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Canon DSLR Challenge | all galleries >> Challenge 69: Greyscale (host: Jim Harrison) >> Eligible > In His Own World
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04-JUN-2006 Lonnit Rysher

In His Own World

Queens, NY

Canon EOS 5D ,Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM
1/180s f/2.8 at 70.0mm iso200 hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time04-Jun-2006 17:05:05
MakeCanon
ModelCanon EOS 5D
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length70 mm
Exposure Time1/180 sec
Aperturef/2.8
ISO Equivalent200
Exposure Bias
White Balance (-1)
Metering Modematrix (5)
JPEG Quality (6)
Exposure Programaperture priority (3)
Focus Distance

other sizes: small medium original auto
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Canon DSLR Challenge08-Jun-2006 14:26
LOL! Something seems to have suffered in translation there! ~ Lonnit
Canon DSLR Challenge07-Jun-2006 22:21
So what you're saying is that you're doing your drive by shootings in a low rider. -- Victor
Canon DSLR Challenge06-Jun-2006 22:11
Brent, actually, according to your own personal perspective, I'm actually being incredibly respectful of my subjects b/c I am neither looking down upon them, nor looking across to them, indeed, I am looking up at them! When I'm sitting in a car, I'm sitting low. When I am standing, I'm virtually always wearing heels, and that puts me at over 6' tall. If you look at the vantage point of this image, I am so low that I'm probably about his knee height! Look at the step he is sitting on, you can barely see its surface b/c I'm so low. Had I been standing, I would absolutely, literally and figuratively, been looking down on him. I wasn't in some tourist bus, high above them all, I was sitting a mere foot or two off the ground. As for the other shot of the man in the window, there's no doubt I was looking up at him - and by his expression, I'd say, again literally and figuratively, he was no doubtedly looking down on me.

Thanks for some great discussion Brent! Good stuff. :) ~ Lonnit
ctfchallenge06-Jun-2006 18:30
This exploitation factor is not that big a deal in this situation Lonnit. I suppose maybe I look at drive-by shooting in a potentially tough neighborhood as looking down on to get your image and walking around and mixing more with the elements as looking across to get your image. You are often taking away a part of someone when you capture their image and somehow looking across instead of down seems more respectful to me. What you have shot I don’t personally view as extreme exploitation by any means :-)
-Brent
Canon DSLR Challenge06-Jun-2006 17:57
You nailed it, Lonnit. In GENERAL, I don't like tilts. I've created my own, however, for various reasons. I think if there is no element in the picture that indicates unequivocal verticality (like the walls in your photo), then I'm more amenable to tilts. -- Victor
Canon DSLR Challenge06-Jun-2006 17:43
Victor, LOL! Funny timing. How do you feel about tilts in general? I do sometimes find that they are gimmicky looking as well. Often it seems that way in wedding shots. Usually, though, in those cases, I find that the image just isn't all that well composed. If an image is composed well, I've usually no problem with a tilt. ~ Lonnit
Canon DSLR Challenge06-Jun-2006 17:39
Brent, I don't understand what's exploitive about it. I love to ride around all different neighborhoods - and take the children - to see how other people live. It's the same reason I live where I do - where my chldren go to school with people from all over the world, and be exposed to all different cultures and lifestyles. We take drives thru neighborhoods both rich and poor, and especially enjoy the flavor of a neighborhood dominated by people from one particular region of the world or another. It's almost like being able to visit another country without having to get on an airplane. :) Before my kids were on restricted diets, we'd also grab some food, or jump into a bakery, and enjoy the tastes they have to offer. That's not exploitation, it's education. :)

I really don't think the images would have any different feel if I were walking as opposed to driving. You can't cover much ground walking, anyway. It's also not even about being a target as much as it is that I would become obvious and then people would be reacting to me, not being themselves in their environment. I've just no way to conceal a 5D with a huge lens! LOL!

Getting back to the wealthy neighborhoods, I do, and there's virtually nobody to shoot - they don't hang out in the streets. If they're outside, they're generally in their backyard, behind fences. I shoot the architecture there but I rarely, if ever, get a shot of a person. I did, however, just think of a strip that would be good to shoot in a well-to-do neighborhood. I'll have to go do that one too. Thanks for the inspiration. :) ~ Lonnit
Canon DSLR Challenge06-Jun-2006 06:02
Lonnit,
I may not have explained well how I feel about this image in my previous post. The style of shooting is not so much of an issue and I apologize for any confusion. This series of photos is too much about exploitation to me. I was left with the same feeling I would have seeing photos from a rich tourist traveling around Sudan in an air conditioned Land Rover and snapping pictures out the window of people in the villages. It would be so much more moving to me if I felt you were mixing in the same element as your subject. These photos feel more like an outsider looking in. Instead of the title "In His World", to me it looks more like it should be "Out of Ones Element".
I understand your concerns about carrying an expensive camera around and being a target. I have been in some neighborhoods where my camera could be a target too and I kept my camera under my coat when not shooting and used a messenger bag instead of a fancy camera bag that screams steal me. I know as a woman you have more concerns for personal safely than I do, and don’t suggest you tow your kids around in risky situations. If all these are too much of an obstacle for you, why not drive around wealthy neighborhoods and take candid shots of those people. I think it might prove to be a fascinating study.
I hope it doesn’t seem as though I have singled you out, as most of my comments tend to be positive. I have also chimed in this way now and then over things like images of distressed homeless people too.
I hope to see more of your street scenes in the future Lonnit.
-Brent
Canon DSLR Challenge06-Jun-2006 05:41
I didn't miss it, Lonnit. I read it right after I posted. I know it looks like you posted 10 minutes before I did, but during that time, I was experimenting with how to adjust for the bright spot at the center of the image. Your explanation makes perfect sense, but it wasn't posted when I started typing.

And I also noticed your compositional elements. It just feels gimmicky to me. I wouldn't have said that if it didn't look like there was some attempt to follow compositional rules. -- Victor
Canon DSLR Challenge06-Jun-2006 04:38
Thanks, Lee.

Thank you Traveller, for appreciating what went into this shot. I love that you notice my attention to details. Yes, the exiting of the column, and, if you look, the puddle exiting the lower left corner, along with the street's curb and the curb he's sitting on, all exit the right side on the upper and lower line of thirds, the area that encompases our subject and his scooter are precisely at the upper right interesection of thirds, and also, the line where the shadow meets the sidewalk, exits the image on the left side at the lower thirds line. All this tweaked by my slight shaving off of the bottom and left sides of the image to IMO, perfect the composition. But, apparently, this attention to detail is impossible unless one looks thru the viewfinder. LOL! ;) Under these shooting conditions, I have to rely on the skills I've developed when looking thru the viewfinder. I get obsessive about composing. I felt great that I hardly had to adjust the composition with the slight crop. I feel like I've done my homework and now it's paying off. :)

Brent, Many, many street shooter use the technique of hiding the camera and not looking thru the lens, to catch people off guard. As for walking, I wasn't all that comfortable about strolling around with $5,000.00 hanging off my neck, plus I had the kids with me. I would not have been able to compose better on foot - my preferred angle of view was from the street with the storefronts behind the people. I would have been very obvious to my subjects. I arranged the camera on my lap, setting the focal distance I wanted, to capture the storefronts. This was the only one I swung the camera backwards for. I don't know, I think I did a pretyt darn good job with composition on this; my subject is exactly where I would have put him if I was looking thru the viewfinder. Some I was, some I wasn't. I was always checking my settings though. You get a feel for where the camera is aimed. As for the tilt, I'm known to tilt when I'm looking too. I knew the camera was tilted, it wasn't an accident. I gave all the thought to composition that I needed - I nailed the picture just the way I wanted it. Getting what you want without looking thru the viewfinder takes way more skill than getting it while looking. I just don't know how looking thru the viewfinder = more effort. This was not a physically comfortable way to shoot - working fast in an uncomfotable position and I got the result I was after. This was a very challenging day of shooting - probably my toughest conditions yet! I also had to keep up with the changing light. Go, give it a whirl, and then try to tell me I took some willy-nilly easy way out! There was nothing random or easy about any of it.

Thanks, Dorys. :)

Cat, I'll play around with removing the lighter area and see how I like it. :)

Victor, No, I was not driving. :) I think you missed the part where I explained that the lighting was uneven b/c of the overhead railroad tracks. The lens is a beauty and doesn't give hot spots like this. :) I can easily bring down the highlight, but I'm not sure yet that I want to yet. ~ Lonnit
ctfchallenge06-Jun-2006 02:40
Wonderful moment captured.
theFly
Canon DSLR Challenge06-Jun-2006 02:17
Dear Lonnit: I'm with Dorys on this. I like the composition, especially the way the point on the left column exits the photo in just the right way...Street photography is not easy and too much formalism can lose its essence, imho. Nicely done. Best Wishes, Traveller
ctfchallenge05-Jun-2006 22:40
Sorry Lonnit, but with this whole series of drive-by scenes you've done I can't help but wonder why you didn't park the car and walk around where you could compose them better? You can cover more ground in a car and not get your feet wet or dirty, but the bulk of what you take won't be very good. Some may think this looks arty in the way Lomography does, but true artful talent would be getting that kind of look with real thought to composition- don't you think?
I do appreciate the kind of shots you are trying to get, but for me anyway; more effort needs to go into the process.
-Brent
Guest 05-Jun-2006 20:55
I may be on my own here but I like the composition the way it is. I like the tilt, I like the light. Whether on purpose or not it works for me on this photograph.
ctfchallenge05-Jun-2006 18:36
Victor, I use this lens and love it. Its an excellent lens. No vignetting at any apparture that I know of. That's why I was thinking of the lighting conditions. Thanks for sharing the trick for removing it. Something new to learn and try out some times. Lonnit, I get the idea about the light, thanks. I think, there is already a lot going on in this photo. Not sure I agree with the added tension part IMO. -Cat
Canon DSLR Challenge05-Jun-2006 18:00
Lonnit,

I presume you were not driving. Your description and the picture seem to indicate you were doing your drive-by shooting from the passenger seat. Cat, I see what you're talking about. Is this a feature of the lens used? I've heard good things about the lens but don't own one myself. Looks like a hot spot in the middle. I tried using a simple levels adjustment on a selection defined by a circle centered and feathered by 100 pixels. This largely eliminated the hotspot. I agree, if the hotspot is in the picture, it ought to be centered on the man, but I think I'd rather it not be there at all. -- Victor
Canon DSLR Challenge05-Jun-2006 17:50
Cat, this was taken under the El. With the tracks overhead, the lighting was in patterns on the buildings and ground. Yes, "Dave" does seem to be competing with the guy. OTOH, to me, this is another of those "lost in the crowd" kind of images I like. There's all this chaos of graffiti all around him, yet he's oblivious to all but his music. So, I felt there was added tension to an image that might otherwise be too calm. Thanks! ~ Lonnit
ctfchallenge05-Jun-2006 17:35
Lonnit, Good observation and a good comp. If you have added the gradient later in PS, its not working for me, since the central portion of the photo gets all the attention, and the subject is sidelined. If the gradient is natural, (which I think is the case here) there is not much that can be done to correct it. May be one can give it a shot. -Cat
Canon DSLR Challenge05-Jun-2006 16:00
Thanks for all the comments. :) As for the tilt, we were driving around the neighborhood and shooting was extremely difficult. I didn't want to stop the car and be so obvious. Everything was a grab shot - I'd see my shot only as I was on top of it, so I couldn't even look thru the viewfinder. I held the camera up, so it was over the ledge of the car window, and propped my elbow on my leg. This was the only way to get myself a split second to see what was coming up before shooting. 95% were missed shots. You've got to be so fast to see a shot and click. This one happened to be that we were stopped at a light. We were past the guy, so I just stuck the camera out the window, aimed it backwards, and hoped for the best. This was the keeper of the two I got of him. I knew there'd be a tilt and a poor composition, and the best I was hoping for was just to get the guy somewhere in the frame! LOL! This is how it was captured, I only shaved a tiny bit off the bottom and left. :)

Lonnit
Canon DSLR Challenge05-Jun-2006 13:32
Very nice picture, but I don't like the tilt. It looks gimmicky. -- Victor
alexeig05-Jun-2006 09:50
Very nice capture of this world of graffitti
Guest 05-Jun-2006 05:54
Nicely done, Lonnit. The strong use of the reflection is excellent and adds so much to the image. -Michael