Serious Contemplation

[smoke665]

Had the chance to visit this past week with my Father In Law, a 96 years young veteran of WWII. Despite being legally blind and a bit slow in walking, this is still one tough old bird. 3 years ago he tripped and fell neck first into a steel bench, breaking his neck and crushing his larynx. They really didn't give him much of a chance because of his age, but he proved them wrong. It's hard for him to talk above a whisper, which makes it difficult for a man who's always been quick of wit, with a story to share. I went with a desaturated gritty approach embracing the noise as a reflection of the man. Natural light from window. F/5.6, 105 mm, 1/80, ISO 6400. C&C appreciated.
no-image-available-grid.jpg by William Raber, on Flickr

 

[CherylL]

Tough at 96! I like the portrait, but on the fence about the desaturation.

 

[smoke665]

Tough at 96! I like the portrait, but on the fence about the desaturation.

Unfortunately the aging process created a patchwork of age spots of various color. I could have worked the skin but then I might have lost the texture. So I took the easy route.

 

[jcdeboever]

Amazing

 

[smoke665]

Amazing

Thank you!

 

[tirediron]

Looks like he'd be good fun to sit and have a beer with. I like the image, but as Cheryl said... ehhhhh on the desaturation. I would rather see the natural skin, spots and all. He's 96, he's earned them!

 

[smoke665]

Looks like he'd be good fun to sit and have a beer with. I like the image, but as Cheryl said... ehhhhh on the desaturation. I would rather see the natural skin, spots and all. He's 96, he's earned them!

Point noted. I tried it original, and a B&W, neither which seemed to have look I was after. May go back and try adding back a touch more color.

 

[Jeff15]

Good shot......

 

[wannabe photographer]

Very nice

 

[smoke665]

Good shot......

Very nice

Thank you for looking and commenting.

 

[birdbonkers84]

I like the perspective, hows he look in B&W? has some lovely character and shadowing on his face.

 

[smoke665]

I like the perspective, hows he look in B&W? has some lovely character and shadowing on his face.

Thank you. The B&W for lack of a better term, just looked bland. The shot was in a nursing home room, with overhead florescent lighting, the walls were a pale yellow, a typical hospital style bed on the left, and various and sundry signs/fixtures on the wall behind him. Not a lot of room to move around, especially with several other family members there as well.

 

[waday]

The B&W for lack of a better term, just looked bland.

I might have gone a touch overboard with processing (did it quickly on my phone), but you could probably get some good contrast in there in the B&W to make it look a bit more interesting if you found it bland in B&W.

 

[smoke665]

@waday tried several different versions of B&W some of which weren't bad. It was tough choice for me between the two. One thing I've noticed is the version I have in Lr, has more color in it then the version that shows here/on Flickr. Not sure why that's happening. Overall I prefer it still to the B&W, as it shows his steel blue eyes. Thanks for the edit though.

 

[Gary A.]

A very nice portrait. Well done.