ARCHIVE: PEOPLE 28 – WATCHING A FATman (NOTE MULTITASKING ON LEFT) (MONO)

Couple outside Woodes very pleasant (and down-to-earth and real) café on Bristol’s Park Street >>> watching a FATman!  I was surprised they noticed me, because I was photographing Woodes’s frontage as a whole and was quite far off.  Even with my habitual 300mm telephoto and its x6 magnification, they only take up about 10% of the frame – that this picture is at all usable is a tribute to both to the quality of the lens and (at 1/105) its stabilisation, and the X-T2’s 24MP too.

Maybe on a mundane morning they were intrigued by a distant, overweight man, who has seen better days and who was artfully dressed in a dirty old coat and the odd sort of hat that the oily drivers of grimy steam locomotives might favour … but then Bristol can be like that, thankfully.  Meaning a counterculture?  Yes, that’s right, but I never mind queuing at a counter if there’s the prospect of getting fed.

Click onto this image to open a larger version in a separate window.

Technique: X-T2 with 55-200 Fujinon lens at 300mm (equiv); 800 ISO; Lightroom, including the Velvia/Vivid film simulation; Silver Efex Pro 2, starting at the Full Dynamic Smooth preset and adding a light coffee (how appropriate!) tone; 21 Apr 2017.

ARCHIVE: PEOPLE 22 – MINIMAL NUDE (MONO)

My late cousin was an artist, working with oil paints, and here is a shot of one of his professional models.  I have very Minimalist tastes when it comes to images, which may be why I crop them so tightly, and I love the “less is more” message here.  Here’s what I wrote in the original post:

“There’s a lot of negative (i.e. unfilled) space in this picture, notably the large polygon between the model’s arm and flank; but also the two triangles top and bottom right, which mirror each other, as do the shadowy forearm and upper arm. This negative space is an important component of the picture.

The highlights of the picture mainly form the left hand quarter, which almost meets the illuminated upper arm at the top of the frame. There is quite a powerful feature top right where, moving outwards towards the corner, the deep shadow of the upper arm changes to highlight, and then to the dark background to the shot.”

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window.

Technique: 21/22 Aug 2007; F6 with 24-85 Nikkor lens fitted with a Hoya Softener (A) soft focus filter; Ilford Delta 3200 Professional film.

PEOPLE: PICTURE GALLERY 1 – POSTS 1-10

PEOPLE PICTURE GALLERIES

I’m currently posting images from my archive of photos of people.  As always with these archives, I’m trying to use a variety of approaches and responses to the subject.  These photos are being posted singly, with full text.

To make viewing of these images easier for those with little time to spare, I’m also posting groups of these images in galleries with minimal titles.  This is the first gallery.

Clicking onto each image will open a larger version in a separate window: doing this often enhances the image.

1: Woman in a cafe; Camborne, 2013.

2: Girl in a white dress, with side lighting; Bristol, 2012.

3: Guests laughing at a wedding reception; Surrey, 2012.

4: Boat owner; Porthleven, 2016.

5: A friend, aged two; Bristol, 2011.

6: Death of a beautiful person: George Ann Weaver, 1942-2016.

7: Lovers; St Ives, 2012.

8: In the Dida Galgalla Desert, northern Kenya; 1978.

9: Man on stairs; Newquay, 2011.

10: Friends at a wedding; near Bristol, 2011.

ARCHIVE: PEOPLE 16 – AT A PARTY, TALKING TO A WAITRESS (MONO)

Man at a party talking to a waitress, in the William Bray bar and restaurant, Shere, Surrey; 24 Mar 2012.

The background to this shot is a jumbled mass of humanity, so I’ve used SEP2 to darken everything except the two subjects.  The waitress is essential to the composition, because she is the person to whom the man is addressing his remarks.  But her face is turned away, she is only seen in extreme side face, and my gaze is drawn to the illuminated face of the man.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window.

Technique: D700 with 24-120 Nikkor lens at 120mm; 400 ISO; bounced, diffused flash; converted into mono and further manipulated in Silver Efex Pro 2.

ARCHIVE: PEOPLE 15 – HUMAN TRAGEDY

Every picture tells a story, but here the two words, suitably in pink, tell the whole story.  Clicking onto the image opens a larger version in a separate window, and helps with reading the words …  

So really, now, its just a case of whether I accept the offer of the hard-hitting assignment in social commentary photojournalism or become a lensman with Visit Bristol!

Technique:  strong stomach, almost averted gaze, and TG-5 at 25mm (equivalent); 800 ISO; Lightroom, starting at the Camera Vivid profile; south Bristol; 14 Sept 2019.

ARCHIVE: PEOPLE 14 – WOMAN WITH HER EYES CLOSED (MONO)

 

Woman with her eyes closed; 21 Aug 2007.

This is part of a much larger negative – another product, I suppose, of my tendency for getting in close!

Trying to make it at least one step removed from a straight mono photograph, I’ve reduced sharpness and introduced a digital tone.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window.

Technique: F6 with 24-85 Nikkor lens; Ilford Delta 3200 Professional black and white film rated at 3200 ISO;  scanned into digital and manipulated with Silver Efex Pro 2.

UPDATE:  well, 14 years ago, and using fast, black and white film in the last Nikon SLR, the F6.  That was a really excellent camera, but the appearance of Nikon’s D700 DSLR seemed to promise equal things and – having been a confirmed film fan – I changed to digital and have never looked back.  I am extremely grateful for the enhanced creative potential that digital provides, and astonished at the pace at which the technology has progressed, especially with regard to sensors.

ARCHIVE: STILL LIFE PICTURE GALLERY 3 – POSTS 21 – 30

I’m currently posting images from my large archive of (loosely defined!) still life photos.  These photos are being posted singly, with full text.

To make viewing of these images easier for those with little time to spare, I’m also posting groups of these images with minimal titles.  This is the third gallery – you can find the earlier galleries here: 1 2 . 

Clicking onto each image will open a larger version in a separate window: doing this often enhances the image.

21: Out in our back garden, long ago, looking up at backlit leaves and out of focus highlights in the backdrop.

22: Nightmare! – the distorted reflection of a window seen in a car’s shattered wing mirror found in a gutter; 2004.

23: Tiled roofs, Stanton Drew, near Bristol; 2013.

24: Two women ignoring a pigeon; Bristol; 2013.

25: Jackdaw with electrics; Perranporth; 2016.

26: Cloud, blasted by the sunrise, above our back garden; Bristol; 2005.

27: The King William Alehouse, a favourite watering hole; Bristol; 2019.

28: Plantain from our front garden; Bristol; 2014.

29: Morning sunlight, Christmas Steps; Bristol; 2016.

30: Looking up at sunrise, at the railway station; Bristol; 2016.

ARCHIVE: PEOPLE 13 – DOMINANT FEMALE (MONO)

Dominant female, amongst guests at a wedding reception; 17 Aug 2011.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window.

Technique: D700 with 24-120 Nikkor lens at 120mm; 1000 ISO; conversion to mono in Silver Efex Pro.

(2021) UPDATE: I certainly didn’t have this interpretation of the shot in mind when I took it, nor when it was first posted here, 10 years ago now.

The other three people present are dark, placid even – and even I can see that the jeans on the left are not “natty gents’ wedding wear” – tho maybe for “The Younger Generation” this no longer matters, which is an attitude I wholeheartedly applaud.

But the person in the right foreground is bright and smart, probably in all senses of those terms, and elegant even – and that pose is nothing if not assertive.

ARCHIVE: LOOKING AT CARS 77 – STREET SCENE (3)

A collection of disparate objects: street furniture, the relentless imagery of the mass media, and a moving vehicle  – modern life along a city’s busy roadside, just before dawn. 

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window – recommended.

Technique: Z 6 with 70-300 Nikkor lens used in APS-C format to give 450mm; 12,800 ISO; Lightroom, using the Camera Pop profile; central Bristol; 29 Nov 2019.

ARCHIVE: PEOPLE 1 – WOMAN IN A CAFE (MONO)

 

THE PEOPLE ARCHIVE: INTRO

This is the first post in a new Category on this blog, which will look at photographs of people.  To be honest and up front, I don’t see myself as a people photographer >>> LOL! >>> NEVER, EVER let me take your wedding pics! 😎😎😎 >>> but, over the decades, I have photographed quite a few of my fellow humans.

And, as is usual with these archives, I will try to present some variety, a range of approaches, from post to post.

 

Woman in a café; Camborne, Cornwall, 9 Oct 2013.

My wife was in the shops, and I was doing what I like to do – wandering around with a camera and an open, receptive mind, looking at anything and everything.  I was slowly meandering up Camborne’s main street when I saw this woman in a café on the other side of the road, chatting with a friend.

It took several paces to register fully what I’d seen, and then I slowly turned and doubled back on my tracks, adjusting the camera as I went, and turned to photograph her – only to find her looking straight at me, probably wondering what this strange and rather bulky old man was doing, cutting back on himself.

The autofocus locked on (boy, do I love autofocus!), two shots (and do I love automated wind-on too!), and I walked on, expecting every moment to feel the heavy hand of the Image Police on my shoulder – but that’s untrue of course, as in the UK, in a public place like Camborne’s main street, you can photograph as you please.

I’d thought about presenting this photo in vertical letterbox format, showing just the door, the woman and the OPEN sign.  But I’ve doubled the image’s width by including the net curtains and some other details, and I think this adds balance and context to the shot – but what do you think?

Click onto the image to open another version in a separate window – recommended.

Technique: D800 with 70-300 Nikkor lens at 300mm; 400 ISO; Silver Efex Pro 2’s High Contrast Smooth preset.