Limping in the Rain

[Black_Square]

I had been out all day pounding the streets of Bristol looking for a photo opportunity but as is so often the case, wasn't having much luck. Then, on top of everything it started raining. So, i started to head home when I spotted this guy walking through the street, begging for money. He'd hurt is leg which was all crudely bandaged and wrapped in plastic bags, and as he hobbled through the street, the crowds of people parted to avoid having to make contact. It was a pretty desperate scene. I went over, had a chat with him and bought him coffee and sandwich.

It took me all of 30 seconds to blast off a series of shots, whilst trying to make sure my beloved 80mm didnt get wet. It didnt.

Thanks,

 

[jcdeboever]

Exceptional. Man your good!

 

[smoke665]

I do like your work, went to your website earlier, you are a master of the macabre for sure!! As a print I suspect this would appear slightly brighter, but on my screen I could use just a tiny bit brighter overall. Still it's a great image.

 

[Black_Square]

Thank you for the comments. @smoke665 I'll check the brightness tomorrow. You might be right. I have an irritating habit of editing in the dark which often results in my images being slightly under exposed.

 

[Gary A.]

Firstly, Well Done! Secondly, I know these are not all random people and you often get to know them prior to capturing their image. Is there a background story for this one?

 

[enezdez]

Exceptional, I love it albeit I am sure there is a very sad story behind his eyes!

 

[DanOstergren]

Love the lighting and the expression; together they create an incredibly evocative feeling, almost like you captured a quick moment of making eye contact with a stranger before looking away.

I wish there was some light to separate his chin from his neck though; as it is, his chin just melts away into his neck and I think some separation would help this shot by giving more structure to the bottom of his face. I love that the light sculpts his cheeks, but I think it's important to also use light to sculpt details like the jaw structure as well, even in a portrait that isn't a beauty shot.

 

[Derrel]

Echoing Dan O.'s comments...yes, some more separation in the lower tonal values would strengthen this image...it's just a bit too dark...but then again, you say you have a habit of editing your images while sitting in a darkened room, which is perhaps not the best standard method for editing images.

 

[Black_Square]

Firstly, Well Done! Secondly, I know these are not all random people and you often get to know them prior to capturing their image. Is there a background story for this one?

Thanks Gary. I've added a little explanation of the circumstances behind the shot at the top of the page.

Exceptional, I love it albeit I am sure there is a very sad story behind his eyes!

Thank you, and yes, there is a sad stort - see above

Love the lighting and the expression; together they create an incredibly evocative feeling, almost like you captured a quick moment of making eye contact with a stranger before looking away.

I wish there was some light to separate his chin from his neck though; as it is, his chin just melts away into his neck and I think some separation would help this shot by giving more structure to the bottom of his face. I love that the light sculpts his cheeks, but I think it's important to also use light to sculpt details like the jaw structure as well, even in a portrait that isn't a beauty shot.

Thanks Dan. You're totally correct about the chin. I've brightened the neck a bit as well as the face generally which i thinks helps the seperation (the grey hairs on the chin also help i think).

Echoing Dan O.'s comments...yes, some more separation in the lower tonal values would strengthen this image...it's just a bit too dark...but then again, you say you have a habit of editing your images while sitting in a darkened room, which is perhaps not the best standard method for editing images.

Thanks Derrel - I dont know what it is but i just love working in the dark. I think in future i will do a 'day light sanity test' of the image to make sure the exposure is correct and to also prove I'm not a vampire.

 

[BrentC]

Thank you for the comments. @smoke665 I'll check the brightness tomorrow. You might be right. I have an irritating habit of editing in the dark which often results in my images being slightly under exposed.

Awesome image as always. You can always do a calibration of your monitor in the dark that you like. I have two profiles that I use for daytime in a lighted room and for night which I also like to edit in the dark. It's just a matter of remembering to switch profiles, which I admit to forgetting often.

 

[Black_Square]

With the naked eye, I see various errors in your editing.
Forehead, under both eyes and even in the left eye, there are parts of different layers that do not fit well.
Hair on/under the right eye are cut off because of a layer and in some way even the raindrops appear manipulated, especially around the shoulder party.
Check the areas I've marked.
View attachment 148247

Thanks for the feedback. I have checked the layers and the image as posted is correct. The lines on the forehead, below the eye and the hair are all accurate. There is no layer interference.

Thank you for the comments. @smoke665 I'll check the brightness tomorrow. You might be right. I have an irritating habit of editing in the dark which often results in my images being slightly under exposed.

Awesome image as always. You can always do a calibration of your monitor in the dark that you like. I have two profiles that I use for daytime in a lighted room and for night which I also like to edit in the dark. It's just a matter of remembering to switch profiles, which I admit to forgetting often.

Brent, that's a great idea. I'm going to give that a whirl. Thanks

 

[Black_Square]

Thanks for the feedback. I have checked the layers and the image as posted is correct. The lines on the forehead, below the eye and the hair are all accurate. There is no layer interference.

I really have to laugh, you're quite an arrogant person, I notice.
With all good intentions, I point to some editing errors that you've made and every one clearly will see if that image is enlarged, but suit yourself. Fortunately, it's not my image
Success.

So, let me get this right. You highlight what you think are editing errors in the image, despite not having had sight of the original image. I thank you for your feedback, and after checking the original, confirm that what you have highlighted are not editing errors. Following which you call me arrogant.

I'm the only person who knows what the original image looks like, but despite that, you seem to know more about the editing than me - and you're calling me arrogant??

I don't post my raw files, and I don't intend to start doing that just because of you. But what i will do, is post sections of the image. So, here we go:

Unedited - you can see that all of the brow lines are jagged which is caused by a scar.

Unedited - hair under the right eye is not cut off. It's just like that.

Unedited - the line under the eye are naturally jagged.

@DanOstergren and @smoke665 made comments about the image, which i took on board and which resulted in me re-editing the image slightly. So, despite what you think, I do take seriously people's comments and critiques, although only when they are well founded.

Oh, by the way, I do not give you permission to re-post any of my work on this forum or anywhere else for that matter.

Still laughing?

 

[rexbobcat]

The rain looks kind of...odd...since rain typically doesn't show up on camera very well, but other than that, I do like the melancholy sort of vibe that the portrait gives off.

 

[Derrel]

The rain looks kind of...odd...since rain typically doesn't show up on camera very well, but other than that, I do like the melancholy sort of vibe that the portrait gives off.

Getting rain to show up on-camera can be tricky. Back- or side-lighting can really help it to show up, especially is the background behind the rain is dark or dark-ish. Also, the exposure give to the rain makes a HUGE difference in how it shows up: also, the sixe of the rain drops, and the frequency/spacing of the drops is a factor.

My experience in rain is that if the shutter speed is slowish, like 1/30 second or so, the rain can be rendered as long streaks. At 1//90 to around 1/160, rain often looks pretty good. At faster speeds, like 1/250 to 1/500, rain often looks like 1-inch-long "blips"....at even-faster speeds, it looks like teeny-tiny drops...

In my area, rain is best photographed in the springtime, during showery/sunny periods. In this shot, the rain looks very thin and thread-like; a much slower exposure time would possibly have made the rain look a bit "thicker", more intense.

 

[Black_Square]

The rain looks kind of...odd...since rain typically doesn't show up on camera very well, but other than that, I do like the melancholy sort of vibe that the portrait gives off.

The rain looks kind of...odd...since rain typically doesn't show up on camera very well, but other than that, I do like the melancholy sort of vibe that the portrait gives off.

Getting rain to show up on-camera can be tricky. Back- or side-lighting can really help it to show up, especially is the background behind the rain is dark or dark-ish. Also, the exposure give to the rain makes a HUGE difference in how it shows up: also, the sixe of the rain drops, and the frequency/spacing of the drops is a factor.

My experience in rain is that if the shutter speed is slowish, like 1/30 second or so, the rain can be rendered as long streaks. At 1//90 to around 1/160, rain often looks pretty good. At faster speeds, like 1/250 to 1/500, rain often looks like 1-inch-long "blips"....at even-faster speeds, it looks like teeny-tiny drops...

In my area, rain is best photographed in the springtime, during showery/sunny periods. In this shot, the rain looks very thin and thread-like; a much slower exposure time would possibly have made the rain look a bit "thicker", more intense.

Thanks for the feedback guys. The rain that day was really drizzly and very fine. From memory I was shooting at c. 1/125 so you're kind of getting a little bit of visibility but not as much as I would have liked. I'll admit, the situation wasn't helped by shooting with the D810. Anything below 1/100 and it is really susceptible to camera shake. It's an unforgiving bit of kit to use on the street!