The Veterans Portrait Project - Live from Normandy!

tirediron · Jun 8, 2019

Without a doubt the most special portrait in the entire project! Gunner (Ret'd) Russell Kaye, 12 Fld Reg't, Royal Canadian Artillery. Gunner Kaye, now 95, landed on Juno Beach 6th June, 1944 and is one the few surviving 'first wave' Canadians to do so. He accompanied the Battlefield Bike Ride over its seven day, 600km journey from Dieppe to Juno Beach and has a fascinating repertoire of stories about his service. Russell, who enlisted 'HO' (Hostilities Only) in 1943 mustered out of the service in late 1945, and then re-enlisted a couple of years later, fought in Korea, and went to serve 20+ years in the Canadian Army. As those of you who follow along will notice, this is a huge departure from my normal Veteran's Portrait Project style, and there's a good reason for that. I had literally only a couple of minutes to shoot this for a variety of reasons, not the least of which, this was at the end of a very long day, had no equipment other than a small 5 in 1 that the video guy happened to have. It is shot in the Canadian war cemetery of Beny-Sur-Mer, just a few kilometers from Juno Beach.

This image is not yet complete, and to that end, any suggestions for enhancements/improvements would be appreciated.

Granddad · Jun 8, 2019

Welcome to Europe. In the circumstances this is probably the most evocative images of the series.

He looks remarkably young and fit for 95!

tirediron · Jun 8, 2019

He is, he kept up with us all week, got up at 4.00am to make it to the beach ahead of the security closures and never complained once. I can only hope to be half that good when I'm 75!

Tropicalmemories · Jun 8, 2019

Impressive Gentleman - and I like the natural looking portrait as it is.

Jeff15 · Jun 8, 2019

Nice shot but what can we all say, thank you never seems enough.....

smoke665 · Jun 8, 2019

You know, I'm not sure I'd do much to this, maybe dodge/brighten the eyes just a tad, but even that may not be necessary. Sometimes photographers have a tendency to want to improve on images that are already perfect. IMO such is the case here. Well done!

tirediron · Jun 9, 2019

Tropicalmemories said:
Impressive Gentleman - and I like the natural looking portrait as it is.

Thank-you! Yes, he definitely is!

Jeff15 said:
Nice shot but what can we all say, thank you never seems enough.....

No, it doesn't. Try and remember what he and tens of thousands of others did for us, and make sure no one has to do that ever again!

smoke665 said:
You know, I'm not sure I'd do much to this, maybe dodge/brighten the eyes just a tad, but even that may not be necessary. Sometimes photographers have a tendency to want to improve on images that are already perfect. IMO such is the case here. Well done!

Wow... thanks! When I said "not finished" it was more in the nature of fairly minor points. As far as the eyes, he was wearing photo-chromatic lenses, so I've already taken them from near black to what they are....

smoke665 · Jun 9, 2019

tirediron said:
he was wearing photo-chromatic lenses, so I've already taken them from near black to what they a

That makes it really difficult, even if you manage to lighten the eyes, the glass makes the details really soft. Might be best to go with what you have.

Ysarex · Jun 9, 2019

Burn down the hands a bit and dodge the eyes ever so lightly.

Joe

tirediron · Jun 9, 2019

Ysarex said:
Burn down the hands a bit and dodge the eyes ever so lightly.

Joe

The hands need work, but unfortunately due to the glasses he was wearing, I don't think the eyes will get any better.

oldhippy · Jun 10, 2019

Wonderful, the shot and you. You are one dedicated guy. Ed

tirediron · Jun 10, 2019

oldhippy said:
Wonderful, the shot and you. You are one dedicated guy. Ed

Wow, thank-you, Ed!

FITBMX · Jun 12, 2019

I saw the photo and thought I miss read something and you weren't talking about WW2, he just didn't look old enough. So that is great he still does so well!

It is a really nice photo. Good job avoiding a shadow from his hat!