This is "Magnabagger", busy repairing his motorcycle after it wouldn't start. We were on a trip with 12 people when this happened in a village I don't even remember the name of anymore. This is normal for this guy and his motorcycles, he is always busy trying things out, repairing and maintaining his motorcycles. Often things drop off or stop working on the way, so he has to repair them. This took five to ten minutes or so and he was able to fix it.
This is so typical that I very much like this "portrait". It is Magnabagger.
Autolevels, Cropped, Resampled, USM, Save for the web. Fill Flash!!
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Place: 57 out of 67 Avg (all users): 5.0543 Avg (commenters): 5.1333 Avg (participants): 5.0000 Avg (non-participants): 5.1667 Views since voting: 2808 Votes: 92 Comments: 17 Favorites: 0
I like this photo. I gave it a seven which seems to be the best it got. Looking over the coments it seems like people either didn't like the weather or didn't like motercycles. I'm not so fond of this gloomy weather either but it makes a great picture and certainly adds to the mood of the day and the roadside repair. He keeps his coat on and his helmet- it must have been raw and the metal looks cold. Nor am I much interested in motorcycles but do Love portraits and pictures that tell a story. This is a real story teller. He's riding with a group, or at least a partner, something has gone wrong, he has to fix t himself, there isn't a garage or a warm place. He looks toatlly intensly absorbed, maybe stubborn even? That face is central to the picture.
I do agree with the commenter who said it looks tilted and should be rotated a bit. But that will be my only negative comment.
I like the colors, almost a monochrome except for the red cycle, the yellow warning lights and the guys face. It emphasizes the three most important things. I like the conflicting diagonal lines of the sidewalk and the leaning bikes. I like the way the broken bike looks black and dirty while the red bike (whos riders is presumably in a warm pub) looks shiney new. I like the writing on the car, on his helmet and on the red bike make a triangle. The picture as a whole is self contained, the lines bring the viewer back to the central theme. Good use of the rule of thirds, his face is at one intersect and NOTHING is at the opposite intersect which makes the face the real focus.
I really like this picture, a lot can be read into it.
Comment from the critique club - remember this is only one amateurs opinion (mine).
To me, it's a nice composition. The colors do not seem accurate, though. Maybe a little tweaking with levels and saturation would help. Also, maybe a tighter crop on your friend's face and hands.
They sky is a bit bland, and the buildings in the background are really quite tilted. Taking the background out of the picture though (figuratively speaking) the subject is good. I like how you have a photo of a moment. You can see the concentration on your friends face. I think portraits are best when you get the person doing something to like to do, or something that relates to their person. Focus and clarity are nice. Good luck in the chalelnge.
Ah, nothing like a little roadside maintenance on a ride! The composition in this, and the strong leading diagonals work really well to take the eyes from the bottom of the picture to the top. Did you try it in black and white? Since the red bike is the only real color, I was wondering if it might have a little more interest that way.
I feel that this shot needs to be rotated clockwise by a few degrees, since the uprights of the roadsigns and buildings in the background distract by being not quite vertical. The subject matter of the shot is good, but perhaps a different shooting position (eg a bit more to the left) would have got you a more interesting composition.
Very clear shot. Subject matter is not so interesting. If you moved behind him so we could see what he was doing to the motorcycle, that my make for more interest. Your sky is a bit washed out, but your black and gray's are noise free.
Wrenching by the road, not usually fun......and sure not when it's cold out. Composition is weak here, but the colors, focus and light are good. Of course I love the subject. Justine
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