Tornado of Ideas (Paris Metro)

'Tornado of Ideas' is from the latest time (2 hours) I shot the Paris

Metro; other results have been posted and more to follow. Your good

faith 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

Thanks for the compliment.

John (Crosley)

Thanks for the recognition.

I was flushed after I took this, but somewhat disappointed after viewing the whole photo (I had to crop out the brewer's name to make this 'work' and it didn't help the composition) I might have just cloned it out, but I don't do those sorts of things.

Thanks again.

John (Crosley)

I took what was a wonderful landscape orientation capture (this is a crop); in fact, several of them, but none of them could feature the idea without also featuring the beer label (Pelforth), and I didn't want to include that.

So, the photo is less than my best, despite that all my captures featured this very idea (tornado of ideas coming from the subject's head).

I wanted to make a 'great' photo from this, but was left with something less; interesting and postable but I wish I could have done better.

People are used to my saying 'I'm in love or strong like with this or that post' but here, I'm in love with the idea, but my ability to transform it into a great photo simply was lacking here.

But it's still a great idea!

However much my photo is mediocre (yes, I said that, really).

John (Crosley)

I really in enjoy all your work.

This is perfect. Love the title, too.

You capture life that we miss.

thanks for sharing..........

bryan

This was a 'natural' for me when I saw the whirling beer -- I am an American, home of Dorothy, Toto, The Tin Man, Glenda the witch and the Wizard of Oz, so when you see twirling things overhead you think of tornadoes.

And since it was easy to move to place the twirling beer above the man's head so it seemed to be coming out of his hat, and he was reading a book, the idea promptly occurred that this was a 'tornado of ideas'.

How simple and how quickly it occurred to me; of course I was having an extremely 'good' night in 'seeing' or visualizing things that particular night and the Metro was not very crowded and the trains not too frequent so I had a little time to wander the platforms and think up ideas before the next train would come and sweep bystanders away, setting the stage for another Metro drama about to unfold.

If you had seen this, probably you would have tried to capture it too (although I might have done better -- this is a crop and I felt I could have done better, but cannot imagine how, except I didn't want to give a free advertisement to the beer brand (Pelforth) and also derogate from the idea of the photo (maybe).

I cannot know how it would have played had I posted it with the beer brand showing in a landscape format (from which this crop was made), as one cannot turn back the clock.

But, nevertheless, though it's not a 'winner' in my book, I think surely it's interesting, and apparently you did also.

Thank you for noticing what it is I do; I cannot really imagine why more people don't take such photos as I -- I don't think it takes 'that' much skill.

It does take perseverance, and the wish to press the shutter many times more than once.

One day recently I pressed the shutter 263 times as I tried to capture the 'essence' of a girl playing hopscotch in a street/play area, sometimes with mom and a woman restaurant worker. I showed my captures to my assistant who said 'none were really worthy of being posted' (except no. 253) and I agreed with her entirely.

Other times, I'll take one photo and 'nail it' on the first go around.

You never know.

Sometimes you have to persevere, and other times it just comes naturally.

I'm always interested in one thing: to make the capture.

That way, guys like you are kept interested in my work, which matters a lot to me.

(That's why I post these things, after all).

My best to you.

John (Crosley)

What a trip to peruse your entire portfolio!

A very fruitful trip, indeed, John----both yours and mine. Whoo!

--Lannie

I wish you had been behind me and looking through my viewfinder(s) (two) the night I took this shot -- two hours on the Paris Metro on (I think) a late Sunday night). I was incredibly productive and took capture after capture, and I keep posting them. I even have more.

I can hardly think I could be more productive except a return to the Paris Metro, but then it's a ripe place for a photographer of juxtapositions like me, especially when the trains are not running too quickly and the boisterous crowds, with winter garb, have time to gather with their imbibing, and all, against some of the most colorful and interesting posters in the world.

Only Judy Ben Jud of Israel possibly could enjoy it more.

Some of my older stuff (2 and 3 years ago) is getting long of tooth, but I'm proud of that, just for historical reasons, and a few are 'world class' at least 'my world class'.

I'm glad to exhaust you.

Come back any time in the near future and I'll try to do it again (or take a trip over to Photocritiq.com and look at some others (just a few).

I'm greatly flattered, you know, as you are a guiding light of Photo.net, and I am a relative newcomer.

John (Crosley)

Many thanks, John, but I am nothing as a photographer.

If you go to my bio, you will see that you are my favorite photographer on this site, even if I do not always leave tracks when I visit.

--Lannie

My God!

What a compliment!

(As soon as I get back to the US I'll send you that promised check . . .)

All kidding aside, such an honor.

Are you sure you got it right? (false modesty)

There's loads of wonderful photographers here; and I even have some of my own, but I don't post their URLs for fear of driving my viewers away.

And, in fact, I am MY OWN FAVORITE photographer, except for the likes of the old magazine photographers, such as Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, and bless his pea-pickin' heart, Elliott Erwitt -- who has placed many smiles on this face, and whose book 'Personal Best' is a heavyweight, not just in pounds or kilos, but in examples for us lesser photographers to follow.

Anyone interested in his work can just haul their asses over to Borders or Barnes & Noble and browse the photography section.

For Henri Cartier-Bresson, try the Magnum.com web site, join to get a password (it's free), then look for his books, which are displayed page by page -- all umpteen of them filled with wonderful photo after wonderful photo -- he's my guiding light. If I get one or two 'good ones' compared to that man's output, it's a good career.

(Lannie, see I am driving traffic away from my photos -- at least to the greats -- Cartier-Bresson and Erwitt (the latter is at pains to assure everyone he is still alive!)

With great thanks (no check regrettably).

John (Crosley)

John, you do the kind of work I always wanted to do--and I speak first of all of the photo-journalistic type of shot. The street photography comes second, but is derivative of the first, since it takes the same kind of skills, although not always the same amount of courage. (Then again. . . .)

I don't dislike the kind of shots that I take, or I would stop taking them. It is simply that I like your style better--and your skills are so far beyond mine that there is no point in even thinking about my failings.

Hope you're getting some good ones to bring home to us.

--Lannie

Don't derogate what you do (I don't think you do.)

I am bringing home great ones (posting them here mostly, though, but my hard drives are loaded with unPhotoshopped great ones).

(I think)

Thanks, Lannie.

John (Crosley)

I saw this and laughed and set about (in several ways) trying to capture it.

I did color, black and white and several angles, but this aspect ratio turned out best because of distracting print to the right.

I still laugh when i see it,and not just from the recall.

Best to you mon ami. (see,it's France -- Paris to be exact -- the Metro to be more exact).

John (Crosley)

I have a puckish sense of humor sometimes.  Thanks for the remark.

Warm regards.

john

John (Crosley)