Three Generations -- Three Aspects (Viewpoints)

An old woman is passed by a younger woman, and a poster of a baby

overlooks them both -- three generations, each individual looking a

different way, all seemingly preoccupied with something different.

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! Enjoy! John

The 'generations' are in ascending order from the rear, with infant -- toddler -- background, younger woman, middle ground, and old woman (who is selling a fir tree for New Year's) foreground, somehow stuck staring directly into the camera (without being asked to pose . . . if you can imagine that . . . she just stared into the lens for several frames as the woman, middle ground, walks by. The best of several frames was chosen, although other frames also were 'worthy'.

 

John (Crosley)

 

(Thanks Kenneth F. for stopping by, I always appreciate it, regardless of the rate.)

 

 

I really like this photo , Very good capture . The expression of the old lady is amazing , Very emotional

superb photo!!!

happy 2007!

You have been a frequent visitor to my portfolio, and it always is appreciated. I always pay attention to your visits, whether you rate harshly or highly is of little concern.

 

And when you take note of a particular photo, it makes me feel great, since I know you watch the queue with some substantial regularity, and hence know very much the good from the bad, so to be classified with the 'good' by you, is a high honor.

 

Thanks.

 

It's an honor even to have your notice at all.

 

John (Crosley)

Thanks for the recognition.

 

Sometimes when I take a photo, I review my captures and keep coming back to 'just one' photo and look at it again and again.

 

This is one of those.

 

Happy 2007 to you too.

 

Your comment makes my day (and ends my year on a very happy note).

 

John (Crosley)

Great Capture! Great timing actually! You caught all three subjects at exactly the right time! Well done! It's a very "fun" photo!

Three generation of human being. well caught John.

 

Creative and Best Wishes for 2007.

Jan, I'm no magician.

 

I had this old woman and the baby framed and was in the process of taking their photo. The old woman expected to have her photo taken and was interested in the process -- we didn't speak -- I'm a speed shooter, so it was only a second or so. She knew nothing of the background and was selling New Year's trees the day after Christmas in Kiev, Ukraine suburbs.

 

Then, because I always shoot with two eyes open, I saw the younger woman approach swiftly from left, and hit 'C' (continuous) on my shutter for a 'motor drive' sequence, and simply took the best. I foresaw what the photo would be, and sure enough it turned out as I foresaw it (better than my fondest wishes of course). I wish I could have really 'foreseen' the conjunction further in advance, but at least I'm a good opportunist.

 

For all the messed up photos, sometimes the photo Gods smile, and one gets such an opportunity.

 

No Magic.

 

Just being there.

 

Kind of like being Percy the Gardener

 

In the movie 'Being There'.

 

Just call me

 

John (Percy Gardener) (Crosley)

You are one of the most creative artists on Photo.net and to get a nod from you for a photo such as this is very meaningful to me.

 

Yes, this photo, even though it came by suddenly, (and dissassembled just as quickly) has caught my eye; I just had to post it and have been well rewarded.

 

My very best wishes to you for the coming year. I'll be watching your amazing portfolio as always.

 

John (Crosley)

A beautiful street portait/moment! And three generations came to my mind even before I saw your title and comments.

Lovely capture. I like very much the age woman's expression, her sedness and her sweet eyes. Three generations... Magnificent.

Thank you for the comment.

 

I suppose you read above in one of my comments (answers to comments) how this came about -- how it was not exactly 'planned' and again how it was not completely 'accidental' either.

 

I did know it was going to be 'three generations' even before the woman, middle ground, walked into the frame, and that's why I had my camera firing on continuous as she crossed the frame.

 

A beautiful moment for a photographer -- split second timing and the result of keeping both eyes open and never just shutting down because someone's going to step into or out of a scene. Sometimes getting someone crossing a frame can be absolutely the most interesting of all photos, and I encourage people to walk in front of me while I'm photographing and 'snap' goes the shutter, often when they do.

 

;~))

 

John (opportunist) (Crosley)

 

 

It seems like you were an 'old hand' at this photo posting and critiquing business when I joined PN just over 2-1/2 years ago and a master photographer when I was just fledgling and struggling with the boundaries of what PN could do and what I could do with it, so I look to any of your infrequent critiques with special attention.

 

And looking at this old woman's face, whom I had captured for just a few instants and kept captured as I began firing away with my continuous drive sequence (with her probably wondering 'why?') is what probably has her amusement, but then why argue with results. I passed her later, and also photographed her in dimmer light on my way back from downtown Kiev, and she had a sensitive look also on her face then. Some people just command presence (or have a commanding presence) and she has it.

 

As you have read above, there was both luck and skill involved in this photo; probably in equal measures, with a touch of split-second timing and legerdemain (magic?) involved as well.

 

I'll be well-remembered if this serves as an example of one of my better poster shots (or even of any shot).

 

(I've got one stunning 'poster shot' waiting to upload that's humourous and fun, that is not so 'deep' as this, but a sure conversation starter and a real standout. Hey, if you shoot posters well, why not just do it? I'd probably suck at shooting your native Tuscany anyway (though I'd love to give it a try . . . maybe for about a year . . . and also live in a Tuscan kitchen to boot when I'm not photographing.)

 

Thank you for stopping by.

 

Have a happy and prosperous New Year.

 

John (Crosley)

Cartier-Bresson hated color, couldn't shoot it, wasn't its master, and even went so far when he met the editor of 'Photo' (the French magazine) to try to destroy at a Parisian restaurant some of his color works, then went around the restaurant decrying the photo editor (an erstwhile friend and much more than an acquaintance) to other diners for having brought that color work to his attention. I hope I do better than he with color.

 

This photo, I think, is not only 'street' but works well in color, with the 'red' and 'ruddy' theme carrying through from the foreground woman's face through to the coat of the woman, middle ground to the skin tones of the poster child (background).

 

Even the Soviet-style apartment bloc building, background, has the same ruddiness in it . . . for propitiousness in color (or at least the flags draped in front of it -- advertising flags or 'bunting' as it once was called in America) There also is some reddishness in the building itself, I think, but I won't push the point.

 

My rule: If color does not help or at least be neutral in a color photo - desaturate it. I sometimes have violated this rule, but am paying more careful attention to it. I try to have composition play such a role in all my photos that nearly all could be desaturated (color removed) and they might be successful, all or in part, and this, I think, is one of them. Try to imagine it desaturated, and I think you'll understand my point.

 

Maybe it's one area where I've got something on Cartier-Bresson. (If you think that's not humble enough, wait until the next poster shot I post, which is completely color-coordinated and give me an e-mail and maybe I'll send you a preview and ask your opinion. . . . Maybe also I'm just all wet . . . who knows?

 

John (Crosley)

great moment, I agree with b&w trying

Does that mean you'll post a B&W version? I don't plan to. It was just something to visualize; a sort of exercise to test the idea that my captures (most of them) have sufficiently good composition to survive as B&W captures.

 

If in doubt, I have decided, desaturate, and the rule specifically is that if color does not add to, detracts from or is not an essential element of a photo, or if the photo is not of a color series, then desaturate (unless it defeats the audience's expectations, of course).

 

I compose in the viewfinder in terms of shapes and forms and then also in color, and of course, it all happens at once, and often I'm attracted to a subject (color subject) by the colors in the first place.

 

This is just me . . . musing on the why and how.

 

Not a homework assignment for you ;~))

 

John (Crosley)

What an outstanding composition. I couldn't help but smiling back at the older woman. Interesting to me how her smile mimicks that of the baby's, even their eyes smile. I applaud your talent and for being in the moment. Happy New Year, John. -Tammy

 

 

I have a saying to photographers now, whom I meet sometimes on the street and in airports, who ask how I can take as many good or worthy photos as I do on the street or on a gig or 8 gig card as I do (I'm getting more productive, you see) and that is 'you gotta keep banging away at the shutter' and eventually, you'll start to get something worthy.

 

The more you bang away at the shutter and the more you review not only your captures but also your posted stuff AND the comments which are invaluable critiques (for me anyway) and then go with your instinct (with and sometimes despite them) eventually the percentage 'take' increases from each gig that comes from the lens.

 

And occasionally, a real gem comes out the other end, and plants itself in pixels that are worthy of being sent around the world, such as this one.

 

I take lots of 'interesting' photos, and even many 'worthy' ones, many of which I post, which are not 'stunners' but are nevertheless interesting to me as a 'street photographer' or as a photographer say in 'fine art' or 'glamour' (probably were unaware of that, hunh? as I haven't been posting it), or even landscapes which I also don't post much of because they're so 'dull' and 'lifeless' -- meaning not that they aren't pretty or aesthetically pleasing, but how many mornings are you gonna rise before dawn just to get a photo of the mist rising off of the lake just before sunrise with the roil of a trout under the surface picking off a bug (well, that actually sounds like a photo I'd like to make . . . come to think of it . . . ).

 

Anyway, I live near mountains and ocean, and everybody can take such photos, but I figure few can take the people photos I take that require such split second timing and framing -- snap decisions and judgments, while on broken soil/gravel/potholed asphalt/curbs etc., or simply across a field with cow pies sometimes and barbed wire fences . . . though I drive wherever I can or take trams etc., also and even for comfort sometimes I'll find myself standing in modern air terminals with long, heavy telephotos (inside the terminals and looking outside -- from inside -- for some of my good shots taken in comfort).

 

In short, I'll go just about anywhere but the crest of the Himalayas for a good shot; I'm technically disabled, but the thrill of a good capture gives me a rush unmatched by any narcotic and soothes me greatly as well as my greatly sore body.

 

It's a trade off -- bed at home, or pain and travel the world and come home to some minor acclaim on PN from people like you and other cyber-acquaintances and cyber-colleagues and I opt for the latter.

 

And the human memory is feeble; thank God. I remember the situation but not the physical pain I was in when I took this photo; I can't even conjure it up.

 

I get enormous pleasure from being able to display a photo like this; a feeling that simply is indescribable. Maybe I'm just another additive personality with a new sort of addiction (more expensive than the traditional injectable kind) though not as expensive as the kind you blow up your nose or place with chips on the Vegas tables or sports books (all of which I'm seemingly immune to.)

 

Give me a good picture to take and I'll go about anywhere.

 

Proof above.

 

Thanks for the comment (and for putting up with this soliloquy.)

 

John (Crosley)

 

 

One more deep look into human beings. Bravo John. I would like to look at this photo and tell me your impression. http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=5388312

 

I do not mean to rate it but I care about your opinion because of the unusual style. I wish you a happy new Year. Michael.

John, what I like about the three generations is the bliss that exudes from the newborn and the old lady...both ends of life, and closer to spirit. The woman inbetween is focussed, not very happy, in a hurry...heading out of the picture. Is that what life is between the coming and going?

 

Great shot, Percy. A happy and creative new year to you.

Well, the old woman, nearest, somehow knowing she wasn't going to sell me a New Year's Tree (they don't celebrate Western Christmas and not with trees anyway, but she Was selling trees, see sprig of treetop at bottom of photo) still understood that she wanted to look her best for what was developing into a series of photos.

 

People generally want to look their best in photos, which is why many people AT FIRST object to candid photos, until they see themselves in total spontaneity, and when so captured and captured well, they most often acquiesce and want to see the captures again and again and often call their friends over for a looksee.

 

Well, the baby, being posed, was chosen for equanimity and the woman crossing had a totally other goal in mind -- catching a bus or some such.

 

But the totality of the photo, within its four corners, stands and presents the story of exactly what you say. It reminds me of the biographical song of the male singer whose father never had time for him, and when he became a father never had time for his children. It was always 'next time, when I get a chance'. Sooner or later those chances simply evaporate.

 

I've been lucky enough to have a rich life and one in which I have an opportunity to immortalize these moments, starting not at youth at all, but after a full-blown life and with the perspective that brings and still be able to move around and even present a sort of pictorial philosophy (although it is NOT cohesive, it's more a generalist philosophy, and one that can vary to suit the nature of the photo that I just took -- See for instance 'Goths For Girls' -- a much overlooked photo in this portfolio -- one of my best which has been mostly ignored, but taken on the street at night, without flash and certainly one I am very proud of, but which the PN audience is not 'in tune with'.

 

So, it's not exactly 'John's Philosophy' but rather how John seeks to present the world through a camera, sometimes with cliches and sometimes very originally, but always with a bit of heart and often with some retrospect and intellect.

 

I never thought I'd be so lucky as to perform at this level and have so many well-wishers.

 

And I thank you for your attention as 2006 draws to a close, Linda, and for noticing also the theme of 'threes' which I had not even mentioned . . . it being a common theme of mine for which I have a 'Presentation' now ready for update (which you obviously have seen).

 

In fact, with the 'threes' as a theme in this photo, one can actually draw a triangle within the rectangle to make a geometrical form of the three subjects, and that in itself lends itself to some form of compositional analysis.

 

In fact, if one were shooting this differently, or cropping it differently, so that the old woman were cropped at low scarf level and it were in a 2:3 format, so it looked full-frame from a 35mm style camera, it also would be an interesting photo (this is a crop from a 35mm style digital capture with a D2Xs I think). (I was carrying both a D2Xs and a D200 but the 12~24mm lens this was taken with was on the D2Xs camera, and I was VERY CLOSE to the older woman -- almost uncomfortably close at near to 12 mm.)

 

It's simply amazing at 12 mm how close people sometimes will let me come to them so long as I act benignly and when I have a large camera, they assume I'm benign.

 

Thanks for the comment, Linda, and Happy New Year to you, too.

 

John (Crosley)

 

(Maybe I'll start calling these the 'Being There' shots, as shot by Percy Gardener, aka John Crosley)

A beautiful shot, well seen, John! Best regards, Ruud.

It's one of those amazing convergences.

 

The Photo Gods smiled on me when I began to focus on the old woman and child, and this other woman (middle ground) approached from the left (as explained above).

 

I had the foresight not to wait as she crossed but to realize the potential to fulfill the concept of the photo -- that's the difference between luck and experience.

 

So many times, people pause as they're about to walk in front of my lens as though they're doing me a favor (they really think they're being very polite, and in their minds they really are), but many times I'd just as soon have them walking across -- sometimes their figures, even their shadow, will complete a scene otherwise bereft of substance in one part or another.

 

I guess the old phrase, 'I'd rather be lucky than skillful' may partially apply here. ;~))

 

When a guy doesn't have the 'eye' of a Ruud Albers, he has to use any crutch he can ;~))

 

John (Crosley)

Ruud, you'll not find this photo on 'rate recent' or the 'highest rated' list.

 

Reason: It lacks the requisite 5 ratings to make the list. It made it for comments and even has a total of 17 comments including the 4 rate recent comments, and very high rates -- one of my highest of the year.

 

But in contrast to a slightly lower-rated photo posted the same day which had 6,100 'views' for the remainder of the day, this photo, with more comments and as many rates (about), only has less than 600 views.

 

That in itself is a reflection on the vagaries of the rating system.

 

Overall the rating system does very well.

 

But lately, maybe because my photos have to be understood and many 'rate recent raters are 'new to the game' and 'undereducated' about photography in general (or maybe I'm being shunned? -- I doubt it) simply pass over my photographs, and the vast number of rates these days seem to come from those who seek my photos out through reviewing my portfolio or who come across them otherwise, such as my photos appearing on the list of photos with high comments, etc. (or high scores, maybe, provided the search engine counts high-scoring photos without the otherwise requisite five rates).

 

The other photo, by contrast had more than 5 rates, including many rates not from rate recent, and almost as many comments -- one of my best days ever on Photo.net and not planned at all.

 

Imagine, two photos, almost equally as good, and one gets 10 times the views of the other, but in comments they're about equal). Hamlet might have said something about that. (But it's just water off my back; I accept the system, for it works pretty well if one makes allowance for its foibles.)

 

Maybe if I sucked up to a lot of raters . . . . (fat chance . . . ) When I say something flattering to someone, it's the absolute truth; life's too short to go around making up flattering things to say. So if I say I think your work is good, you can take that to the bank as being my honest opinion. If you ask me if it's good and I reply with a response addressing contrast, highlights, technique, and so forth, then you can read between the lines. . . . ;~))

 

John (Crosley)