Feeding the pidgeons

[sleist]

D90 | Sigma 30mm f/1.4

Not sure which I like best. Comments welcome as always.
Thanks for looking.

1.



2.



Thanks for looking

[rob marshall]

Steve

I like these. The colours and dark tones in the first one are very good. And the BW one is also very good. At first I wasn't sure about the urn and the man with the space between them, but with the dark pidgeon it forms a nice triangle shape that works well.

[sleist]

Thanks Rob! I agree on the triangle as well. The B&W was the first I worked on and I liked it quite a bit, but when I finished with the color shot I thought I might actually like the crop better. I think I may play with the crop a bit on the B&W. Maybe the larger amount of black space on the right is what bothers me now.

Thanks so much for the comments Rob!

[Katy Noelle]

I love these, Steve! The first one is so sad, though. The expression on the man's face, maybe? I think, personally, I prefer the B&W but both are just great!

[sleist]

Thanks Katy. I was fascinated by him. If you know Boston at all, this in the park where the statue of Paul Revere is, next to Old North Church. Beautiful day, the place filled with people and musicians. And yet this old man was in a world of his own in a small alcove. I think it was a bit sad - I did play on that emotion in the captures and processing - but he actually seemed content, above all the hubbub and rushing all around him.

Thanks again.

[Katy Noelle]

Very cool, Steve, because your image speaks all of those things quite clearly! A lot of emotion in it. I do know that park but it's all fuzzy in my memory.

[jiro]

Steve, I like the subject and the location that you used in these images, dark and somewhat desolate. On a very personal opinion, I was really hoping that the old man has some sort of interaction with the birds like he's looking at them in a lonely kind of way. On #1, I can't seem to see the connection with him looking straight across as if he is lost in the moment and the birds. On #2, he is also doing the same thing. As I have said, it is only a personal comment or preference. If this moment was presented to me, I would probably wait for that definite moment wherein I would see the old man staring at the birds or feeding them. I think you did pretty good on the PP with #1 while on #2 I think you can still push the contrast a little bit and make it a little bit more dark to go with the scene.

Steve, if you may, this is my dark interpretation of the 2nd image. I like lonely images.



What I did was copied the background layer, set its blending mode to multiply and adjust the opacity to control the dark effect. I also added a masking layer to it so I can bring out the detail on the man's face and clothing. lastly, I deleted some of the birds and I copied the bird in the middle, flipped it horizontally and reposition it to make it look like the old man is looking at the bird. I hope I did not offend you on the edit.

[sleist]

Thanks Jiro!

I will revisit 2 I think. I'm happy with 1.
I agree about the interaction missing perhaps, but I was close (using a 30mm) and did not want to have him look at me so I was perhaps not as aggressive as I could have been getting the shots. Street shooting is new for me so I'm still getting comfortable about shooting strangers in the wild, so to speak.

[Katy Noelle]

You know, though, I think that if he was looking at the birds, then, there wouldn't be such a sense of passive quietness to the shot. Also, with it too dark, it almost seems too dramatic. Willie knows how very often I agree with him but, this time, I think that I like the original restraint more. The B&W makes it very cool - a shady corner - the sadness of solitude and a little shadow over his shoulder, off to our right but, really, just quiet solitude - not too weighty - just daily. I'm reading into it too much - sorry! It's hitting an emotional place in me that I remember as a kid.

This has just sparked a little thought. It doesn't have to apply here, to this photo, but, since I've thought of it, I might as well mention it. It has to do with Yo-Yo Ma. I've heard him talk about restraint in an interview and I have it in the notes to one of my CDs - if I can find it, I'll share it. It's like the secret to really great musicians - full of heart with restraint.... I don't know quite how to explain it. If you google his name and the word, restraint, though, you come up with a lot. Here are two reviews from the top of the list:

"What makes Yo-Yo Ma a great cellist? His controlled lyricism, his focused tone, and his restrained passion."

"Mr. Ma offered an unusually restrained and admirably refined interpretation, elegantly spinning out the lovely melodies with a burnished tone." (The whole review is here - the article is not long but it is stirring.)

Just a thought that I love...

[jiro]

You are certainly right, Katy. I also perfectly agree with you about Yo-Yo Ma and the principle about restraint. I guess it's because we are both exposed to music that it's easier for me to grasp your thought. As for the image, there are a lot of ways to interpret it. Again, as you might notice, even the personal preference of the viewer has a lot to say as to how the image speaks to them about a certain emotion or memory. For me, the reason why I edited it that way was because of the title. Other than that, I would merely keep it as it is and as I have said, I do like it the way it is.

On the side, this thought about music reminded me of Elliot Fisk and Christopher Parkening. Both were tutored or should I say mentored by the late Andres Segovia and are known to be exceptional classical guitarists. Once you hear them play they do have their own distinct way of interpreting the same piece. Parkening is smooth and more laid back while Fisk is full of dynamism and attack. It will now depend on what type of interpretation suits your taste whether to prefer Fisk or Parkening even though you are listening and hearing the same piece being played. Photography and Music really has a lot of parallelism to it.

[Katy Noelle]

You are certainly right, Katy. I also perfectly agree with you about Yo-Yo Ma and the principle about restraint. I guess it's because we are both exposed to music that it's easier for me to grasp your thought. As for the image, there are a lot of ways to interpret it. Again, as you might notice, even the personal preference of the viewer has a lot to say as to how the image speaks to them about a certain emotion or memory. For me, the reason why I edited it that way was because of the title. Other than that, I would merely keep it as it is and as I have said, I do like it the way it is.

On the side, this thought about music reminded me of Elliot Fisk and Christopher Parkening. Both were tutored or should I say mentored by the late Andres Segovia and are known to be exceptional classical guitar artists but once you hear them play they do have their own distinct way of interpreting the same piece. Parkening is more smooth and laid back while Fisk is full of dynamism and attack. It will now depend on what type of interpretation suits your taste whether to prefer Fisk or Parkening even though you are listening and hearing the same piece being played. Photography and Music really has a lot of parallelism to it.

May I just say, "absolutely"?! (It's quicker that way!)

[sleist]

Hi Jiro. I love the edit from a technical perspective. It does however change the mood of the moment. In my mind, for this man, it wasn't about the birds. The birds were an excuse to go someplace and look into the past. Having him look at the birds makes it less depressing or more purposeful. Not sure if it's better worse or just different.

I think it's interesting that I never considered changing the composition in such a way. Not that I'm for or against that level of editing in any concrete way. Haven't formed an opinion yet I suppose. Then again I change my mind often about such things. I was just working with the moment I caught.

As for what he was really thinking, he was probably hungry and needed to get some more bread at the store to make a sandwich.

Oh, and I'm not going near the musical dialogue. I can't even whistle.

[jiro]

I'm glad you said that, Steve. I also felt the same way about the old man and the scene. Probably, what set me off track was the title itself about feeding the pigeons.