A Face In The Crowd**

An (Unexpected) Face in the Crowd greeted me one evening in a brief

walk in San Francisco and stopped me in my tracks. Available light

with high iso and low ambient light -- requiring severe sharpening.

Your opinion is solicited -- your ratings and critiques are requested

and very much appreciated. (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! Enjoy!

John

Weird! What was the ocassion for the mask? It's a very odd shot, and in such a case - impromptu at best - I'm not sure what you could have done differently. Under more controlled circumstances the sky would have been the limit, but in the moment you had to see it and shoot it, I think you likely did the best you could. Pity about the guy in the foreground left - he's far too dominate in the image, imo, but then again, it does lend that air of "what... huh!?" when you see the mask. You might try various crops to take him out, but it would probably increase your noise, and might take away from the spontaneous air.

Another word might be 'surreal'. As to the guy on the left, he's intentionally left under-exposed, as in real life, and the guy with the mask highlighted, as in real life, so the eye is drawn to him. I've posted several photos in which the foreground is blurry and/or seemingly 'distracting' in which the purpose is to 'focus' on a distant subject, as here.

 

It is exactly your sort of comment that is the 'purpose' of this photo, and in that regard you have 'understood' this photo, if this photo is to be 'understood' at all.

 

I loved it when I took it, and so did everyone on the street I showed it to -- people were absolutely delighted with it. It's amazing what a jury of street people will tell you and how good their taste is in photography.

 

Thanks for the excellent critique . . . it may be better than you know, even despite the appearance of struggling for an answer that could not be found. . . for that was 'the answer' . . . it could not be found.

 

;~))

 

John

Funny - but out of focus. Pity.

The 'solution': 'View small'

 

Actually, this is one of a series, as I realized from the first how unusual this would be and all were under extremely poor light -- I think I have some ISO/ASA 800 film photos that I haven't reviewed but I'm not sure.

 

I've tried sharpening it and this is the result using Photoshop CS2 including its new motion sharpness tool, which took some of the fuzziness out of it indicating angularity (movement) of my camera and/or the individual as well as generalized movement of the camera (different) as this was about a one or half second exposure --and even with a VR lens who can get a sharp crowd exposure at those speeds?

 

But it's too good to pass up, isn't it; it's a show-stopper?

 

And of course, if one can secure a mask like that (I know where I can, even the same guy), I can pose almost the same photo, and may, with a tripod, just to get almost the same shot for later use if my B&W film (or high speed color film) hasn't come out -- or can't be sharpened using the same combination of methods)

 

But watch this space, I've become an expert at sharpening and so have my 'fans', and I invite further work on this 'large' image from others, especially using the 'Nik' sharpening tool or others, and I may print it out using a giant Noritsu processer which has its own proprietary sharpening software which doesn't degrade the image, then scan that and resharpen in Photoshop CS2, which in the past 'saved' a fuzzy image (see 'Don't Look Back, I Think We're Being Followed' which shows two pedestrians being 'followed by a school of salmon and the sharpening procedures described in detail therein.)

 

So, it's too early to say 'too bad', and I take that as a challenge though it may be weeks before I follow up the challenge. I don't always post 'perfect' work for critique, or I'd always be fretting about my work and nothing would ever be posted.

 

I post what's entertaining and hope to save the best, reworking it as necessary.

 

Thanks for the comment.

 

John