Le Vannier.....basket weaver

[Bob Latham]

I found this chap peddling his wares in the covered market of my local town in south western France. "Un vannier" is the French name for what would be a basket weaver in English. It is with good fortune that this profession is very sedate as there was little in the way of daylight supplemented by a few electric pendants hanging from the old old trusses.
I was disappointed by his choice of blue fleece (with which to keep the winter chill at bay) as all the other colours and textures in the scene were warm and timeless. Being stuck with it, I decided to desaturate a little and then advance the blue slider to enhance what couldn't be hidden. A touch of vignette to eliminate distractions and this is what I ended up with.
Shot hand held on a 1DsMkIII with an EF85/1.2 II....1/25 at f/1.2 Iso 800 and PP'd in LR3

Bob

[Asher Kelman]

[QUOTE=Bob Latham;124341]I found this chap peddling his wares in the covered market of my local town in south western France. "Un vannier" is the French name for what would be a basket weaver in English. It is with good fortune that this profession is very sedate as there was little in the way of daylight supplemented by a few electric pendants hanging from the old old trusses.
I was disappointed by his choice of blue fleece (with which to keep the winter chill at bay) as all the other colours and textures in the scene were warm and timeless. Being stuck with it, I decided to desaturate a little and then advance the blue slider to enhance what couldn't be hidden. A touch of vignette to eliminate distractions and this is what I ended up with.
Shot hand held on a 1DsMkIII with an EF85/1.2 II....1/25 at f/1.2 Iso 800 and PP'd (/quote]

Bob

Bob,

This man is a find! Does he work in part of his home? How are on earth did you find him? It's hard to see how he could still make a living with imports from China and the like geing so cheap!

As far as the blue is concerned, depending on your beliefs, you might consider either B&W or else somple replacing the color with an earth tone. After all, that profession does not require a bright "OMO Tide" blue to be genuine. I'd have no qualms. Except of course this picture, as it is, suggest a clash with modernity, which after all the man is!

With the Canon 85 1.2 L, I hope you also took more portraits of just his face. These would be wonderful to see.

Asher

Asher

[Bob Latham]

Thanks for the comments and ideas Asher and I may visit the colour change possibility shortly. It was a series of 8 candids I took but they only served to highlight two things. Firstly my inability to consistently hand hold at 1/25th and secondly the ability of an "in progress" basket to intrude in the scene.
This is the next nearest shot to "success" but you'll see Monsieur Vannier being whipped across "son nez" by an errant vine. The minimal DoF doesn't provide an escape route for such occupational hazzards and I wanted to keep the shots candid....the French generally smile when they see a lens pointing in their direction

How did I find him....
He was sitting there making baskets in the covered market hall. I'm attempting to locate him as I presume he's a local artisan. As for competing with the Chinese imports.....the French are still fiercely nationalistic and will pay for locally produced wares.
Bob