miles1

I just love this photo. I knew from the thumbnail I was going to like this. Firstly the eye reads the "newly renovated" sign and then is drawn up and along the line of gentlemen who look like they require renovation themselves and then thirdly the eye moves over to the fascinating reflections - the telephone booth and the corner establishment. I found myself trying to read the cinema(?) sign - is it "sreens?" - and also liked the double reflection of the phone booth sign enabling us to read that normally or effectively unmirrored (is there such a word?)

 

What I like most though is that it fires my imagination making me wonder about the life going on at that time around that area, how it must have felt to be there in that utterly different era and what were the stories of these old boys. This makes it a truly interactive picture for me and the kind of thing I would enjoy on the wall. I simply cannot understand the low ratings, few comments and views so far, maybe it will do better in the long run (not that it really matters), it seems people enjoy mating insects and endless over(satu)rated vertical landscapes rather than wonderful street photography. Still there's no accounting for taste. I recently glanced upon a survey here in Britain where Cartier-Bresson came out as the favorate by quite some margin, so clearly people like street photography just not so much on photo.net. Actually come to think of it the survey was was conducted on the 'cognoscenti' such as other well known photographers, critics, artists etc.

 

ps I was looking for your reflection, are you there or am I imagining it?

 

Have you noticed your next photo posted will be your 500th? Congratulations in advance!

 

Best Regards,

 

Miles.

Good crop and a very nice angle. Beautiful lips, eyes and skin - what lens did you use? I'm interested to know if you were up close or if it was all in the crop. Looks like nice use of smart blur too. Very cool!

 

Cheers, Miles.

Comments welcome!

Thanks for the constructive comments everyone.

 

I posted this photo because I felt it captured an expressive, irretrievable and unrepeatable moment despite it's lack of technical perfection - a magical mishap if you like. Most of the pictures on this shoot were better executed however I felt this fleeting split second in time was still worthy of sharing; more interesting than a perfectly executed slice of blandness.

 

At a recent large and diverse photo exhibition, covering a huge range of styles and eras, I was often surprised by how many beautiful photographs by renowned photographers had "defects" such as blown highlights, chopped off hands, limbs or tops of heads, were out of focus or didn't follow the "correct" rules of composition. This was wonderful to see and drove home the mesage that the most important factors in photography are expressiveness, creativity and insight. Cartier Bresson once said that some have an "immoderate taste for sharpness" and I agree with him. Of course I would have preferred to have captured this beautiful girl's expression with complete perfection and I don't want to use what I've just said as an excuse but I think the point is worth making and the photo worth posting.

 

Thanks for looking and I'll take time to look at your work too.

Regards, Miles.

On a boat in natural light. All comments welcome!

On a boat in natural light. All comments welcome!

This is absolutely beautiful and I'm so impressed you did this with the kit lens! I like the off centre framing - it gives her room to breathe. Lovely colours and tones too.

 

Best Regards.

 

Miles (Morgan.)

Thank you to everyone for your comments. Really it should be darkened in the right corner to be "correct" however this is unmanipulated and don't you think it might detract from her face and is it really necessary that we see the pattern on the sheets?

dREAMS* I really like your work too, I have looked at it before and think your use of lighting is fantastic.

FAUSTO I enjoyed your portfolio and thanks for the tip, it's always interesting to compare work with others, your "Fashion Brazil" folder has a slightly Avedon look to it, very nice!

Cheers all, Miles.

In natural light on a boat. Comments welcome!

Comments welcome!

By the way, John I love the way you explain so much of your photos. It's wonderful that you share and give so much to this site with such eloquence and modesty.

 

I always say the more talented the person, whatever his or her field, the less afraid they are to give away the tricks of the trade and help and teach others. I found this to be the case when I met Philip Jones Griffiths who happily told me how he used a Minolta point and shoot zoom in order to get great candid shots for his latest book on current life in Vietman.

Well, John I am browsing and that has to be the first case of pre-emptive critique I've come accross on this site!

I took a few shots of this guy but none as good as this - I was with you on one occasion when you were shooting him. This is about ten yards east of Soi 7 on the Northern side of Sukhumvit (she makes a mean salad by the way, searingly hot som tam from Isaan).

I heard a story about this guy; apparently he is an ex member of some small time street mafia gang who upset someone higher up the food chain and therefore he, along with a bunch of other "offenders," got maimed and given the job of begging/crawling. This is very demeaning for a Thai as they believe that having their head at foot level means they are being constantly abused. He gets dropped off by the gang from the back of a truck and collected the same time each day along with the others and has the takings removed from him. So it's a little more complicated than it actually looks.

Nice composition of diagonal lines in thirds and a good sense of movement and life; the tourists going one way, the beggar the other and the mobile street vendor casually waiting for cutomers.

A complicated, rich slice of life. A very interesting photo, Regards, Miles.

I used just a single large softbox to the camera left. Maybe a smaller light source would leave the floor blacker.

Thanks for commenting, Cheers, Miles.

Comments welcome! Please view large otherwise there's too much compression artefacts.

Thanks Simon. Thoroughly enjoyed your website by the way, it shows off your talents very well.

All the best Miles.

I saw this photo a couple of days ago and didn't comment at the time but felt compelled to return because I think it conveys a strong message. The usual good composition that we have come to expect of a John Crosley aside, this photo seems to me to be a study of the slightly tragic nature of the celebrity obsessed world we live in today. The fact that someone is prepared to camp outside a cinema just to catch a reasonably good film highlights just how over the top things have become. One of my favorite flicks of all time is Scorcese's King Of Comedy which looks at a character obsessed with celebrity. This is actually quite a dark but slightly comic theme I feel. You've captured this so well John; just look at his face, oblivious to the juxtaposition of glamour vs. his own strange reality.

To create this effect I simply placed a large softbox very close to her face to one side. The modeling light gave me an indication of where the shadows would fall.

Regards, Miles.

Thanks to those above for your comments. Actually I took a variety of shots here both in portrait and landscape aspects and just thought this one looked the best of the bunch. Firstly her expression was exactly what I was after (and didn't get so well in the other shots) and secondly I like the composition of her looking into the light going from darker to lighter from left to right. I really do not believe that all portraits should be in portrait mode. Know the rules then break them!

Cheers, Miles.

Fine photograph reminiscent of a classical painting. I am impressed with your vision and the planning you must have gone through to set this up. Congratulations, Miles.

Comments welcome!

Comments welcome!

Thankyou so much for your comments. I have just looked through your superb portfolio and am hugely impressed. They remind me of the brilliant photos of Steve McCurry. I look forward to seeing your work in black and white and how differently it makes you work.

Regards, Miles.

Thanks for your comments. I hope you find a reasonable explanation in my words to John Crosley. Let me know what you think, Miles.

Thanks so much Derek. it's a wonderful place to take photos as you know so well. Cheers, Miles.

Thanks Jayme, didn't expect to find you here again!