Old Man, a photo from Podlaskie, Est

Photographer's Note

Not just a descriptive title, but also a Neil Young song. I took this at the end of a session I had with Maciek shooting people around his very pleasant hometown in Eastern Poland, when I called in on my way home from Lithuania. I wouldn't have noticed him in fact, since my mind was focussed on the first beer of the day, but just before going into to the bar Maciek pointed him out, so I took this. Thanks Maciek, I think a reasonable entry to the hunt.

I spent some time deciding on the crop, and decided to leave the top part, since I liked the other people on benches in the background. I also thought the rather grainy look suited it.

Cool-ice, jhonny_blue, rabani, ChrisJ, richtersl, Proxilva, elihesamian, hispic, sunny, Isabelle, orme, GrahamB, nwoehnl, Galeota, petertee, kaychambers, paido trouve(nt) cette note utile

Critiques | Translate

Cool-ice (5289) 2004-09-21 4:01

Well seen, this line of benches all with old people sitting on them.
Maybe the sunny parts in the background are just a bit overexposed.
The light sepia is a good choice here.

jhonny_blue (4956) 2004-09-21 4:10

Beautiful moment, and I like this beautiful moments !!! :)
Very well done.

jrj (34843) 2004-09-21 4:35

Very good street and park pix Richard. Some noise but working well in the BW version. Very good one this

rabani (9645) 2004-09-21 4:46

It makes you wonder about your future being old and physically fragile, don't you think. We probably need extra clothing and a hat to go with it, just to sit outside. And as we couldn't do the things we used to do now, we'd probably reminisce and wonder about our past. You know what Richard, your depiction of old age in black and white just made me think and appreciate of the colors of life, we have now.

richtersl (3546) 2004-09-21 7:49

You created a nice diagonal line with those benches. The old man looks like he's having a pleasant day in the park.

So how was that Polish beer? ;-)

Proxilva (2157) 2004-09-21 8:12

hahaah.... it looks like you have the attention of everybody on the benches far away, but not of this man 5 metres away from you...
the tone and grain is a nice bonus for this great photo Richard...

elihesamian (26149) 2004-09-21 8:23

Old Peoples,in fact,...and focus on oldman in a great way,...in end of all of my lifetime,sitting on a bench,and fall in nostalgic filling,...with seeing some birds,...
Well captured,good B&W worked,...I like it.

Teten (582) 2004-09-21 8:46

Beautiful shoot Richard, i like very much this kind of photo, black and white its a perfect choice for it and i think it is very well framed.
well done
Teten

harold (2377) 2004-09-21 10:10

Paix et tranquilitté bien mérité je penses.

sunny (3069) 2004-09-21 11:51

You certainly found your own fine style of presenting simple daily life shots, Richard! Glad you left the other people in the pic too - they add a lot to the feeling this man evokes. Very well seen and captured!

orme (7219) 2004-09-21 20:20

Good composition, Richard. I like the diagonal line of benches. Good choice of B/W, in which to capture this tranquil scene. Well seen (by Maciek).

manny (22032) 2004-09-21 20:28

I always feel that your choice of colors are so appropriate. In this one, the sepia tone enhances the mood. Very good.

ChrisJ (171172) 2004-09-22 3:09

This would look equally good in sepia. It's hard to say if a crop just above his hat would improve the shot or not. It improves composition, but detracts from context, imho.

GrahamB (939) 2004-09-22 5:28

Nice composition with the line of benches leading off into the top corner. I think the grain does suit the scane well. The far distance is a little overexposed but i dint think it distracts too much.

nwoehnl (122) 2004-09-22 7:22

A very good entry for this category of the hunt, Richard. I strongly support your cropping decision as you not only preserve the context of the park setting, but also it gives you a fine strong diagonal that you would otherwise lose. Well done, looks good in sepia tones.

Galeota (10352) 2004-09-22 12:12

Well composed and a lovely tone.

petertee (307) 2004-09-23 9:25

I like your picture (nearly said Old Man!). I think you're correct in not cropping tighter and the choice of B+W seems good also. The diagonals in the composition, particularly the angle of his bench lead the eye deep into the pic, around andback again to the point of interest. And he is an interesting subject and worthy of being more examined. A tough choice but the right one for me. Thanks for sharing.

ma-tibou (4568) 2004-09-23 9:50

Et oui aprés une vie d'effort les moments de reconfort sont les bien venus. Beau portrait. Amitié.

baska (0) 2004-09-23 11:02

Very nice photo!
baska

kaychambers (1198) 2004-09-24 2:01

nice one Richard.

I particularly like the diagonal you create with the benches here. Small OE above maybe, or just a cheap work LCD screen? Nevertheless, a pleasing result overall.

Regards,

Vic, Singapore.

paido (944) 2004-09-29 9:12

A good use of repetition with the benches here. The composition is well framed and the path is leading you inside the picture...

Well done !

maciekda (19895) 2004-10-06 15:29

very nice picture Richard, very good composition with people on the diagonal line and the old man in the corner. I remember the moment when I told you about this man, I am glad that you used the oportunity very well.

Izobretenik (1268) 2005-06-08 9:41 [Comment]