Beverly Caine
February 2021 - Homeless in New York
Original
Original 2
About the Image(s)
I shot this image on April 23, 2010 in Central Park. I had gone to New York to visit my daughter and contacted a dear friend who was my first photography teacher and we decided to spend a day in Manhattan to do some shooting. We started out in Central Park and came across this gentleman resting on a bench. I commented that his face was one that photographers dream of shooting so Jack went over to him, offered him a few dollars and asked if we could photograph him. He was very willing and we both took several shots. For my part, I was using my Canon Rebel XT at 55 mm - 1/250 at f/10 with an ISO of 400 as l wanted the speed. It was a bit overexposed but was able to adjust that in Photoshop. The problem was the beard as it turned out to be a bit blown out. I made some adjustments two years later but never did receive the result I wanted so I decided to give it another try and see if anyone might have any better suggestions.
This round’s discussion is now closed!
9 comments posted
Actually the one marked original 2 was just created because I was so unhappy with that green background so I created a texture with the New York City skyline and played with that. Posted: 02/01/2021 11:18:59
(Group 51)
Thanks for visiting us in Group 51. What an amazing portrait you have created and interesting to see your experimentation with different filters . Snowy winter days great for filter exploration. Posted: 02/19/2021 10:15:30
(Group 42)
A very nice image, but I feel the background is disturbing .It looks like the green background is zooming by. Try a non-moving looking background. Also, the piece of green over his left elbow should be cloned out as you have it in your "original 2" image. Posted: 02/05/2021 16:18:27
of the 3 choices I like the "original" the best. The B&W rendering is gritty and natural.
The posted shot with background in motion blur is to me very artificial and distracting. The "original 2" with him in color and the NYC scene in B&W is also way too artificial looking for my taste. The composite doesn't work for me either. Posted: 02/07/2021 14:56:09
The posted shot with background in motion blur is to me very artificial and distracting. The "original 2" with him in color and the NYC scene in B&W is also way too artificial looking for my taste. The composite doesn't work for me either. Posted: 02/07/2021 14:56:09
Homeless in New York Beverly Caine
It was nice that the gentleman posed for you. I do like the way he looks so relaxed and has a friendly expression. I like that you caught the highlights in his eyes that make hime look lively.
I think this image works equally well in black and white or color, for me the three main colors in this image work well together.
Recovering blown out areas can be incredibly tough, especially in areas where you would like to see fine detail. I try to avoid blowing out whites by setting my exposure composition to a negative value, usually -0.7 or less depending on the lighting condition. For full sunlight like in your image where there are some bright spots, I would set my exposure compensation to less than -1.5. I can adjust the image exposure in post processing. I prefer to use RAW files so I have more dynamic range to work with in post processing than I would get with jpeg files. For your B&W image, I used the clone stamp tool to replace blown out areas on the beard using a sample from a more intact area; I suspect you did the same for your color versions. In the color versions, the head and beard hair looks thicker, perhaps because the color images are at a lower resolution, or that the images were sharpened using too high a radius.
I think that I would leave the vegetation as the background, though I would reduce the contrast in that area and or desaturate the yellows and greens some.
There appears to be a bright area added to the man's shirt in the color version.
Overall a nice image, worthy of making improvements to. Posted: 02/11/2021 13:18:03
It was nice that the gentleman posed for you. I do like the way he looks so relaxed and has a friendly expression. I like that you caught the highlights in his eyes that make hime look lively.
I think this image works equally well in black and white or color, for me the three main colors in this image work well together.
Recovering blown out areas can be incredibly tough, especially in areas where you would like to see fine detail. I try to avoid blowing out whites by setting my exposure composition to a negative value, usually -0.7 or less depending on the lighting condition. For full sunlight like in your image where there are some bright spots, I would set my exposure compensation to less than -1.5. I can adjust the image exposure in post processing. I prefer to use RAW files so I have more dynamic range to work with in post processing than I would get with jpeg files. For your B&W image, I used the clone stamp tool to replace blown out areas on the beard using a sample from a more intact area; I suspect you did the same for your color versions. In the color versions, the head and beard hair looks thicker, perhaps because the color images are at a lower resolution, or that the images were sharpened using too high a radius.
I think that I would leave the vegetation as the background, though I would reduce the contrast in that area and or desaturate the yellows and greens some.
There appears to be a bright area added to the man's shirt in the color version.
Overall a nice image, worthy of making improvements to. Posted: 02/11/2021 13:18:03
This is an image that tells a story, and I like that. I think it can be powerful and I would continue to work on it. I agree with you and Ed that the green background doesn't work. I don't really think the skyline background works either. It gives it an artificial look. Of the 3 versions, I like the Original the best. Posted: 02/11/2021 13:57:45
Great portrait of a man down on his luck. I agree with the above, and like the original background better. If you work on it as suggested you will have a wonderful photo. Posted: 02/12/2021 09:46:17
Hmmm, I like Original 2 best! The city skyline fits with his appearance. It looks like a painting, too. The greenery in the larger one makes it look like it was imposed, as it looks panned; also his skin on his face is too smooth. But the B&W one is also great--it looks the most like a street photograph and works so well with all the detail and texture called out on his clothing. However, in the B&W version, you definitely have a large and obvious area on his beard that has no detail.
I just want to make one more observation. In the paint-looking one, you haven't cleaned up all the green within the skyline; he has tree shadow on his pant leg, and the lower left corner has ivy that makes it apparent that this is a photoshopped image. Just things to be careful of. Posted: 02/15/2021 18:42:35
I just want to make one more observation. In the paint-looking one, you haven't cleaned up all the green within the skyline; he has tree shadow on his pant leg, and the lower left corner has ivy that makes it apparent that this is a photoshopped image. Just things to be careful of. Posted: 02/15/2021 18:42:35
Thanks Carol. I appreciate all of the comments even though at this point, I think I'm more confused than ever. One thing for sure --- the green background goes...after that I'll still be playing with this image for perfection if there is such a thing. Posted: 02/15/2021 19:16:20