Chris Brogden wrote:
> " Sign of the Times " by Shel Belinkoff, USA
>
> Nice shot and title, Shel. :) The straight-on, documentary style calls
> to mind what little I've seen of some early American socially-conscious
> photographers, and works well with the subject. Otherwise, if you wanted
> to get fancy with the angles, I wouldn't mind seeing more of the street
> and surroundings on the left and less of the open space on the
> right. Hey, is that a Darwin fish on the camper? *LOL* It comes across
> as a pretty low-contrast shot on my monitor, so I'm not sure whether
> that's my monitor, the scan, or the printing (if you scanned it from a
> print). This is one of the few shots I've seen that still works well even
> at low contrast. Were you using a filter? I'm guessing not. Good job at
> capturing this moment.
Hi Chris ...
I don't usually explain my photographs, as I prefer to let them
stand by themselves, making whatever statement they may make and
affecting people in whatever they may. However, in this case, I'll
make an exception, especially because what's shown in the PUG is but
a poor representation of the original print.
There were some very distracting elements just outside the frame
line on the left, so shifting the camera would have lessened
whatever impact the photograph may have. IAC, I wanted a direct
shot, with the subject dead center, the object being to have as
little distraction from the message of the photograph.
The photo was framed specifically to show the Darwin fish and the
various signs on the RV, and to give the people a sense of place.
Coming in closer would have eliminated the fish, cropped the street
out on the left, and lost the trees on the right, giving the people
and their vehicle no relationship at all to their surroundings.
They'd just "be there".
The original print is not very contrasty, as the scene was pretty
flat, and I didn't want to pump it up either when developing the
film or printing it. While the print is far better than the scan in
showing detail and a more full range of tones, the flatter, more
toned-down look better conveys the low energy level of the people
and their sense of depression.
As for the scan, well, I didn't scan the print, and I was not happy
with the results at all. Too much detail was lost from the original
print, and sharpness was somehow sacrificed. All in all, I am not
pleased with the transformation from print to pixels ...
--
Shel Belinkoff
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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