3rd Place. Pier and Surfer by Bruce Jones by ctfchallenge

ctfchallenge | all galleries >> Challenge 178 - Candid Shots >> Challenge 178 - Exhibition > 3rd Place. Pier and Surfer by Bruce Jones

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27-JAN-2009	Bruce Jones

3rd Place. Pier and Surfer by Bruce Jones

Jacksonville Beach, FL

Sony DSLR-A700 ,Minolta AF 100-400 f/4.5-6.7 APO
1/320s f/8.0 at 200.0mm iso800 hide exif

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Date/Time	29-Jan-2009 11:15:09
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ctfchallenge		02-Feb-2009 22:12
Kiki, what I actually said was, "Did the surfer pose for this? I think not. Candid. For sure." My point was that there are two kinds of photos, Posed and Candid. Since this one was not posed... it must be candid. smile ~Lydia

Rod		02-Feb-2009 06:32
Bleeding L you lot are off the planet, you wax on about Bwuces fantastic photography when the original looks rubbish for a candid picy because of the fog. So he creates something in Photoshop so you call him the great photographer instead of the great Photoshopper, there's a big difference. Bruce has a great eye but you use the light that's there to create a picy as a photographer & polish it in PP. Creating what isn't there in PP isn't photography. Sorry about that scrap bookers. I knew that fog looked strange, you naughty boy Bwuce:-)

ctfchallenge		02-Feb-2009 06:27
dt: I'm not struggling with the photo. It's excellent. Exquisite. It just happens to blast light-years beyond the candid league. It is Something Completely Different. The composition so formally correct that it easily qualifies as a classic. In the classics genre. Labeling this as a candid is like calling Don Corleone a pickpocket, if you'll excuse the comparison. I'm not sure Bruce realize his own greatness. -k2

ctfchallenge		02-Feb-2009 06:17
Lydia: You very first comment to this picture was "Did the surfer pose for this?" ;) I suspect you're seduced to pieces by the very impressive natural-frames-effects here. -k2

ctfchallenge		02-Feb-2009 06:06
Dear Mr. Provenzano, Thank you for your thoughts regarding my humble person, but I assure you there is no reason to worry. I am also pleased to reveal that I share your concern for you employers well-being, as well as for his artwork. I consider Mr. Jones a great man and artist, and his integrity is worth a great deal to me. I find it outright painful when finding his eminent imagery in the wrong hands or places. I am confident that you, as a man of honor, share that feeling, and will communicate my intent to also in the future, contribute to the safety of Mr. Jones' artwork. -k2

Canon DSLR Challenge		02-Feb-2009 04:37
I don't think I can explain why these two photos of Bruce are NOT candid better then this was done by KiKi. On other site, as a host I feel myself responsible for all what happens in this challenge and as a man I think it is my duty to protect our femaile co-challengers :-) So - I'm taking the full resposibility for these words and if somebody has to be chased down - please do this to me ! Konstantin

ctfchallenge		02-Feb-2009 02:28
LOL @ Carmine Provenzano! Yes, we wouldn't want Kiki sleeping with the fishes. ;^) -dtallakson

ctfchallenge		02-Feb-2009 02:26
YES, Carole!!! Exactly what I think. Thank you. grin ~Lydia

Guest		01-Feb-2009 23:08
Dear Ms. Kiki, I think that it would be a very unfortunate thing if something should happen to you because somebody felt that you were being unfair to a certain Mr. Jones. It would be a tragedy. I urge you to moderate your comments in his general direction. Mr. Jones is my employer, and while he is a very understanding man, he is very, very sensitive about his photography. Capisce? -- Carmine Provenzano

ctfchallenge		01-Feb-2009 21:59
I better find an other battleground before Bruce decides to chase me down and do stuff to my kneecaps lol But rest assured.. I am NOT trying to send anything to pending, and Konstantin has promised not to do so already. I just find the topic - and interpretations - interesting. And I talk too much ;) -k2

ctfchallenge		01-Feb-2009 20:53
It really amuses me that we all can see the same picture and interpret it entirely differently! To me this looks nothing like a posed shot. Again Bruce was in a beautiful foggy spot and the surfer walked into his view and he spontaneously took the picture. So, did he frame it? Sure, just like the wedding photographer or someone at a surprise birthday party would try to frame the shot to catch that special moment in time. The topic wasn't "street photography" and wasn't even "candid up-close portrait". "Any" shot of people that was not posed was to be considered on-topic. Just because Bruce takes extraordinarily beautiful and atmospheric candid pictures and has more space around his subjects shouldn't mean they are off-topic as they certainly comply with the originally set out rules in the challenge topic. Anyway, Konstantin said nothing was going to pending so this is a moot point and the voters will decide if they like this interpretation of a candid "spy" type shot. :-) CJ

ctfchallenge		01-Feb-2009 20:12
It's very good - and there's absolutely nothing candid about it. If this is a candid, then every photo on this planet is a candid. In particular scenery shots. And complex shots of constructions. And any shot with a person in it somewhere. A definition that broad would eradicate the candid genre as such. Hah! -k2

Guest		01-Feb-2009 19:45
To me, this is a wonderful, candid photo. I think people are struggling with it because it is so GOOD! Congratulations Bruce! And, congratulations on the great PP, too. I'm sure glad you posted the original so that we can all see that sometimes Photoshop plays an important role in bringing out the best in a photograph.-dtallakson

ctfchallenge		01-Feb-2009 19:11
Since Bruce's composition is so good, it's not a candid? So, if Bruce had not done such a good job with his candid it would be more candid and then qualify? How does this make sense? ~Lydia

ctfchallenge		01-Feb-2009 16:00
I didn't mean bringing a camera in the first place is an unacceptable level of premeditation. But a candid should not look choreographed. If you bring a camera to a birthday party, you only half know the scheme of things. What happens when people yell SURPRISE will most likely qualify as a candid, because you can't predict the expressions you'll capture that next split second: Who dropped their cake or jaws in surprise etc. The yell is likely to trigger series of sincere reactions. This picture, otoh, looks premeditated and choreographed almost down to the last pixel. It looks like a willed picture. Like you were in full control over how it came out. All looks very deliberate, there's nothing random about it. One quick definition of a candid is "An unposed informal photograph." But the environment here is obviously chosen with care. Scenery, angles and viewport are not haphazard: You've made it "pose" for you. This is an exquisite composition. The guy who walks into the "frame" is captured just as the surfboard was completely visible, where he fits pretty well in a rule of threes grid. Doesn't look random either. For all I know he was standing there on one leg for an hour :P Last but not least: He's "tiny", and covers very little of the picture surface. I can't see the facial treats well. So the human element here becomes a prop, well located, adding interest to the picture. But the image as a whole is about architecture and scenery . In the "runners" picture I mentioned that it would be closer to a candid if something happened in it, but it would have to be something unexpected. The characters there are even further away than in this picture. If one of them stumbled and you captured that, it would be closer to qualify as a candid. Not meaning much has to happen in a "real" candid - they can be extremely trivial. Someone yawning, for that matter. Anyway.. to make myself perfectly clear: I love this picture. -k2

Bruce T Jones		01-Feb-2009 12:28
Thanks K2 (and thanks for the tip about my pics being ripped off). Anyway, why can't a candid shot be premeditated? That's like saying a photo of someone at their surprise birthday party -- at the moment when everyone yells "Surprise!!!" -- is not a candid. That doesn't make any sense. Candid is not about the photographer. It's about the subject. And . . . not to beat a dead horse . . . why does something have to happen? In Konstantin's gallery header, there doesn't seem to be anything happening.

ctfchallenge		01-Feb-2009 04:05
Wondeful picture and PP too. I saw Tom's comment earlier and didn't agree it needs more contrast.. more would chase the fog away, and the fog is a vital part of the magic. Wonderfully framed. I would vote my heart out for this in a "natural framing" challenge.. hard to imagine anything with MORE natural frames. It definitely is NOT a candid though. It's simply too beautiful. The framing too contemplated. The composition too perfect. And nothing happens here, except the beauty of it all. The "model" looks like he might be posing, and even looks right into the camera. In sum, premeditated. You may just be too good for candids! lol And "thanks for posting" - it's a pleasure to study this picture :) -k2

Bruce T Jones		01-Feb-2009 02:27
Thanks Lydia, No, the surfer didn't pose. We were under the pier for a moment together and he saw me lift the camera to take the shot. The quality sucks cause the fog was so heavy. I really, really had to push the colors and contrast to make this thing work. It's almost hand painted. Eat your heart out Rod. :) Here's the original:

ctfchallenge		01-Feb-2009 01:47
Did the surfer pose for this? I think not. Candid. For sure. And perfection. Really. Amazing, Bruce. The only thing that's not great is the quality and I think that's because of the 150K limit. I'd love to see this 'full strength'. grin ~lydia

ctfchallenge		01-Feb-2009 00:47
Another nice shot Bruce - love the fog and repeating lines of the pier! :-) CJ

Bruce T Jones		31-Jan-2009 14:57
Thanks tv, yes it needed some more contrast. Gotta cut through that fog! -- Bruce

ctfchallenge		30-Jan-2009 15:38
Another breathtaking image! Agree with tv that a bit more contrast may increase the impact ... may be not. But as for your second beach picture, I think, this is not a quite candid shot. Konstantin

Canon DSLR Challenge		30-Jan-2009 02:17
Ohhhh.. Misty, moody and repeating shapes. Great capture. Maybe a little more contrast for impact.. (who am I to say as the pp dumby?). -tv

ctfchallenge		29-Jan-2009 19:26
two super images- Debi

Guest		29-Jan-2009 17:31
This is breathtaking. The way the pier forms a frame and the repeated pattern of the sea and sand. YB

ctfchallenge		29-Jan-2009 17:16
Wonderful composition here, Bruce, with the layers of the pier supports fading off into the background. --Mary Anne.

aam1234		29-Jan-2009 16:19
Superb!

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