STEVE WELLS IN FRONT OF HIS OFFICE

A used car salesman

Just a little fill flash under the brim of the hat please

Great work.

Thank you gentlemen. Just a tad fill to lighten that shadow would have improved the photo a bit.

Although I agree with Doug and Glen on this image could use some fill flash...to me IMHO this shot is about Steve Wells and his Car dealership...Hey Dave... how tall are you anyways?? seem like you must be vertically challeged...or you shot this from the comfort of the car you may of been test driving? At any rate seems the camera angle was a low one...due to the perspective of the building? Mr. Wells looks as though he may have a gas problem...and I don't mean the fuel type...I really like this type of portraits and the fact that you were able to make it! I fooled around with it in the shop...as you and I both know your dissapointment if I had not! I cropped it some to put the focus on our buddy Steve and his office...cropping out the sky because Steve does not care what a beautiful day it was...only if you were going to buy that Chevy with that new car smell....and yes I cropped the car on the right... It should make sense its there since it is a car dealers place of work...but that's Steve's car...he wouldn't have such a nice car for sell so.... I cropped it out too! I also tried to punch up his office with a little contrast but I am afraid it did not help it much...Thanks again for your patience....your buddy.... Juan

Thanks for your good work. I do like the increased contrast on the office behind Steve. The shot had to be low angle, because it was important to get the office behind him. We were talking, and I was trying to get him to let me photograph this fab used car lot/wrecking yard, that is soon going to become a new car dealership, with all the junk cleared off. I just casually fired off a couple of shots while we were discussing it. He really did not want to participate too much, but was a good sport. I also tried to keep a little detail in the windows. Your version does have a lot of merit. Thanks. I'm sending the new camera to you. Obviously it's not going to do me any good.

Being a little hard on yourself...? Send the camera any ways....Jeez kidding!

You and the camera are doing just fine...Keep shootin! Cabron!

Just revisiting this morning after a pretty good night's rest (much needed), and I do, indeed like your crop much better. Just to the right of the car there is an old gas pump. You know the kind. They are tall and skinny with a glass part on top. So on another shot I did right after this I turned the camera horizontal and got that in the pic. At that point, I think it might have been justified to have the extraneous material in the pic, becuase this is supposed to be an environmental portrait. Portraiture is an area that I have really struggled with. I think I am just too self conscious when photograpghing people, and that spreads to them and makes them more up tight, which hurts the chances of getting something natural. I am really planing to work on that, because I very much like the protraits you, Doug Berryhill and Kent B. have done. I'm thinking that on that next portrait shoot I'll just smoke some of that funnyweed to loosen up a bit and.................................................

what was I saying??

I think you've done an excellent job capturing a portrait of a gentleman in front of (his "office") what obviously will soon be a part of history and it's a damn shame. This just wouldn't have worked if Mr. Well's was standing in front of a new Cadillac dealership. In our Western vernacular Mr. Wells would be what we call a "good ol' boy" and probably deserving of the title. I do like what Juan did with the contrast on the building, it makes the lettering "pop". You don't know it yet David (you may know it but you don't have confidence in your ability), but you have an eye and knack for capturing environmental portraits of people and places....I'm remembering your images of the homeless man and his dogs and how you wanted to Artify (how's that for a dumb word?!) to make it better and all along the "raw" image was by far the best. Keep up the good work.

Nice to see you back. Thanks for the kind words. You always have such a positive outlook. I admire that greatly. If you can bottle that stuff up, I'll buy a few ounces from you. And, boy are you right. Steve is the epitome of a good ole boy. He and his brother have grown up doing used cars in this small town, and have never done anything else. Fortunately for them, this land is worth a lot of money, so their funky business may be going out, but they will have no financial worries.

Dave, I don't know how I missed this marvelous portrait. The more I look, the more I like.

 

I do see the merit of Juan's suggested crop, but frankly I like it the way you have it. Somehow, for me, it gives the fellow more room in his world. I also like your contrast. It has a natural, real feel.

 

All of this is much a matter of personal taste, I think. In any event, I think you captured him wonderfully.

 

 

Thanks. I wouldn't have been looking at this if you had not commented. As I look at it now, I wonder about the fill flash suggestion. There is detail under the hat brim, so I don't think I see the need. Anyway, what Juan did was good, and, as you say, it's a matter of personal taste.

This dates back to before my time. I've never noticed it either. It's a great one. You who claim not to be comfortable doing portraits! To me, this is what a portrait is all about. Story and personality. Not to mention it fits right in with your overall style and world view as well.

 

As for technicals, here are my ideas:

 

Keep it as it is. The lighting you've captured here is alive and energetic. Look at the way that far wall on the right is highlighted. That creates such a great sense of depth without being at all distracting from your subject. And notice how the curve of the left-hand corner of the main building is so nicely and softly lit. That gives the photo even more dimension and it gives that wall so much texture. I am always looking for lighting that so richly emphasizes details, shapes, curves. With contrast increased, those touches are gone and you lose a lot of what's so photogenic here, the natural light. Look at how much softer the light is on the left than on the right. That sets up a tension and dynamism that gives a photo incredible energy.

 

If it were a shot of Brad Pitt in a cowboy hat in Annie Liebowitz's studio, she might have chosen to use fill light. Doesn't seem necessary here. A little shadow on the forehead in a photo like this, to my eyes, is not a problem. I might have had him raise his head maybe an eighth of an inch so that the shadow line wouldn't cut right across his eye. One eye being in the light a drop more might have made a nice additional accent. Of course, then you might have gotten a dreaded catch light in that eye (LOL, yes I saw your comment somewhere!), but in this case I don't think so.

 

To me, a big winner here. It's natural, unself-conscious, genuine, honest, straightforward, unmanipulated, and engaging.

Thanks. This may well be the best portrait I've done. I liked it a lot when I took it, but, and I'll be honest in telling you that (and I know it's stupid) I looked at the ratings and kind of decided it must be fairly flawed. Barely over fours. But I've always liked it, and I do wish the shadows didn't fall so evenly across the eyes. As I explained (read rationalized if you wish), he really wasn't all that big on my photographing him, and this was taken with the camera hanging on the strap at my chest level. Otherwise it would have been more eye to eye and, I think a much worse photo, with more shadow, and less of the environment. My biggest gripe with the image is the centeredness of everything. But there just wasn't much I felt like cropping. You being such a fine portraitist and telling me honestly that you think it is worthwhile is really important to me.

If you upped the contrast significantly, made him 20 years older, got much closer, over-sharpened all the wrinkles he would have, and gave it a sepia tint, I can pretty much guarantee two things: you'd get better ratings and have a much less significant portrait. PN can be good for a lot of things and it can be good for nothing. Separating those two is crucial to our growth as photographers. Thanks, by the way, for having faith (and I use the term loosely) in my judgment.