The Garbage Collector

...

Very good street capture. For some, dealing with garbage disposal is a source of fortune, for some, just a way to earn for daily bread.

great street shot and b&w composition, congrats and regards.

Thank you, Vladimir and B. C.

BR,

--MAA

Very well presented. Compliments, El

Thank you, Mario, El.

I like the increased contrasts here. Very sharp. It would seem the DOF was originally shallow but you did a wonderful job of correcting that and making your subject prominant by blurring the background in PP. Wonderful positioning in the frame. I love the scene behind - especially the dog. Thanks for the warm welcome to PN. It has already been a great experience!

Leia, you are right ;>

Hi Rajat, interesting shot and very well captured, also good black and white documentary work....By photographing them you make visible what the English writer George Orwell calls the "invisible ones" that is people who do hard manual labor, clean the streets and the sewers, collect garbage etc. etc. yet they do an important and valuable service to society that is usually taken for granted. Regards. Dara

 

yes, it´s a good street photo although the background blurring could have been a bit more subtle. The high contrast is dependent on personal taste. I like high contrast but it may well be that a bit less would give you just that bit of extra detail.

"background blurring could have been a bit more subtle"

 

That's what I needed to know, Tom, whether I had been too heavy handed. Thanks.

 

The trash in the top bin just wouldn't yield up more details, And I didn't wan't to attempt art-work on this. Didn't seem the right thing to do...

Dara, thanks for your warm words -- rajat

I've visited this photo couple of times so far but couldn't decide on commenting on it because on the one hand it is a great story but on the other it's difficult for me to accept the technical side of it. The scene is really strong in its content and imho the way you've presented it is very, very good. The man in the foreground was captured in a perfect moment, concentrated on his job with care which suggests how important this job it is for him. Busy with his activities he doesn't seem to notice anything else but the garbage in the bin and the blurred background nicely enhances this impression. His quiet, humble job is in clear contrast with the haste of life that's going on around him.

 

As this works for me as a very good example of photojournalism I can't find any reason to use overexposure as something that adds to this shot. On the contrary, some parts of the photo (the cars in the background and especially the garbage) are too dazzling for my eyes and they simply distract my attention from the excellent subject matter. Don't get me wrong, overexposure is sometimes a useful tool, especially in portraits (your 'Baba' shot is a great example) but here some viewers, including me, may treat it as a technical flaw rather than an artistic manipulation. This is of course in my view, only one voice in an interesting discussion, I agree with Ton that here mainly personal taste decides on opinions.

 

To sum up, it's a great work but it's a pity you've gone with contrast so far:).

 

My best regards to you -wm

Please, my friend, never hesitate to voice your opinion -- positive, negative, whatever -- on any of my photographs. I am here on PN to lay bare my photographic talents, or lack thereof. I hope to gain from what you people have to say. I have never had this opportunity of getting meaningful feedback on my photographs. I'm here to learn and improve.

 

I am uploading the original photograph as it came out of the camera (jpg, not raw, as that is not possible) with the exif data. Now grant me some more of your time and tell me what you feel -- what i could have done and what i should not have done. And please don't worry about offending or hurting. My self-confidence is not that fragile, and I'm quite thick-skinned. And I do not doubt the intentions of my critiquers.

 

Anyone caring to join in is most welcome. It might help others too.

from a contrast point of view I think something like this would make it look better. I haven't bothered with blurring the background since your upload was far too small to do anything else. But as Wieslaw put it so aptly, it is a good photo.

you've made me a bit embarrassed with your comment as I don't consider myself to be experienced enough in the wonderful world of photography to give you Rajat, a photographer whose works and way of seeing the world I highly appreciate, any advice on what you should have done and what you shouldn't about this particular shot. My comment was my sincere opinion which reflects my impressions and my emotions about this work as is and not about a work which I'd want to see.

 

Since you ask me about the original version, one important thing about it is, as I look at its histogram, that the parts mentioned in my previous comment are overexposed out of the camera. This information raises a question whether you did it intentionally and, if so, why. Of course in such difficult contrast conditions compensating exposure, so that to have more details in whites, usually mean loosing some details in blacks but imho in this particular shot underexposure wouldn't be as distracting as overexposure. I know that there are some tools to cope with overexposed photos in the post-processing stage but here I have hardly any experience. Ton's version works better for me and together with blurred background, which is a very good idea, would probably give a very good shot, in my eyes obviously:)

 

BTW, I haven't rated this shot so far but after spending here some time I guess 4/6 is what I think about this, let me say it again, very nice work. The whole folder looks like a good idea so I'm looking forward to seeing more.

 

This picture is very far from being a perfect one from a technical view point, but nevertheless it's very effective from the communication view point, so I appreciate it for what it is: a document that shows how life can be a heavy burden for the less lucky of us.

 

Mauro

Wieslaw, we are friends. Or at least on the way to becoming. Between friends there cannot be embarrassment. A friend's opinion matters. I hunger for feedback and in the sincerity of your earlier comments I hungered more.

 

"the parts mentioned in my previous comment are overexposed out of the camera. This information raises a question whether you did it intentionally and, if so, why."

 

Any explanation I offer now will be a post facto justification. The only thing I can say with a modicum of honesty is, I always go by instinct.

 

There is an addition to this folder.

 

This technically "bad" ( and yes, Wieslaw, it _is_ bad) photograph has received in just over three days 163 views, 18 ratings, of which the lowest 8 are anonymous. In both viewer-ship and rating this is more than any of my other submissions. Perhaps a matter of chance, perhaps not.

 

It seems Mauro may be right when he says "it's very effective from the communication view point". I cannot claim that this was my design. I just went with my instinct preparing the photograph for PN critiquers.

 

I had read something by Henri Cartier-Bresson the essence of which has stayed with me. Thanks to google I found the exact words:

 

"Pictures, regardless of how they are created and recreated, are intended to be looked at. This brings to the forefront not the technology of imaging, which of course is important, but rather what we might call the eyenology (seeing)."

 

A debate on this subject in the proper forum may be interesting.

Rajat, the quotation of the great Maestro is exactly what I mean when I say this picture is capable of great communication. Regards

 

Mauro