Portrait of the Homeless II: The (almost) Color series
OneWayMule
Registered Users Posts: 166 Major grins
ABOVE: I noticed this man trying to appease the birds and ducks that surrounded him while he was trying to eat his lunch near a pond. I walked up to the bench and made an initial attempt to converse by commenting on the weather. He agreed that it was a fine day and this began a long and reflective conversation about him being an "old timer" (which i learned is an older man who had been in prison for a while)...
...He told me about his days in Vietnam which still emerged fresh in his mind. Being in prison in this country was tough, he said, but returning back to society was, in some way, even tougher. He overcame drug addiction years ago but regrets that many of his old friends are still trapped in it. He now finds comfort in his God and continues to live his life in the best way he knows how.
"Santa Clause", as he like to be referred as, was panhandling one late night. Told me he lived under the bridge not far from where I met him. Due to the circumstances, I didnt get to converse anymore.
It was past midnight and the camera was sitting on a tripod in Austin, TX. While I was looking in the viewfinder to compose pictures of a storefront on "the drag", everyone either passed by or wondered if they should wait for my signal to cross. Everyone except this fellow. Standing well over six feet tall, he decided to rest his hands on his knees and stare directly into the camera. Before I could look up and say anything, he asked me what I was up to. Soon enough we had a dialogue going. Pulling out a piece of paper he wanted to know if it was a camera or a camcorder I was using. I told him it was a still camera and he started to read from that paper, which contained his thoughts on life and god and other topics which were very dear to him. Frustrated that those words didn't properly express his feelings, he put it down and talked from the heart. Mentioning his lost family and especially his mom, made him even more upset and confounded him. Finally he sighed and walked away in anguish saying, "I got nothing to prove... I got nothing to prove to nobody..."
-sohil
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ginger
Or someone could point me to the search "word". If that would be better. Or, if you have time, could you PM me Mule.
Really wonderful set and individual shots.
ginger again
I knew, of course, that trees and plants had roots, stems, bark, branches and foliage that reached up toward the light. But I was coming to realize that the real magician was light itself.
Edward Steichen
Moderator of: Location, Location, Location , Mind Your Own Business & Other Cool Shots
www.jennifernicholsonphotography.com
I REALLY appreciate it
Ginger... one of the things i hate about my post-processing isi never keep track of it. I'll start working on an image and keep messing around till it looks right... and when i'm done, i wonder myself how i got there.
BUT.. for the first and last image, i do remember couple of things: I had the picture open in 2 windows... one had a full b/w conversion (using Gordon's method [which i'm starting to dislike a bit]) and the other was in color but desaturated ~50%. I then dropped the b/w file on top of the color and with a mask, selectively brought out the color. Once i had the color i wanted, i tend to lightly burn and blur parts to help focus on whats important (like the faces or hands in these type of pics).
Sorry i couldnt give you the exact steps but i tend to do everything the long way in PS but i'll have to start recording it.
Thanks for your wonderful input
-sohil
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