The Dirty Grind

[runnah]

Guy grinding a pipe, in a dark setting. Too processed?


grinder by runnah555, on Flickr

 

[amolitor]

Not at all, I think this is terrific.

Yeah, it's heavily processed, sorta duotone, sorta gritty, sorta industrial. Totally all works with the subject matter. This reminds me of "Time" at its peak.

 

[DarkShadow]

I think its great as well.The sparks from grinding is really neat.Good capture.

 

[leeroix]

^ me likey too... Maybe a little adjustment on his mask? I'd like to see more of the tinted shield

 

[timor]

It's a solid picture. Processing is only a tool to get the "message" out and who cares what you did with the starting material. Photography is a funny thing as we record the real world and then present it in less real way, the way we feel it.
I don't know, how important is for you this bright rod sticking out from the worker elbows upwards, but I would rather get rid of that, it does nothing for the picture, it's only a distraction in quite synthetic presentation.

 

[kathyt]

I like it runnah. The dramatic processing really fits the image.

 

[runnah]

It's a solid picture. Processing is only a tool to get the "message" out and who cares what you did with the starting material. Photography is a funny thing as we record the real world and then present it in less real way, the way we feel it.
I don't know, how important is for you this bright rod sticking out from the worker elbows upwards, but I would rather get rid of that, it does nothing for the picture, it's only a distraction in quite synthetic presentation.

Good catch.

Yeah I always feel like I am cheating slightly be spending so much time after the fact. But I got a million properly lit full color versions of this guy so I felt going a different direction would be fun.

 

[jwbryson1]

I like this. I also like the tight crop. It sorta adds a degree of claustrophobia to the image which I imagine the guy feels when wearing the mask/helmet thing.

 

[runnah]

I like this. I also like the tight crop. It sorta adds a degree of claustrophobia to the image which I imagine the guy feels when wearing the mask/helmet thing.

Thanks. Actually it was in a small area the size of a closet. So yeah it was very cramped.

 

[KenC]

Works really well. I like the tight crop and contrast. I agree with timor about the rod - probably even better without it.

 

[amolitor]

I thought about the vertical rod, and decided I liked it.

It's a single element of context. It's like a one-stroke nod to the idea of "this is not a worker floating in space" but a worker grinding away at something that's somewhere. I am pretty sure that if you clone it out, the feel of the image will be quite different, and not as good. Possibly some OTHER single graphical element could exist to provide the same grounding effect but the reality is that there wasn't one, and this is it.

You could draw in something else, I guess.

Or fool with the tonality of the vertical rod, to separate it from the figure a bit.

 

[runnah]

I thought about the vertical rod, and decided I liked it.

It's a single element of context. It's like a one-stroke nod to the idea of "this is not a worker floating in space" but a worker grinding away at something that's somewhere. I am pretty sure that if you clone it out, the feel of the image will be quite different, and not as good. Possibly some OTHER single graphical element could exist to provide the same grounding effect but the reality is that there wasn't one, and this is it.

You could draw in something else, I guess.

Or fool with the tonality of the vertical rod, to separate it from the figure a bit.

Yeah it's going to be tough to make it dynamic since it is a galvanized pipe on a flat black wall.

 

[Derrel]

Desperately needs fill or accent lighting.

 

[runnah]

Desperately needs fill or accent lighting.

For technical or artistic reasons?

I have some where I used a soft box to fill in to counteract the bright sparks. But I've taken so many of those that I wanted to try something different.

 

[sleist]

Reminds me a little of a Big Daddy for some reason.

I say lose the vertical rod and dodge around the helmet a bit (but not much).
Either way, nice shot.