The Thinker ?

Steve Cavigliano · June 20, 2005

Hello All,
I was on the wharf in Santa Cruz, looking for something decent to shoot in 6 PM type lighting. I had already shot the wildlife - gulls, seals, pelicans and Andy :lol3

I have bern shooting too many birds and it's getting stale. I need to concentrate on some other subjects for awhile. So I've been really trying to do more landscape and people shots :rolleyes

Anyhow, while strolling around, I noticed this fellow sitting on a bench. Unfortunately, he wasn't one of the homeless (they really make interesting subjects), but as I looked at him, he sat as if in a trance. Maybe he was looking out towards the Lighthouse and the surfers at Steamer Lane. Or, maybe he was in a coma....lol Or, maybe I just caught him with a dumb look on his face? :dunno Whatever, I just had to try to capture that look.

If possible, I'd appreciate any suggestions you'd like to give me. This isn't the caliber of shot I'd post for a critique in the Critique Forum, but I'd love any feedback, what-so-ever.

Color crop

The shot had some nice contrast so I decided to try a B&W treatment :dunno

Finally, here's the non-cropped color version (well, almost no cropping). Do the restaurant in the upper left and the long shadows add any interest to the shot?

Thanks for taking the time :-)

Steve

behr655 · June 20, 2005

Maybe you should change the title to "The Lombotomy".

Did he realize that you photographed him?

Bear

bfjr · June 20, 2005

Hi Steve
Nice to see you stretch, totally agree been trying myself
My choice here is the B&W because in color that darn dolly keeps taking me away from the subject.

But ya know me and ya know I don't know Jack

David_S85 · June 20, 2005

I think ya need to clone in a hypnotist about 10 feet in front of the guy.

wholenewlight · June 20, 2005

I like the B&W one better. As already mentioned the purple dolly/hand truck and yellow wall are too bold and become the subject instead of "the thinker".

Hey here's a thought . . . this shot could be your challenge 41, "movie title" entry . . .

Sling Blade

Uh Huh

jwear · June 21, 2005

the thinker ?????????? did you put a mirror by his nose ?? the thinker I do not think so -- not for a long time

sorry Steve I treid to be serious and it did not work :cry it is a good pic and made me look and think ---oh now i get it the thinker just not him

jwear · June 21, 2005

jwear wrote:

the thinker ?????????? did you put a mirror by his lips ?? the thinker I do not think so -- not for a long time sorry Steve I treid to be serious and it did not work :cry it is a good pic and made me look and think ---oh now i get it the thinker just not him

i just saw IT, is that dolly his RIDE

bochie · June 21, 2005

I like the first one.

The dolly seems to mimic the guy but backwards.
I would like to be able to see his eyes though, maybe it will show even more emptiness.

adrian_k · June 21, 2005

"slow motion"

bochie wrote:

I like the first one.
The dolly seems to mimic the guy but backwards.
I would like to be able to see his eyes though, maybe it will show even more emptiness.

Yuri Pautov · June 21, 2005

Priviet, Steve!
I prefer b&w.
Great photo!
Yuri

Seamus · June 21, 2005

That is a "thousand yard stare", great shot Steve, very pensive.

Shay.

Angelo · June 21, 2005

Steve I like #3 best. I like the color over b/w and the sense of lone solitude this wide shot offers. (yes Andy, I'm advocating W I D E)

I thought you've become famous for your *squat*??? I might have gotten a bit lower and shot more at his eye level. (IMHO)

nice capture though

Steve Cavigliano · June 21, 2005

behr655 wrote:

Maybe you should change the title to "The Lombotomy".

Did he realize that you photographed him?

Bear

Bear,
I don't think he "realized" much of anything. He did move about 20 seconds after I snapped the pic, so he was alive, but he definitely was "somewhere else"

Thanks for commenting,
Steve

Steve Cavigliano · June 21, 2005

bfjr wrote:

Hi Steve
Nice to see you stretch, totally agree been trying myself
My choice here is the B&W because in color that darn dolly keeps taking me away from the subject.

But ya know me and ya know I don't know Jack

Hiya Ben

Yep, I wasn't crazy about the dolly either, but as you can see in the un-cropped version, I didn't have much of a choice

I'm not real good with composition and this was a spur of the moment shot. Reflecting on this shot, I probably should have tried to get him from the other side. Only after I had taken the shot, did I realize he'd be frozen like that for so long....

Thanks for your comments

Steve

Steve Cavigliano · June 21, 2005

David_S85 wrote:

I think ya need to clone in a hypnotist about 10 feet in front of the guy.

David,
I was waiting for the cup to fall out of his hand

Or, for a drop of drool to fall from his lower lip :uhoh You've got to realize we're talkin Santa Cruz here. A place where this man is semi-normal looking....lol This is also the place where you see bumperstickers that say "Keep Santa Cruz Weird"

No worries on that account :lol

Thanks for taking the time to comment,
Steve

Steve Cavigliano · June 21, 2005

wholenewlight wrote:

I like the B&W one better. As already mentioned the purple dolly/hand truck and yellow wall are too bold and become the subject instead of "the thinker".

Hey here's a thought . . . this shot could be your challenge 41, "movie title" entry . . .

Sling Blade

Uh Huh

WNL,

I was thinking about that character from Slingblade while shooting this. I had it all worked out that if he got up and got violent, I was gonna hit him with Andy's camera :lol

Thanks for looking and for your comments,
Steve

Steve Cavigliano · June 21, 2005

jwear wrote:

the thinker ?????????? did you put a mirror by his nose ?? the thinker I do not think so -- not for a long time sorry Steve I treid to be serious and it did not work :cry it is a good pic and made me look and think ---oh now i get it the thinker just not him

Thanks Jeff

I know what you mean. It's tough for me to be serious too. Especially with a shot like this one.....lol The same humor everyone else sees is what motivated me to take this shot. I knew it wasn't going to be a masterpiece, but I figured it would be entertaining. Also, the light was decent and there really wasn't anything else to shoot....lol

Yeah, "The Thinker" title was a feeble attempt at wit....lol He was drinking the Un-cola and he is more like the Un-thinker :lol

Thanks for your comments,
Steve

pete w · June 21, 2005

Are U sure thats 7 Up???

He looks a little dazed and confused.

That aside i like the cropped color version.

dragon300zx · June 21, 2005

I'm with yuri b&w for me but I would like to see it uncropped. I know the crop focuses more on the guy (Looks to me like he is stoned, or up on some other mind altering chemical :jose:jose) but I think the uncropped with no one else in the photos almost brings out the feeling of complete emptiness (when I see the photo all I can think of is emptiness in his brain) that it conveys to me.

just my 2cents.

ian408 · June 22, 2005

Steve, that guy sits a couple cubes over from me. Let me show him and
see what he thinks...only kidding

I like the expression but I'm not sure what he's contemplating. Maybe shot a
little behind and looking forward would help give the feeling he was experiencing?

Ian

Steve Cavigliano · June 22, 2005

bochie wrote:

I like the first one.
The dolly seems to mimic the guy but backwards.
I would like to be able to see his eyes though, maybe it will show even more emptiness.

Thanks for the feedback Bochie

Yeah, I wanted to get more eyes, but I was afraid that if I moved closer towards the front of him he'd snap out of his reverie

If I had known he was going to be in this stupor for another 30 seconds, I would have tried it. Oh well....lol

Thanks again for looking,
Steve

Steve Cavigliano · June 22, 2005

adrian_k wrote:

Thanks for responding Adrian

Steve

Steve Cavigliano · June 22, 2005

Yuri Pautov wrote:

Priviet, Steve!
I prefer b&w.
Great photo!
Yuri

Spasibo Yuri

I couldn't get those great eyes like you always manage to capture. But then again, my subject was not a beautiful woman or child. More like the opposite....lol I don't think I lost anything by doing a B&W conversion.

Thanks for your feedback,
Steve

Steve Cavigliano · June 22, 2005

Seamus wrote:

That is a "thousand yard stare", great shot Steve, very pensive.

Shay.

Thanks Shay

Yep, as I was shooting this I was wondering what he was thinking about. What ever it was, he was thinking on it deeply

"Thousand yard stare", that's a good one. I'll have to remember that...lol

Steve

Steve Cavigliano · June 22, 2005

Angelo wrote:

Steve I like #3 best. I like the color over b/w and the sense of lone solitude this wide shot offers. (yes Andy, I'm advocating W I D E)

I thought you've become famous for your *squat*??? I might have gotten a bit lower and shot more at his eye level. (IMHO)

nice capture though

Thanks Angelo

Nah, I don't squat while shooting, that's Waxy (the infamous Sid Squat :lol)

But you are right, lowering the perspective would have been a good idea

I liked the wide view too(even though it's only a 44mm FOV

) I also liked it because there wasn't any traffic (vehicular or pedestrian) in the back ground.

Thanks for the feedback and for taking the time to respond,
Steve

Steve Cavigliano · June 22, 2005

pete w wrote:

He looks a little dazed and confused.

That aside i like the cropped color version.

Thanks for the comments Pete

Yeah, I wonder if that was a 7&7, or some of that "laced" punch we had in the 70's in that cup

Steve

Steve Cavigliano · June 22, 2005

dragon300zx wrote:

I'm with yuri b&w for me but I would like to see it uncropped. I know the crop focuses more on the guy (Looks to me like he is stoned, or up on some other mind altering chemical :jose:jose) but I think the uncropped with no one else in the photos almost brings out the feeling of complete emptiness (when I see the photo all I can think of is emptiness in his brain) that it conveys to me. just my 2cents.

Thanks Gary

Your comments agree with what was in my mind. Emptiness and lonliness. No other movement or interesting subjects within the frame. I'll have to try a B&W conversion on the uncropped shot

Thanks for looking and for the feedback,
Steve

Steve Cavigliano · June 22, 2005

ian408 wrote:

Steve, that guy sits a couple cubes over from me. Let me show him and
see what he thinks...only kidding

I like the expression but I'm not sure what he's contemplating. Maybe shot a
little behind and looking forward would help give the feeling he was experiencing?

Ian

Ian,
He did sort of look like an IT guy (a burnt out one

) You know where I was for this shot. Right at the end of the wharf. I had room to move in front of him, but couldn't get his face and what he was contemplating in the same frame

A shot from the other side (once I would have walked around the building) might have been better. At least there would have been a background of water

Thanks for looking and commenting,
Steve

Angelo · June 22, 2005

Steve Cavigliano wrote:

Thanks Angelo

Nah, I don't squat while shooting, that's Waxy (the infamous Sid Squat :lol)

But you are right, lowering the perspective would have been a good idea I liked the wide view too(even though it's only a 44mm FOV ) I also liked it because there wasn't any traffic (vehicular or pedestrian) in the back ground.

Thanks for the feedback and for taking the time to respond,
Steve

ahhhh that's right.... the Sid Squat. well, I'm taking Yoga now so I can achieve that competitive stance

tmlphoto · June 22, 2005

behr655 wrote:

Maybe you should change the title to "The Lombotomy".

Did he realize that you photographed him?

Bear

I agree. Maybe "Comatose" or "Drug Induced Stupor"

. It's kinda hard to take that expression seriously.

The Thinker ?

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