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© Copyright 2005, All Rights Reserved, John Crosley

Two Workers -- One with Jackhammer


johncrosley

Nikon D-70, Nikkor 24~120 f 3.5~5.6 'G' 'ED' 'VR' (Vibration Reduction)

Copyright

© Copyright 2005, All Rights Reserved, John Crosley

From the category:

Street

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Photo taken near Bangkok, Thailand at end of the Chao Prya River

boat commuter line. Your honest comments and critics are invited

and most welcome. (If you rate harshly or very negatively, please

submit a helpful and constructive comment/Please share your superior

knowledge to help advance my photography.) Thanks. Enjoy. John

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What are you smoking? How is this 'undynamic' and how do you suppose it should be more dynamic? He's at an angle, the jackhammer is throwing dust and splitting concrete obviously, the air line is appropriately twisted, his body is at an appropriate tilt, his legs are at an angle and separated so they're not confused with the jackhammer and equally separated so it's into threes.

 

I can only repeat: What are you smoking?

 

Respectfully, or are you being facetious?

 

John

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Perhaps you didn't take into consideration that this is a photo not just about one man with a jackhammer but about two workers who mirror each other -- one with a jackhammer and head covering working very hard and the other with a head covering and similarly bent over but not working nearly so hard. I took many photos of the jackhammer -- some of which showed more twisting and turning, but it was the juxtaposition of the two workers -- showing them in equal and mirrored positions -- that caused me to choose this particular photo as worthy, and even to take it.

 

Do you see why this is a photo of a scene, and not just a jackhammer, and that this photo is entirely more complex for having incorporated the background figure as a 'mirror'?

 

John

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I think a little too much space is on the left of the worker with the Jackhammer, besides that and the fact that the other worker is probably a little too close to the edge, I think this is a great pictue. I was looking for your usual third but nowhere to be seen ;-) .

 

B. B.

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maybe the jackhammer is the "third"? It's at the correct angle, it's working...
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For the life of me duplicate (or near duplicate comments got posted (because they swam around in the PN computer for some time before posting and got posted again) but now the 'delete' button doesn't work. Oh well, I think you guys know me well enough that you know I wouldn't double post a comment on purpose.

 

John

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I'm having a problem with 'lost comments' suddenly appearing, often after I have posted a new, remedial or different comment. They often appear to be lost in the 8,000-mile Internet routing between where I am and Photo.Net or in PN's computer memory banks, but I get confirmation, and then they don't appear on the photo until 3 or 4 minutes to hours later. Are others having the same problem?

 

Thanks raters for having some faith in my photo -- it was rated way down when I went away (no sleep all night, but pirated wifi signal went down), and it went back on and ratings were cognizant of the point I made in message to Frencesco, above. You restore my faith in the rating system.

 

John

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The jackhammer was planned to be dead center in this photo, as it is, and if you measure, you will find it so. I like the proportions. If I could had had my druthers maybe I would have proportioned the person in the background differently, but there were cars behind me that prevented me from moving around, and as it was I was standing on sandbags over a open sewer trench that smelled like very old feces, and was sincerely worried about touching my shoes for a couple of days thereafter. ;~))

 

I'll go to great effort to please, but I didn't feel like lifting an auto out of place (I was jammed between parked vehicles) or trying to hijack one or shoot through its darkened windows . . . so I hope you'll understand.

 

I could have stood elsewhere, but then the jackhammer guy wouldn't have had the great attack angle he had here and the background guy wouldn't have have the bent over angle -- in fact he was there only a short time before he left and bent over only this one time -- and I GOT IT!

 

No quibbling about the proportions, please, until you've stood over that open sewer . . . heh heh heh.

 

John

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Thank you for the kind remark. For a while, this photo loped along with only a few ratings, but they are growing now -- it seems that quality finally comes forward, but B&W photos especially fare poorly in the ratings department I think and especially 'oriental' photos. This was taken about a week ago, and I felt among the quality to place among my best in my 'Early B&W' Folder, even though (as so many others there are) it's desaturated color.

 

John

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There is something charmingly "old school" about your photographs that I really like, especially the B&W images. Two men at work, nothing wordly going on at all, yet it has that timeless appeal. Nice job!
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After using modern cameras and 'zoom' lenses, I had almost to re-teach myself to take photos of this sort -- (this is a desaturated color image as are all my presentday B&W images -- or almost all, all taken with the same camera you use, a D70, Nikon).

 

Yes, the 'old school' is something I had to rethink in order to understand what made those old photos work and once I did, I just backed off a little bit, left a little margin, some white space, less cropping, and voila -- a return to the 'old style.'

 

I recommend a view of Elliott Erwitt's 'Snaps' if you want a treat -- especially the photos he 'caught' from a distance without juxtaposing tightly and that would not do well on PN I think, but do well in two-page 'bleeds' (across a book gutter) especially one of a priest and penitent in Poland while two ladies far back in line repeat the topic of 'conversation' by holding their own.

 

It probably would get 1/1s on PN, but it's brilliant.

 

John (Crosley)

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I worked with this man as a solo subject to capture him and his hose for a long time but it's only when the figure, rear, mirrored his pose, that the photo became much more worthy.

 

Then, his leaning, and the turns of the hose, important as they were, became much more complex, as they seemed to represent the start of a small universe of bent over, hard-working figures . . . . with him being the epitome of same.

 

Capitche?

 

Thanks for noticing and reviewing my portfolio and folders.

 

John

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