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Relaxing

Bob Sumitro

New member
Relaxing after a day of hardwork :)

3368257834_e028646550.jpg



This one is a candid shot of my 3 year-old nephew. He's a bit camera shy so I had to pretend that I had no interets in taking his picture and wait until he's completely forgot that I was there with a camera, before I press the shutter.

I took this with a M6 classic, TMax 400, 50 f/2 cron at f/5.6, 1/30 and a flash light (nikon sb22 set at Automatic with a bounce card). Film scanned at a photo lab and resized for web and no post processing cause I don't know how to.

I'm completely a beginner in B&W photography, I've taken so far only 3 rolls of B&W films. Being a newbie, my major problems are exposure and pre-visualizing how the pictures will look like.

I haven't been able to nail the exposure with B&W. I use flash for this shoot (for the whole roll actually) cause with a flash I can pretty much guess how the exposure will be. Without flash, with only available light indoor with my M6 built in meter, it's either under exposure or overexposure. The results are completely different than what I had in mind ... what I imagine it would look ... when I pressed the shutter. I never have this problem when I shoot color. The results with color are usually the way I want it.

But this one prety much meets my expectation and I'm quite happy with it.

Critiques, comments and tips are really welcome.
Thanks, bob
 

Ken Tanaka

pro member
This is a superb candid image, Bob. I suggest that others consider it closely as it presents an excellent example of what distinguishes a normal personal snapshot from a skillfully created documentary image.

The ornate Asian (?) sofa, contrasted against that simple window drape and simple tile flooring and dark baseboard, plus that large white wall space all conspire to put your eyes directly on that boy. His posture echoes the curves of the sofa. Even the manner in which his right leg is crossed suggests an Indonesian/Asian culture. His face and low eye angle suggest that he's immersed in an unseen television program.

You may be a beginner but you've already created a jewel of a documentary-style image. To better see what I mean may I suggest that you, and others, look at some renowned documentary photography, past and present. The Life Magazine archives is a good start. Work by Bruce Davidson, of Magnum, is another excellent source.

Do more with that M6, Bob! Don't worry about exposure.
 

Ivan Garcia

New member
I agree with Ken.
This is an exceptional image. The only thing that spoils it for me is the object underneath he sofa. But, as a whole is a brilliant capture. I am looking forwards to see more of your work.
Thank you for sharing.
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
I agree with Ken.
This is an exceptional image. The only thing that spoils it for me is the object underneath he sofa. But, as a whole is a brilliant capture. I am looking forwards to see more of your work.
Thank you for sharing.
Bob,

My vote too!

I don't mind ? the toy gun underneath since it represents the make belief world of the child. It works with what we cannot see, that's the TV which is again mostly make belief. There is no other detail referring to the boy himself, that I feel it helps. It's an extra reward for noticing it.

Asher
 

Rod Witten

pro member
This is a superb candid image, Bob. I suggest that others consider it closely as it presents an excellent example of what distinguishes a normal personal snapshot from a skillfully created documentary image.

The ornate Asian (?) sofa, contrasted against that simple window drape and simple tile flooring and dark baseboard, plus that large white wall space all conspire to put your eyes directly on that boy. His posture echoes the curves of the sofa. Even the manner in which his right leg is crossed suggests an Indonesian/Asian culture. His face and low eye angle suggest that he's immersed in an unseen television program.

You may be a beginner but you've already created a jewel of a documentary-style image. To better see what I mean may I suggest that you, and others, look at some renowned documentary photography, past and present. The Life Magazine archives is a good start. Work by Bruce Davidson, of Magnum, is another excellent source.

Do more with that M6, Bob! Don't worry about exposure.

Ken and Bob,

I'd like to challenge the artistic value of this image. While it meets the traditional definition of a documentary photograph, for me, it resides in a category of a good family studio shot (which most likely was Bob's ultimate intention). In my opinion, the substantive documentary images come from subject matter outside the photographers sphere of comfort and familiarity.

Bob, you were right to seek the best lighting as it is especially important in Black and White work and could have made this image stronger. There is also too much of that distracting white wall for my taste.

Rod
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Bob,

I agree with Ken that this work is putting you in the direction of documentary photography. There's much going for the shot as Ken has described. I think, that on reflection, I should add some qualifications so that Ken's recognition of the value of your work is put, in what I would think is a context that will be useful to others following the thread and aiming to emulate the best work. There's a word used often especially in Germany, to describe the "motif" of a photograph. I find the this pattern, of the boy's pose against the oriental carved seating is such a pleasing stamp of artistic identity for the photograph. I see this as more of a potential than something fully achieved. The idea that one can recapitulate the curve angles of the seating with the boys posture is unique strong and worthy. However, it's not executed elegantly to the full extent possible. The curves are not matching and as well placed as they could be. Of course, one could object that that's not what was there! Well either one waits until what occurs is what one wants or one has, at times, (as painful as it might be), to intervene.

Either one has to have the fortune to get the kid in the right pose, or else one has to get a different kid and set up the pose. Cappa managed to capture such poses by his innate sight, insight and reflexes. Bresson was similarly prepared. Remember, that's all they did, day in day out and for sure we have only seen a small fraction of the pictures they took. You have exposed a few rolls of film, so it would, indeed, be most surprising if in a hundred or so shots you had mastered what they had in thousands.

But there's more. We want a picture that has balance and some effort at distribution of lighting, focus and emphasis. In this picture, while the motif is strong and the subject adorable, the lighting is uninteresting and the focus is non-specific.

One simple approach is to open up the lens and then render the boy in focus but the background hardly.

I'm impressed by your start and love your Leica system. I am looking forward to being awed many times in the future.

Asher
 

Ken Tanaka

pro member
Rod; I agree that documentary photography is generally (although by no means always) work outside one's immediate sphere. My use of the term, in this instance, referred to the form and composition of the image not to the subject matter.
 

Bob Sumitro

New member
I'd like to challenge the artistic value of this image. While it meets the traditional definition of a documentary photograph, for me, it resides in a category of a good family studio shot (which most likely was Bob's ultimate intention). In my opinion, the substantive documentary images come from subject matter outside the photographers sphere of comfort and familiarity.

Hi Rod,

Thanks very much.

"Artistic value" was a question that I often asked myself: do the pictures I took have any artistic value? But then after a while I gave up and stopped asking that question, cause my conclusion with regard to my "artistic ability" or my ability to create something of an artistic value is that I have none.

I tried to be artistic, I tried to create some kind of "art" with my camera ... but one question remains, and that is if the pictures I take have any artistic value ... and honestly, I can not find the answer to that. So I gave up and stopped trying to create art.

My interest in photography is portraiture of people, candid portrait of people. I try not to interfere with or directing the subject. About two years ago, I bought a wide angle zoom, a canon 17-40L. My intention when I bought the lens was to learn about landscape photography. It's the only reason why I picked this particular lens cause all the reviews I read said that it's a great lens for landscape. I forgot that it's not the lens that matters :)

Anyway, I took pictures after pictures of landscapes and I tried to take good landscape pictures but I failed, and I couldn't produce one landscape pictures that I like, so I give up.

So the question about artistic value is a good one, but I don't know the answer.

Thanks, bob
 

Jim Galli

Member
This is a great shot. I saw the gun underneath and said to myself, well he said the kid had been working all day, there's the evidence. Probably had to kill all kinds of stuff. It wears ya out.

The curtains going out of the frame vertically balance the couch going out horizontally. It all works nicely. Don't worry too much about art. Have fun.
 

Ken Tanaka

pro member
Bob: an off-topic reply to your "landscape" remark...

While a wide-angle lens can be used for landscapes, this dogma derives largely from amateur circles. Many of the most striking "landscape" images you see are composed and captured with longer focal length lenses. Wide angles, particularly zooms, are close-in instruments.
 

Rod Witten

pro member
This is a great shot. I saw the gun underneath and said to myself, well he said the kid had been working all day, there's the evidence. Probably had to kill all kinds of stuff. It wears ya out.

The curtains going out of the frame vertically balance the couch going out horizontally. It all works nicely. Don't worry too much about art. Have fun.

Bob,

Jim makes a good point, if you are having fun never stop pursuing your photographic vision.

While other members of OPF can give you much better advice on portraitures than I, you may find that natural lighting and a slightly longer lens used with wide aperatures introduce more creative results. Also, get back out there into those landscapes with that 17-40, it's mostly about getting some wonderful bad weather, clouds and/or prime lighting around the time of the rising or setting sun and a good foreground feature.

Rod
 
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