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'Bookends' Saint-Germain-Des-Pres, Paris (Metro)


johncrosley

Nikon D2X, Nikkor 70~200 E.D. V.R., converted to Black and White through channel mixer (recropped on right, 7-1-07, original posted in 'comments' below -JC both images Copyright 2007, All Rights Reserved, John Crosley


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Street

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This photo from the Paris Metro attempts to be self-explanatory, with

no real written explanation needed. This is the view as Metro riders

rush through their last rides, make their last connections of the

day, and the Metro shuts down for the night -- turning it into a

makeshift winter shelter for a few 'unfortunates' escaping winter

cold (although Paris has a mild climate, roughly comparable to

Portland, Oregon)

 

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 photographic knowledge to help

improve my photography. Thanks! Enjoy! John

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Copyright Notice below:

 

NOTE TO VIEWERS 7-1-07: The posted version in the folder is a recrop, trimming some 'excess' from the right to make the two men as nearly symmetrical as I could. The original is posted for comparison purpose in a 'comment' below.

 

John (Crosley)

 

 

Beginning of original comment:

 

The visible spot, center of the photo, appears probably to have been left on the Metro wall by a paint ball gun or some other source of private party marking (or even public.) This has been confirmed -- it is not a protuberance from the original sensor or otherwise a dirty sensor, etc., and it appears I captured a 'natural' scene.

 

For what it's worth.

 

(repeated below in different words that were reposted)

 

There is a visible spot, near center in this photograph on the ceramic-work Metro wall, perhaps from some other source, such as dye thrown to the upper wall, or a 'tagger' on stilts . . .

 

It is NOT a camera or capture defect so far as I can tell and as such, at present, will NOT be edited out, though it easily could be if I were searching for the 'perfect' background.

 

There's enough symmetry in this photo, as is.

 

John (Crosley)

 

This photo is copyright 2007, all rights reserved, John Crosley

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Yes, it closes at night, but there is an announcement on the platform in each direction stating which train will be the last until the restart in later but early morning.

 

In the meantime, these guys slept and slept and slept.

 

I have no idea what the 'odds' of this appearance happening again are anywhere in the Paris Metro, but I'd dare say they are slim to none, with none taking a lead over 'slim'.

 

Thanks for the congratulations.

 

I regard this as one of the best photos I've ever taken, and on a par with my earlier Black and White photos posted from very long ago, with the symmetry being the tying key.

 

If I held a photo exhibition, this would certainly be among my top 40 of all time, and probably much higher. It was hard to take, as it barely was within bounds of my 70~200 mm lens, but my 18~200 with telephoto capabilities was afflicted with some internal condensation and although I had two cameras, I had only one extra lens, and that was 'iffy', but I managed to squeeze in this pair, with just enough room to spare -- and all in record time.

 

Thanks for your support.

 

John (Crosley)

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This photo has not been cropped on right from a midnight handheld shooting.

 

Its Photoshopping is limited to the following: auto levels, (not auto contrast) manual contrast and brightness adjustment to adjust to the real life conditions, and my 'normal' formula for sharpening -- ever so slightly, as Nikon is reputed (and I believe this) as a default dramatically to undersharpen its photos. (Since sharpening essentially is irreversible, perhaps that's a good thing).

 

I know it could stand a very little 'crop' on one side, but it's posted as-is for now. If exhibited, it would be cropped ever so slightly, I think, as that represents a lens limitation that was out of my control (and thus cropping to what a proper lens would have captured, is perfectly allowable, if otherwise indicated artistically).

 

Again, for the record.

 

John (Crosley)

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I'm glad you took the time to comment on this particular photo of mine; it's one I'm VERY proud of.

 

It harks back to the early days of my photography, in its combination of graphics and subject, by incorporating 'street' elements into the graphics.

 

In other words, these homeless men become graphic elements, and one can consider them either as 'social cases' in search of a social worker or graphic elements of substantial darkness amidst vertical and mostly horizontal lines on a mostly checkerboard background of white on black -- sort of a comma-like lumps of darkness -- essentially like comets at either end of this bench.

 

So, one can try to appreciate this photo as a study in blacks and whites (or vice versa) and also as one of design, which I hope they do, or one in which the grittiness of 'street' is explored (which I also am not against).

 

This is one of my better photos, ever, no matter how many portraits or other photos I take that are compelling and/or interesting. In fact, it is photos such as this I'd like to be able to take on a more frequent basis -- Cartier-Bresson produced his top caliber work in abundance, but I seem only to get in an occasional good photo from time to time, and that disappoints me, though I am improving considerably in both speed and accuracy of choosing subjects/locations and juxtapositions these days compared even to, say, six months ago, and I was doing quite well then.

 

For me, this is one of my 'lifetime best' street photos -- on a par with any of my 40 top photos, and I think the number of ratings, which for me usually is quite low, reflects that compelling quality, even though the subject is a 'downer' and not compelling in itself (who wants photos of bums, anyway?)

 

In a way, this is a documentary photo, as well as a 'street' photo, for reasons I think that are too obvious to explain.

 

Notice the lighting on the men, in a way that seems to indicate I might have burned in the men and dodged the area around them -- NOT SO -- the lighting is naturally in place, with bulbs above each place on the bench, and consequently it almost looks as though each man had a spotlight on him, and without going back and inspecting, that indeed may be the case (the French are not above spotlighting each seat on a bench on their Metro just for the aesthetics).

 

I'd probably still crop this a teeny bit on the right to exhibit it, but I wanted to show it full-frame first.

 

I didn't have a tripod with me there on the Paris Metro, and the flics would never have allowed me to plant one on the Metro platform anyway.

 

This is about a 1/5th second or 1/10th second exposure at 70 mm handheld -- the shortest extension of my 70~200 mm VR E.D. telephoto I was carrying, so there was NO CHANCE of ever taking this 'large' then trimming it down through selective cropping. It was a 'take it in the camera' type of photo or not at all, as there was never a choice to trim a much larger photo in the 'digital' or other darkroom. In fact, to include these two men entirely in the frame, I had to press my back against the opposite tunnel wall, and take three or four different shots with my heavy camera/lens combination there in the dim light just to get one in which my slightly oscillating lens properly framed these two and kept fairly equidistant from the right and left edges of the frame, as well as keeping the horizon horizontal.

 

No photo I've ever taken is 'perfect' though a few come pretty close, and this is one of the latter. While overall the 'subject' may be unappealing, I believe I've made it about as appealing and/or attractive as it can ever be, within the constraints (or possibly even without them.)

 

I LOVE shooting the Paris Metro, and if I had my way, I'd shoot it every two months. In another project, I'd also shoot the people waiting at their bus stops -- for an entirely separate exhibit, as such photos can be very revealing of the people on the street - in fact some will reveal an 'Arab' street that listens to Al Jazeera, others will reveal an 'African Street' that is more concerned about events in Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), et al., while some are interested more mixed with a wonderful, cosmopolitan and very eclectic array of residents.

 

One can view an aged Coco Chanel lookalike at one Paris Cafe, and walk far enough to feel first one's walking near a souk in the Middle East or North Africa, and then farther, one can feel as though one just walked in from the bush into a major city street somewhere in Africa.

 

Paris is said to be a city composed of neighborhoods, each with its distinct personality, and I have to endorse that description enthusiastically.

 

For years, I avoided Paris because it was just 'too much' to take in at once, but I've been discovering Paris 'arrondissement by arrondissement' over the years, and find it's a wonderful city to shoot.

 

I shot nearly over 500 photos in less than an hour and a half on a Metro Trip down one line this particular evening, and I think got at least 5 or 6 high quality souvenirs I wouldn't be ashamed to show the finest photography artist, street or otherwise.

 

This is one of them (they're all quite different).

 

You might stop back in a week or so, and see some of the other photos (one is already posted) -- others may take longer to post -- I like to feed them out over time.

 

Thanks again for adding your comment; it's more appreciated than you might expect.

 

John (Crosley)

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I spent lots of time here in PARIS on the METRO. The hubby and I got our PRE-Honeymoon here. He asked me to marry him on the Eifel Tower. We went everywhere on the Metro and went all over Europe and ate only fruit, bread and a bit of something we could buy with whatever we could get out of someone. All we had was the EURO PASS. We even slept like this a couple of times. My husband did this many of times as he EURO RAILED it through Europe while he was in HS as he lived in Germany. The memories this brings back!


Now about the picture. It is like a double mirror image and I love that! I love the brick on the wall and how the black detail comes out. Really like this in B&W! I also love the writing up top and I am GLAD you did not cut it out! This is a great picture and so wish I could have given you 7's but stupid system as always! ~ I am tired and could write forever about this picture ~ I might write more later as I will look at it in detail more as I see they are cold and will probably think more about it! ~ Please look over the mistakes as it has been a long day of being around little children of my brother's.


I will be more awake in the morning. ~ micki

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I'll take the 7s for this photo -- one of my all-time best.

 

If you rated it lower (I haven't looked and never do before writing answers to critiques -- it keeps me honest), you later can go back and redo your scores, probably without restriction. That is why I suggested a lower score for a previous post -- and of course, you know I don't mate rate; I have rated fewer than 400 photos in all my time on Photo.net (mate rating would be impossible under the circumstance where I have rated fewer than 400 and have received 6,000 plus rates, which also keeps me honest.)

 

Evocative stories such as yours are the lifeblood of photos such as this; and what helps keep me alive as I post these. Who's to know that a photo such as this will bring back such memories among now dear persons? And as I have looked at this photo, I can see the clear resemblance between the heads of each of the men, hands at their middle - indicating cold and where is it warmer than where the 'family jewels' are, of course? Nature wants to protect the progeny -- without reproduction, there's be a shadow of a history of mankind and nothing else.

 

I saw this and KNEW it could be great but my middle distance lens was fogged over and couldn't capture the scene so I had to go to my 70~200 and minimum distance and just barely squeeze the scene in -- and I do mean 'just barely'.

 

Well, whaddya think?

 

That's rhetorical of course. I know what you think, and likewise for me; one of my all-time best -- worthy of a gallery (except repugnant subject matter).

 

Still, an all-time best, regardless of rates.

 

Look back to rerate if you want in a few weeks, if you haven't filled your quota. I don't have to have rates from you to feel appreciated, however.

 

John (Crosley)

 

 

 

 

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I think they are now letting us rate them quicker now for those of us that rate more frequently.

 

I am glad that you had a backup plan for this photo as I would have hated for you to have missed it!

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This photo was so permanent and immovable that even if I had to get a taxi and go to my hotel and return to take it (at Charles de Gaulle airport where my airline simply abandoned me for five days without explanation), I would have just to change lenses.

 

I always carry one or two spares with me, as one or another lens is always going 'out' because I shoot in open winter elements under rain, snow, sleet and elements even postal workers won't deliver mail in, so somewhere I have a lens that will take anything, and in this case, had a 17~55 f 2.8 lens in my pocket but it was fogged in the internal part of the front element due to the rainy day/stuck in a rained on jacket pocket, so it was unusable (I'm going to be storing my cameras, lenses in pouches with hygroscopic crystals or crystal holders to suck out moisture pursuant to a discussion with KEN the very able camera tech at Keeble and Schuchat cameras, Palo Alto, California who has told me that film camera NEVER suffered failure short of being dropped or the occasional manufacturer defect -- or rarely elsewise among the better cameras, but with the advent of auto focus and the flexible circuit board for that, there were more failures, and now with digital cameras there are even more failures so that I now carry two backup cameras -- since there is no recovery or 'safe' mode for a digital camera that fails to operate, unlike even the Windows operating mode which has a 'safe' mode.

 

I'll put in Ken's last name, when it's available to me, as Ken diagnosed some pretty tricky things for me and deserves credit; for my money he's one of the smartest and ablest camera diagnostic minds around -- and doesn't suffer fools gladly -- he's the go-to man if one has a diagnostic problems BEFORE one sends a camera with, say, an intermittent (not always reproducible), problem to the manufacturer, as I sometimes have.

 

Ken has an able, fertile mind that comes from a background of years in hands-on camera repair, a time spent free-lancing, and years of dealing with manufacturers.

 

Keeble and Schuchat, (for those who don't know) is the Bay Area's best camera store, bar none, with superb camera salesmen, frequented by pros, huge inventory, and able to match prices with Eastern mail order discounters if put to the test, though they don't advertise nationally at all that I know of, and don't ship overseas.)

 

John (Crosley)

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Simply bravo.

A very fine exposure in most difficult lighting. The two bodies are perfect composed in the shot. Well done . . .

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Thanks for the recognition. This was a most difficult photo to take, given my lens limitation and having my back against the opposing tunnel wall, but I GOT IT, which really is all that counts.

 

And, it's a color exposure, which I have desaturated, and after all that, have done very little else to it, other than a trifle bit of sharpening (Nikon's been careful to barely sharpen its digital images).

 

I do set to 'sharpen' more than average, usually in the camera, except when I'm shooting nudes or portraits, however, and still end up having to 'sharpen' -- Nikon's extremely conservative about sharpening, which is all right by me -- who wants any photo ruined by oversharpening.?

 

I did find out something from shooting nudes RAW and JPEGs the other day -- shooting them in B&W in the camera. It turns out the RAW files are totally color files and the JPEGS are B&W, so there's a way to shoot color and B&W simultaneously with a D2X(s) or a D200!!!

 

Probably works the same with other cameras, yet I've never seen it commented on.

 

But this was a color capture, converted in channel mixer to B&W.

 

I use other methods to convert to B&W including image>adjustments>variations>desaturate>desaturate>desaturate>desaturate and then look at what I have or use variations of the choices within 'variations'.

 

If you can follow that.

 

Best wishes, and thanks.

 

John (Crosley)

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The 'anonymous' ratings for this to date after 19 rates are 4.69/4.72, from 8 anonymous raters, probably many with little experience in rating and photography.

 

When this hit the display engine where it could be viewed by the membership and voluntarily rated by the membership but only those who chose to rate it, it garnered another 11 ratings.

 

It is a FACT that I don't mate-rate and can't be accused of doing so. I have rated no more than 400 photos totally on this service but have received over 6,000 rates: Mate rating under these circumstances would be almost an impossibility.

 

So, when the voluntary rates came in, many from experienced subscriber--members, the 'new' and 'voluntary rates' stand at this time as follows: 5.73 for aesthetics and 6.55 for originality.

 

The two sets of ratings are 'blended' for a total rating.

 

I have contended this is one of my best photos ever, yet I think the voluntary raters never saw the commentary and just rated the photo, in general (few have the time or patience to read my prolix commentary).

 

This is an illustration of the difference between 'anonymous' and largely 'new-member-driven' rates versus those rates from those who voluntarily rate what they 'like' or what they often find as 'unusual' and/or 'interesting.

 

The difference is striking and is a lesson in the vagaries of rating; with no clear point of mine to make other than the illustration itself (I have no axe in particular to grind about rates.)

 

I just thought this photo's exhibition and the resulting rates are a good illustration of a photo with diverse ratings that probably is untainted by mate rating in its non-anonymous rates (or as untainted as can be achieved by an experienced PN contributor who generally does not rate and can hardly be accused of mate-rating).

 

For whatever it's worth.

 

John (Crosley)

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this is a far better photo (for me) than the other where you said you couldnt do better and you would eat your hat! (the one with the graffiti). It has a wide angle feeling, though there is no significant lens distortion on the edges...hmmm seriously interesting photo. carefully put elements. a piece of art. it can go classical anytime! Very well done (!again!) in b/w :-)
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I took this and about 500 other photos within a course of less than 90 minutes -- at least 6 of them I consider world class, or major league class. Many of that number were redos, such as the several I goofed before I captured this correctly.

 

The occasion was a late-night trip from the Gare du Nord after dinner to Montparnasse on the Metro, getting off at various stops where the people/advertising seemed interesting.

 

I have much more to post.

 

Though this is surely the most 'classical' as you note.

 

I still think that the other -- the woman falling on the passersby was as good as I can get for 'street' shooting. This falls into a slightly different category -- the crossover between 'street' and 'fine art' I think, don't you?

 

I have a hoot riding the Paris Metro after an absence of several months as the advertising changes so much and the seasons change as well; and I vary the times I ride the Metro, say from a Sunday afternoon, to this particular evening which was before a business day (I seem to recall).

 

In any case, it was the end of a weekend, and people were thronging in the Metro, and in the latest cases, running to catch their last trains. As it was, I caught the last train from Montparnasse to Cambronne, where I had a beer, and later went to my hotel (not by Metro because it was shut down).

 

Paris is to be experienced at all hours, I can assure you, and with some freshness of view (I certainly was not 'fresh' in any other aspect, having already traveled for three or four days without luggage of any kind just to get there (an otherwise overnight journey) from San Francisco by the most circuitous route possible, with more delays to come (thanks to an airline misrouting and unavailability of equipment which cost me dearly, and for which I'm still paying.)

 

I'll name the airline and say why which will be of note to photographers if the airline doesn't make it right.

 

First I'll give them a chance to 'make it right'.

 

I know, I know -- but they have acknowledged fault and already paid for one night's stay and for Eurostar to Paris from London (whenever did you hear an airline buying a surface train ticket and a driver across London to the Eurostar?), but they dropped the ball as there was no porterage, no special services which I require, no meals, no reception when I arrived, and no transportation to my hotel some 30 miles distant, and the hotel stopped after one day, when I required four.

 

Worse, to fix things, they connected me to some 'know nothing' in India who out of spite for my complaining to them about losing my baggage told me she was erasoing my new reservations!!!! If you can imagine that. So, I was unable to take a 'rescue' flight because of some no-nothing's spitefulness, from one of the world's formerly greatest airlines. How low things have stooped.

 

They just didn't care as they 'didn't care' in San Francisco when they put me on a plane to London (instead of Chicago) saying 'it'll be all right', knowing full well it wouldn't if they'd thought a second about it under the circumtances.

 

I'll explain why in a later post -- after I've approached them and asked them to fix their mess, and if they don't. If they step up to the plate, I'll commend them for fixing their f***ed up mess.

 

I'm going to have this printed as a 'fine art' print -- I hope it stands with my other best photos in B&W -- the ones this folder is dedicated to. It has some of my very best work -- and classical too.

 

I do consider your opinion, even when I disagree (and I don't really disagree vehemently -- it's all just for fun, generally).

 

John (Crosley)

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I saw this and didn't have a proper lens in my pockets or cameras. I wanted to use my 17~55 for the whole scene and crop but it had some problems and wouldn't focus; it was 'fogged' from being in pocket and something moist had been placed in pocket, I think or it had been rainy outside. I wasn't carrying my 18~200 that night as it's my 'daylight' lens -- not for Metro shooting, although it has VRII (vibration reduction, second series) (edit: I was indeed carrying my 18~200, but it also had 'fog' problems, plus some melted chocolate from a prior episode where on a bus trip I had placed a chocolate bar in the pocket, and the jacket got too near a source of heat, melting that #$%@%$^ chocolate.

 

I used my 70~200, and only was able, after 5-7 shots, to get one that had these guys almost properly centered. They almost didn't fit in the frame at all, which would have had me crying (or begging someoen else to borrow their camera and buy their film.

 

The rest were execrable. I would have preferred more space around them, but them's the breaks -- one deals with the equipment one has, not what one wishes one had.

 

And yes, it was two guys; sometimes the photographic Gods smile,

 

;~))

 

I need to center the photo a bit more; I posted without adjustment for centering -- the 70~200 had me backed against the far Metro wall at 70 mm (digital, with film equivalent 105 mm), and I just barely could hold my apparatus as I was tired and dropping things -- my equipment was so heavy I awas shaking a little bit, added to by winter cold.

 

But this came out nice; I have no regrets.

 

I hope your guy contacts me soon; I have to return to Ukraine very soon and must be buying my ticket for some advance purchase discount; my assistant is ready to return in a few days; and I'm putting her off -- same with my girlfriend (Nuclear Nina) and models. I'll watch my e-mail with great care; my doc came through with necessary meds and now I'm free to return anytime.

 

John (Crosley)

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... we see so many of those "mirror" shots on PN, this is a true mirror, eh? Mark will contact you next week, he said, he has been extremely busy. Glad you took care of the meds, hope you are well. Enjoy going through your portfolio and picking out something that catches my eye. In this one I particularly enjoyed the fact that each guy is using the short divider as a headrest.
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This is one of my absolute best. I'd choose this for any collection of my all-time best, after it's been trimmed a little on the right. There's a little barrel distortion in this one, but Photoshop CS3 may be able to take care of that or there are other programs (see bottom line being a tad curvilinear).

 

It's one of those photos for which you just HAVE to take it, though it was very far away -- across Metro tracks at a place where the Metro was pretty wide, but still had me jammed up against the far wall, looking out of the corner of my eyepiece so I would have maximum field/angle of view by putting the greatest distance between me and the subjects.

 

This was one of my most productive nights ever. I got pretty wrapped up in things. I have more to post yet from this particular Metro ride(s).

 

Somehow I get HOT on the Paris Metro.

 

Thanks for the heads up on the printer; I've greatly been looking forward to meeting him. It may have to wait to next time; that would be a great shame. We'll see how promptly he can contact me and meet, but I have to make airline commitments rather than pay for one of those $4,000 last available tickets instead of $600.00 advance purchase based on 'guesswork' about his availability.

 

Oh,about the photo, I just noticed one has white shoes/the other black. No mirror image this.

 

[revision 7-1-07: The leftmost man has 'no' visible shoes; his lower legs are tucked behind his knees making his shoes not visible.]

 

I always enjoy your comments.

 

John (Crosley)

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This is the original photo, uncropped, as originally posted.

 

It should be noted that my 18~55 f 2.8 lens was in my pocket but I was wearing a coat and was soaked with perspiration, and the perspiration also had affected the lens, making it impossible to use.

 

I first tried using a wide angle lens to capture this scene, thinking I would crop it later, because when I put my 70~200 mm. V.R. E.C. Nikkor lens up to the scene, I could not include both men.

 

I helped solve that by backing up to the rear of the opposite Metro (subway) platform, and actually pressing my head and shoulders as far into the opposite wall as I could, and because of prior exertion that evening, (and exhaution from three days without sleep), I was visibly shaking.

 

Also, if one moves a V.R. (vibration reduction) lens, with the V.R. feature on, the lens fixes the scene at one point by placing the rear element of the lens in one position through gyros that feed tiny servo motors. If there is slight lens movement but more than the gyros/servo combination can 'hold' steady, the scene in such lenses will 'jump' on the photographer.

 

Now, these guys weren't going anywhere, and perhaps I had time to take out my 18~200 lens and see if it would dry off a little instead of remain fogged over, but I didn't realize how 'great' a photo this could make, and the 70~200 seemed to make an acceceptable capture, plus that evening was my most productive evening ever (on the Metro or off), and I was hurrying to make wonderful capture after wonderful capture before they shut down the Metro.

 

Exhausted, from lack of sleep and my airline losing me and sending my luggage somewhere they couldn't explain -- (lost) -- and completely out of synch with Paris time and hoping to catch a plane the next day to Ukraine, I hurried through this capture.

 

Without that, I might have included more 'margin' around both men -- framing them a little with the stone/brick work.

 

Not everything is perfect, but I tried.

 

John (Crosley

 

(be sure to see the 'originall--uncropped version, attached)

 

JC

5228768.jpg
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this is urban "fearful symmetry", this said I have no more words. Thank you, one of the best ever seen on this site. Thank you. Giuseppe
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This is on the 'wallpaper' to my computer.

 

'nough said?

 

I regard this as one of my all-time greats, sad though the scene may be.

 

I knew it at the time, and tried to use one lens (an 18~200 VRII zoom, because the scene wouldn't fit my 70~200 f 2.8 zoom, but the 18~200 zoom was fogged from the cold and also soiled from melted candy bar on my pocket (chocolate anyone?)

 

Well, I put back on my 70~200 zoom, backed off to 70 mm, then pressed my back hard against the wall on the opposing platform, and out of about four or five shots (it was freezing cold, and I was shaking), I managed to squeeze off just one that got these almost Siamese twins correctly framed (it has to be cropped right, just a little for the symmetry, but even as framed it was a 'great' photo, in my estimation from the moment I saw this and knew I would take it.

 

What a luxury that these guys were sleeping and not moving (too much) -- they did move some.

 

This is one that will go to galleries in my presentation book; no doubt about it.

 

If I had 40 photos of such caliber, I'd start writing my memoirs.

 

Thanks ever so for the praise and recognition.

 

(The minute I saw this, and all the time I was fumbling with lenses, trains passing, pedestrians/passengers passing, I knew I had a great one in my viewfinder, if only the mechanics of recording it could be handled -- and they were -- just barely).

 

For me, even, this is one of the five 'best of the best' photos I've ever taken.

 

Despite the sad subject.

 

John (Crosley)

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I looked at your comment thankfully until the last word.

Then I looked askance.

Chapeau.  Chepeau?  Hat? 

What does he mean hat?  Does he mean these guys need hats?

Finally when I came back to my computer I understood you meant to tip your hat to me.

I wish that every day could be as fruitful as this two-hour or so ride on the Paris Metro getting on and off at stops, but my  passport was filched leading to horrible consequences, which were finally helped with the aid of the US Embassy, Paris, which expressed some reluctance, and for which they are due their thanks.

(I also saw my cameras disappear from embassy/consulate security entrance, into the main consulate area as we went into 'after hours' and I have a sneaking suspicion my captures (including this) were being reviewed).  I am sure they got an interesting surprise; there were a string of equally wonderful captures on those cameras' inserted flash cards.

If so, maybe I should send them a copy of this photo; I hope to exhibit it, and what better way to repay the embassy then sending them a signed copy.

A tip of the hat back to you, Gerry with kind thanks.

John (Crosley)

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