While visiting the local Sunday Town Markets, I came accross this extroadinery wonderful character of a Market Man Seller, who had a stall selling Cactus & Succulents.
He had an amazing face, etched and aged, and I just had to ask if I could take a photo of him. He was very happy for me to do so.
I definately had this challenge in mind when photographing him. I asked him to squat in a sitting position, looking down, and this is exaclty what I photographed.
Thanks for the votes and comments re this image;
I like to answer some of the suggestions re my comments;
First this image was taking at the spare of the moment, just like a true candids shot, at the local Sunday orning markets.
It was a sunny and very bright morning, and I could not find a place for him to squat for me, excect at his stall.
I also could not cut out any of the background, as there were old car boxes and so many people everywhere.
I am just truely blessed, that I got this shot at all, and only took a few as the shadows were very bad, as well.....
Thanks everyone.
ps; I plan to ask him if he will sit for me someday, as that I can get more practice re portraits, and also for you all to get to know this remarkable man.....
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Place: 37 out of 345 Avg (all users): 6.1530 Avg (commenters): 7.3333 Avg (participants): 6.0353 Avg (non-participants): 6.2551 Views since voting: 1815 Views during voting: 271 Votes: 183 Comments: 23 Favorites: 1 (view)
I scored this at a 9. The tone variation and detail in the cap are wonderful as are the lines on his face. I like the tight crop. The blue of the collar adds contrast. I would like to see the background blurred more to minimize distracting from the man. Wonderful shot of a unique individual and I can imagine a lifetime of stories in his face from your image.
Great shot - but, in response to your forum thread, the one area I feel you could have improved on is the background... it's very busy, very bright, and the colours clash with the main subject demanding equal attention from the eye. A less contrasty background with neutral colours and maybe a more pronounced DoF would help emphasise the detail in the portrait... could be the whiskers are a little overly sharpened too (?) my absolute favourite part of this is the cap - the textures and detail in that are awesome!
I gave this shot a 9 and I thought it was fantastic. The definition is superb and I felt the mans face has so much character. The only thing I can say in criticism is that the crop is tight but I liked it. I honestly can't understand the 1-4 scores here. Even if someone did not appreciate the subject the quality of the shot has to be worth a 5-6 minimum.
I think this is a fantastic shot and perfect for the challenge, Shez! I woulda voted it a 6 or 7 - It's great, but doesn't have a huge visual impact (WOW factor). Be proud though! A GREAT finish and score!
Some really great contrast and detail. The composition is not bad, but seems to cause a disconnect for me. Some how it's not telling me enough about this man, he looks like he has a story.
Beauty. Though photo is what I call falsely diagonal (not 45 degreesish to the
force line of gravity), it totally works because a "market man" would likely be at this angle, plus his line of sight falls appropriately to earth; the inclusion of the trays of cactii informs. No need to mention cap seam and beard?
I think this is such an interesting photo. Lately, I've really been drawn to the faces like this that show the character and texture of a person's years of life. And him, looking down like that compliments the look of the photo perfectly! Great job!
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