As with many pictures in this challenge this shot has a story. With the weather being -20 degrees celsius, I noticed this homeless man across the street. Despite being by a busy crosswalk, no one took notice of him. In fact people were going out of their way to pretend he wasn't even there.
After taking a few shots, I crossed the street and dropped three dollars into his hat. He looked up, smiled, and said "God bless you". I imagine he would have said the same thing had it only been a quarter.
As I walked across the street the sense of pride I felt melted away and turned into guilt. I hadn't given him the money because he needed it. I gave him the money because I needed a picture. If I didn't have my camera with me I would have dealt with him the same way everyone else had: with Apathy.
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Nikon D50
2007/02/13 14:56:12.8
Compressed RAW (12-bit)
Image Size: Large (3008 x 2000)
Lens: 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6 G
Focal Length: 55mm
Exposure Mode: Aperture Priority
Metering Mode: Multi-Pattern
1/500 sec - F/8
Exposure Comp.: -3.0 EV
Sensitivity: ISO 800
Optimize Image: Sharper
White Balance: Direct sunlight
AF Mode: AF-S
Flash Sync Mode: Not Attached
Color Mode: Mode IIIa (sRGB)
Tone Comp.: Auto
Hue Adjustment: 0°
Saturation: Normal
Sharpening: High
Image Comment:
Long Exposure NR: Off
Statistics
Place: 249 out of 288 Avg (all users): 4.9372 Avg (commenters): 5.1429 Avg (participants): 4.8000 Avg (non-participants): 5.0708 Views since voting: 817 Views during voting: 372 Votes: 223 Comments: 11 Favorites: 0
First impression is that the focus is off. It appears that your camera focused on the building in the background, and that is what made your subjects so soft. I also think a tighter crop would help pull the eye to the three people. If you removed some from the top, enough to completely remove the crosswalk light, this would dramatically improve the composition.
The B&W treatment works well here. Colors would be too distracting. I also really like the balance you captured with the two pedestrians. The almost look like they are marching in step.
I really think you have caught apathy going both ways. It is obvious that the pedestrians are ignoring the homeless man, but he is also ignoring them! That in itself is an interesting commentary on how people just go through the motions of their daily lives.
This really is a powerful picture, and I think it would have scored much higher if you had captured the viewer's interest by correcting the two items I mentioned above.
Great shot. I knew there would be a story behind this. I think the lack of sharpness is a plus and was unnecessary. One of those 8's was from me.....should have placed much higher.
details are a bit lost in the heavy processing. nice to at least see a photo with some kind of message. your composition seems very random to me, as the passing cars with distracting headlamps just happen to be there and you said oh well, rather than hanging around for another go.
You had a golden opportunity to really get some gritty shot here but stayed too far away to be effective. Sure the folks are passing by the beggar but is there a sign or.....? I think you should have moved in closer for a more effective shot.
Don't center your center of focus like that unless they have a distinctness (color, shape, contrast, closeness, etc.) that makes them stand out from their surroundings, and even then it is not always the best thing to do, but besides that good subject and portrayal of apathy. It is also not good to (if you do) have multiple subjects, unless they are all together.
great story in the image but not very sharp at all. It's also a bit hard telling that that is a person on the ground but he is huddled up so you really couldn't help it.
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