MEB Posted July 6, 2009 Share #1 Posted July 6, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) Which do you like better? I was out walking for lunch and saw this gentleman sitting near the bus stop. I asked permission to take his picture and he said sure. Everything was very polite. I went back to the office and was so happy with the extraordinary face I had captured that I showed the picture (on the M8 LCD) to my secretary and to a police officer who was waiting for some paperwork (as I have said before, I am a county prosecuting attorney and always have police all over my office). The cop took one look at the photo and said it was ****. The man had been arrested numerous times and had been to prison at least three times; at least once for armed robbery. He lost his right eye in a prison fight. The cop also told me it was very lucky for me that the man didn't recognize me as a law enforcement officer as he probably would have tried to take my head off! I think he has an extraordinary countenance and I developed it both ways. Please let me know which way you prefer: Thanks, Mark B (East Lansing, Michigan) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted July 6, 2009 Posted July 6, 2009 Hi MEB, Take a look here Color or B&W? . I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
JE Posted July 6, 2009 Share #2 Posted July 6, 2009 B&W and a lot of cropping. J Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuny Posted July 6, 2009 Share #3 Posted July 6, 2009 Mark - I like them both fairly equally, but as Jon suggests, cropping will make them both stronger. After that the tight race may go to one or the other. I do like the moment, light, contrast, detail and subject. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEB Posted July 6, 2009 Author Share #4 Posted July 6, 2009 Thank you both. I think you are correct about cropping. Here is the B&W version that I cropped quite a bit. Thanks for your help. Mark B (East Lansing, Michigan) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JE Posted July 6, 2009 Share #5 Posted July 6, 2009 Much stronger! I'd go even further and clone out that car's front end. (now I think I'm leaning toward the color version, the tones in his face would come out even more the way you've cropped this one). Jon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vdb Posted July 6, 2009 Share #6 Posted July 6, 2009 B&W for sure. Excellent portrait. I agree with a tight crop, I would even go tighter, maybe square and only face. The care and background are distracting, I would have used very shallow DOF alternatively. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEB Posted July 6, 2009 Author Share #7 Posted July 6, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) Yeah...I should have tried to limit the DOF. I didn't think it through before I took the shot. I'm not sure how open I could have gone. It was 12:30 pm and extremely bright out. This picture was, if memory is correct, 1000th second at f8 and ISO 120, and I was barely able to control the bright background. The subject was sitting in the shade. The background would have completely clipped. I should have bracketed the picture. Mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauledell Posted July 7, 2009 Share #8 Posted July 7, 2009 Mark, The cropped version is much better. Perhaps Jon's suggestion of cloning the car out of the picture is also good. As far as b&w vs color, I defer to the photographer, its your decision. Either way, it is great. Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhotoArchival Posted July 7, 2009 Share #9 Posted July 7, 2009 Forget the crop, doesn't do much for me to 'better' the image, imo. Think maybe you could have gotten closer with a second or third shot...Seems you were fishing here. You got yourself permission, why not get one closer as well of the 'extraordinary' face. Would have solved your car issue and dof. With kind regards, Amado Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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