about converting to B & W Stephanie, but ultimately, I decided the ghastly filling station artificial lights, coupled with the running lights of the bus in the background, turned into circles of confusion, repeating the reddish color of his skin and the red cigarette tip made it a stronger image, and emphasized the emptiness and bleekness I was attempting to portray. John

This is one of those photos that go perfectly well with the story associated with the subject. I like it in color because it kind of uplifts which otherwise a sad mood.

Great portrait, a whole life can be read in this moment. Thanks for the background information.

See my later portfolio for another powerful image -- Rest Stop Dignity -- taken just moments before I took this image, also from a passenger from the same bus. Good photos are where you make them -- I agonized whether to place the second image from the same rest stop, same night on critique, and was rewarded with 22 rating. high scores for originality and aesthetics, and very high views (even though Photo.net was down the first night that second photo --Rest Stop Dignity-- was displayed). Just goes to show you gotta go with your instincts. John (Crosley)

ive never seen such a nice (subconscious) play with the DOF

Agnes, the depth of field choice was very deliberate, not subconscious at all. With an 85mm lens at f 1.8 the depth of field at full aperture under the outdoor lights is so shallow it is inches or less. With this man talking constantly, manual focusing by turning the manual lens screw was impossible, and the only focusing possible was to fix focus, then rock back and forth on my feet to place his cigarette tip in focus as I had planned, and after several failed attempts, he took a huge drag on his cigarette, the furrows came out on his brow, his cheeks sunk in, and it was THE MOMENT. John.

i didnt mean it ina pejorative way. it is very nice

I once erred in a big way. There was a huge plane crash at Kennedy Airport and Associated Press sent its ace photographers to the scene. One of its veteran photographers came back, and he had several choice photographs of crash investigators retrieving one of the aircraft's "black boxes". "Lucky Shot!" I exclaimed, meaning praise. This photographer, who hung around with police and the FBI, almost drew his pistol from his ankle holster on me (he was small and had a Napoleon complex), he was so enraged. My encouraging words were ill-chosen, and had overlooked that he had been searching exactly for that photo and there was nothing at all "lucky" about that -- it only reflected his skill. [That same photographer, incidentally, received a mysterious telephone call one day, darted out of 50 Rockefeller Plaza in NYC--AP World headquarters--and returned a few hours later with photos of Black Activist Angela Davis being arrested by the FBI, his cohorts. The phone call was him being tipped off to the imminent arrest after Davis had been spotted in a midtown NYC motel/hotel. John (I never took it badly, Agnes).