Dave the Whistler

sara505 · June 9, 2009

Here's a fellow I met on the street last evening, and a bit I wrote about him. It took many shots to get this one, which I love. I photographed while he talked; I asked him to look this way, then that way; tried different angles and backgrounds. Towards the end, there was a moment when he leaned against the wall, relaxed, and became himself.

Anyway, I've got a couple of DSLRs I use for real work, but this was taken with my G9, the camera I always have with me. Love it.

June 9, 2009. Last night, on my evening walk (oh, how I love living in town), I happened upon Dave Corcoran walking up Main Street. Dave has been a familiar and friendly presence in Edgartown for a number of years, works down at Thor's bike shop - Sam Norton's old place at #1 Main Street. A musician, mechanical genius, and artisan, Dave once built a beautiful, albeit unusual, stand-up bass (that retained elements of the tree - branches and all - as I remember it).

Summer nights, you'll find Dave sitting on the bench in front of the paper store, corner of Main and North Water, playing guitar. He plays and sings really well and usually draws a pretty good crowd of after-supper ice-cream seekers. David is also an extraordinary whistler.

Dave has recently returned from a x-country bike ride and has lots of stories to tell. Last night he told me a couple - the tip of the iceberg, surely - including a story about meeting Jesus on the road, somewhere in mid-America. "I'm the one you're looking for," were Jesus' words of introduction, according to Dave.

rwells · June 10, 2009

Sara,

That does look like one relaxed fella. I like the way his jacket is used as a leading line to his face. It's always nice to create a photograph that you truly love. Good job

sara505 · June 10, 2009

rwells wrote:

Sara,

That does look like one relaxed fella. I like the way his jacket is used as a leading line to his face. It's always nice to create a photograph that you truly love. Good job

Thanks, Randy. Sometimes it takes a while to get it. I think sometimes people think, "oh, what a lucky shot," not knowing there's usually a ton of background.

jethibod · June 10, 2009

Sara, the photo is great, but the story! Are you a writer?

sara505 · June 10, 2009

jethibod wrote:

Sara, the photo is great, but the story! Are you a writer?

jethibod (this is French? Thibod? My children are Thibodeaus) - anyway, yes, I am. I wrote a weekly town news column, and was pretty active as feature writer and photographer for about ten years. Loved it.

My favorite thing on earth is going out and about, meeting folks and hearing their stories. Well, I already kind of knew Dave.

I miss my column (and am told I am missed), gave it up a few years ago due to changes in my life. Want to do more writing, though being in school for the past 7 years has pretty much cured me of wanting to do any long pieces.

Thanks for asking.

LukeWoodford · June 10, 2009

I like it, could do with a little more contrast but then I am a contrast junkie

sara505 · June 10, 2009

LukeWoodford wrote:

I like it, could do with a little more contrast but then I am a contrast junkie

I agree - I am still very much in process, trying to work out a LR bw conversion.

I happened upon a very helpful tutorial, which this conversion was based on - but still needs more depth imo.

Basically, I start off in HSL, desaturate all colors (for which I have created create a pre-set), raise the black, mess with a bunch of sliders, tone curve, etc. This method gives you full access to all the controls - even WB and tint - as you would w/color.

But still, I'm not quite "there."

Any suggestions?

sara505 · June 10, 2009

Oh, if you're looking for contrast, here's another version I've been messing with over in the PhotoFinish forum. This is just an experiment. It's the effect I was looking for, but I'm bothered by the wall he's leaning on having gone missing, and a couple of other things.

jethibod · June 10, 2009

sara505 wrote:

jethibod (this is French? Thibod? My children are Thibodeaus) - anyway, yes, I am. I wrote a weekly town news column, and was pretty active as feature writer and photographer for about ten years. Loved it.

My favorite thing on earth is going out and about, meeting folks and hearing their stories. Well, I already kind of knew Dave.

I miss my column (and am told I am missed), gave it up a few years ago due to changes in my life. Want to do more writing, though being in school for the past 7 years has pretty much cured me of wanting to do any long pieces.

Thanks for asking.

Isn't that funny...I'm a Thibodeau. We're originally from Eastern Canada, but I hear there's a lot of us, so there could be a relation somewhere.

I hear you about the writing overdoses - but I quite like the short piece that went with the photo, and to be honest, I like the original a bit more than the more contrasty one that you just posted. I find it's a bit too white on the left hand side - it's too bad you couldn't get a bit more texture in there.

I love the part about hearing the stories - there are a few people I see around Ottawa that I'd like to just sit down with and chat and photograph, but I'm a bit shy, so it never seems to be the right time. One day I'll overcome that, I'm sure...this is certainly an inspiring post!

sara505 · June 11, 2009

jethibod wrote:

Isn't that funny...I'm a Thibodeau. We're originally from Eastern Canada, but I hear there's a lot of us, so there could be a relation somewhere.

I hear you about the writing overdoses - but I quite like the short piece that went with the photo, and to be honest, I like the original a bit more than the more contrasty one that you just posted. I find it's a bit too white on the left hand side - it's too bad you couldn't get a bit more texture in there.

I love the part about hearing the stories - there are a few people I see around Ottawa that I'd like to just sit down with and chat and photograph, but I'm a bit shy, so it never seems to be the right time. One day I'll overcome that, I'm sure...this is certainly an inspiring post!

My husband was Paul Thibodeau, and every year he would get stuff in the mail (originating from Louisiana) inviting him to a reunion of Paul Thibodeaus - not just Thibodeaus, but Paul Thibodeaus. I guess there were so many Paul Thibodeaus they became an organization unto themselves. My husband's family was also from eastern Canada, Nova Scotia. My sister-in-law did all the genealogy a while back and I know there's Mic Mac in there somewhere.

Yes, the first Dave is a better image - but does need more contrast. Dave II was a quick experiment, the means to an end, trying to figure out a particular pp technique. I will go back and re-work it at some point, including pulling back that bright spot over his left shoulder and adding grain. My LR b/w conversions are also still in process.

I am both a student and a teacher, have had little time to plumb the depths of CS4 and LR - have been skimming the surface of PS for years. This summer, I'm diving in. Plus, both programs are relatively new to me. I feel like a kid in a candy store.

Thanks for your comments.

jeffreaux2 · June 11, 2009

sara505 wrote:

My husband was Paul Thibodeau, and every year he would get stuff in the mail (originating from Louisiana) inviting him to a reunion of Paul Thibodeaus - not just Thibodeaus, but Paul Thibodeaus. I guess there were so many Paul Thibodeaus they became an organization unto themselves. My husband's family was also from eastern Canada, Nova Scotia. My sister-in-law did all the genealogy a while back and I know there's Mic Mac in there somewhere.

Yes, the first Dave is a better image - but does need more contrast. Dave II was a quick experiment, the means to an end, trying to figure out a particular pp technique. I will go back and re-work it at some point, including pulling back that bright spot over his left shoulder and adding grain. My LR b/w conversions are also still in process.

I am both a student and a teacher, have had little time to plumb the depths of CS4 and LR - have been skimming the surface of PS for years. This summer, I'm diving in. Plus, both programs are relatively new to me. I feel like a kid in a candy store.

Thanks for your comments.

It is a very common name here in Louisiana, but is more often spelled Thibodeaux.

Try this tute for setting white and black points for "pop" in photoshop.
http://dgrin.smugmug.com/gallery/2292454_mjGJs/1

sara505 · June 11, 2009

jeffreaux2 wrote:

It is a very common name here in Louisiana, but is more often spelled Thibodeaux.

Try this tute for setting white and black points for "pop" in photoshop.
http://dgrin.smugmug.com/gallery/2292454_mjGJs/1

Yes - there's even a Thibodeaux, Louisiana, I've been told. My husband never really knew what the name meant, said it was a very old word with a somewhat lost meaning, but it might mean something like head of the water or tip of the water.

Anyway..
I am familiar with the above technique, have used it a bunch. But since I spend so much time in LR (and prefer it to PS these days, for RAW processing, processing large batches, I just like the way it flows. I use PS for body-snatching, touch-ups, other specialized purposes), I'm trying to get a grasp of b/w conversions there.

I have used some of the same principles from the above tutorial in LR.

I have tried comparing LR b.w to ps b/w in the same image, and interestingly, I preferred the LR version.

Will keep plugging away at this.

jeffreaux2 · June 11, 2009

sara505 wrote:

Yes - there's even a Thibodeaux, Louisiana, I've been told. My husband never really knew what the name meant, said it was a very old word with a somewhat lost meaning, but it might mean something like head of the water or tip of the water.

Will keep plugging away at this.

My oldest daughter goes to college at Nicholls State University located in Thibodeaux, Louisiana. IT is nestled alongside Bayou LaFourche and is know as "Harvard on the Bayou".

I too prefer Lightrooms batches and speed to photoshop....

Dave the Whistler

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