Actually, the movie image came up while I was composing the message. What I found was that the character in the movie, a barber, had a very flat personality, and because your image came across to me as flat, for lack of a better word at the moment, the movie and the character jumped into my vision. I really had nothing specific in mind other, perhaps, than a curiosity to see more and place these people into a "setting."
I didn't ask to see contact sheets but, unless I misread something, I believe you said you had several more shots you took in the shop. If you do, then by seeing the others I may have a better sense of what you are doing ... perhaps knowing what was and was not possible to do because of the shop's layout, etc. Sure we have different styles, and of course any comments i make come from my own experiences and my way of seeing things. Quite a boring world if we all saw the same things in the same way. Actually, discussions like this are why I stay on line. I'd like to see and participate in more of them. Unfortunately, even when a good one starts, it often deteriorates into some off topic discussion like blender repair. If, in the course of this discussion we (you, I, and some PDMLers) learn something, get some ideas for photographs, or get our creative juices flowing, so much the better. ttyl, shel > Your comments are interesting, Shel. Some of them seem like you have something > in mind from the movie you mentioned that is not being addressed by my photo, > which seems to be the bigest problem for you. Some of them seem to be just the > divergence of our styles, some of your shots seem boring to me, so it is not > strange that some of mine seem that way to you. Some of them seem to be just the > difference of the media we are each working with, the request to see the contact > sheets, so to speak, points to that (I certainly don't work that way with the > Graphic at something like $2.50 a shot). And, some of them are quite worth > spending time considering. > > Yes, I am quite satisfied with the shot as what it is (except for the scratchs > caused by rusty darkroom technique). Which is a better than average snapshot > (that transcends a simple snapshot by being interesting even if you do not know > the subjects) of a friend (the barber) who is interested in my old camera. And, > also considering the trying of the patience of his customer involved in shooting > it. No question that it could be better though. > > I do find it challenging trying to get a good photo with one shot (though I > usually shoot a safety shot as well, which in this case turned out to > misloaded). I have never been a high volume shooter, unless I am producing > alternative shots for an editor to chose from, and I consider each of them a > separate photo in themselves. That is why I am finding the Graphic so > refreshing, it is forcing me to go farther in that direction then I have in the > past. > > Would I hang it in a museum? No. Will my friend hang the finished print on his > wall? Most likely. I am not pretentious about my photography. I am pretty good, > but I am nowhere near great. > > However, it is kind of a nice change to talk about the nuances of a photograph > rather than the nuts and bolts. >
