Bye Dad

[JonMikal]

[Cogito]

Re: Bye Dad

Great! atmospheric, and tells a story. Good work!

Regards,

Neil

[Stephen]

Re: Bye Dad

A scene that could easily be in areas of England, except for the air conditioning unit. I think I may have recomposed to eliminate that

[Pol]

Re: Bye Dad

A scene that could easily be in areas of England, except for the air conditioning unit. I think I may have recomposed to eliminate that

The exact same thoughts struck me when I first looked at the picture. Why eliminate the unit though? It isn't a lane in England... or is it?

My own feelings are that the picture has a good storyline, though I'd have liked 'Dad' to be just a little more prominent. He blends into the background just a tad too easily for me as it is now.

BTW, it's really good to see you, Jon. I was watching the Inauguration crowds the other day and thinking how might be there, hoped you might be there taking pictures. I've just been to your webbie too (hoping) but the portfolio won't load for me.

Pol

[Josh Bear]

Re: Bye Dad

Hi

So I love the B&W, it really works for an image like this. There is so much texture in the picture (the cobbles, the bricks the plant life) B&W really lets you appreciate this.

As per the others, the aircon unit does break the mood of the picture and the figure could do with standing out a little more.

Best regards

Josh

[JonMikal]

Re: Bye Dad

what do ya'lls air conditioning units look like?

thanks for the crop/cloning suggestions. i ended up with this edit because of my desire to crop to 11x14. i wanted to get more to the left but that darn unit was in my way. how would you feel about a square edit?

Pol, the site is down due to my lack of photography interest lately, and besides, it's very unorganized. hope to tiddy it up a bit soon. i'll remove the link during the interim.

i appreciate everyones comments.

[devilgas]

Re: Bye Dad

UK air con units?

kinda like this.....



but with a portion of it open

unashamedly linked to one of ian's photos in the galleries

[Pol]

Re: Bye Dad

what do ya'lls air conditioning units look like?

thanks for the crop/cloning suggestions. i ended up with this edit because of my desire to crop to 11x14. i wanted to get more to the left but that darn unit was in my way. how would you feel about a square edit?

Pol, the site is down due to my lack of photography interest lately, and besides, it's very unorganized. hope to tiddy it up a bit soon. i'll remove the link during the interim.

i appreciate everyones comments.

I reckon lack of photography interest is a global syndrome atm. Probably all down to the lousy Winter weather, eh?

I'm going to go against the flow regarding that a/c unit! I see no problem whatsoever with leaving it in. For me - that unit brings life and sound into the image - an everyday gentle hum, a represenation of an everyday sound in an everyday life within an everyday environment.

It's what's there, it's where the guy lives, where his family are ... and he's leaving it behind whilst life carries on exactly as it was before he closed the door and started up the lane. I'm one of those peeps who "hears" images as well as seeing them. I hear them and I often 'smell' them too - dampness, cold, heat, cooking smells ... all those components that touch our senses and our emotions as we go through life.

I was reading "The Book Thief" (Markus Zusak )recently. Your 'Bye Dad' image evoked images I'd formed in my head of Hans leaving quietly - whilst the everyday life of Himmel Strasse continued.

Life moves on. Souls are carried gently away to another place whilst the new is gradually introduced into families, into environments. Old and new blend for a while and compete for a place. No need to 'bomb' out the old or the new imho. Let life take its course and embrace it to the full - warts and all.

So - "Bye Dad". Hope yer not leaving because I talk too much.

Polly

[Ian]

Re: Bye Dad

A scene that could easily be in areas of England, except for the air conditioning unit. I think I may have recomposed to eliminate that

I was thinking much the same thing - though air-con units are now popping up all over the place here!

Ian

[Stephen]

Re: Bye Dad

I was thinking much the same thing - though air-con units are now popping up all over the place here!

Ian

I agree, though wheelie bins are now part of the street scene and have appeared like a plague. I hate them, they are ugly and a blot on our streets. When I see American streets, esp the back ones I think these AC units really spoil the look of buildings especially old ones where they are completely out of character. The thing is we accept them as part of the street scene, its a shame.

Just to labour my point, here is a shot of Wheelie bins which show them at their worst

[Pol]

Re: Bye Dad

I'm not gonna belt up about that a/c in Jon's picci!

If he'd been after an old fella taking a quiet stroll up the lane then by all means crop, chop and clone right, left and centre.

However, he shot the picci in a residential area then called the picci 'Bye Dad' which suggests to me that the old fella has just left home, for whatever reason, and the viewer represents someone from the family watching from a house door (or window) as he leaves.

Very few streets, in this day and age, are silent and without subtle signs and sounds of the hum (or even the clatter) of everyday life. The a/c is gently humming and that adds a 'family home environment' imho. If that goes then why not clone/crop out the overhead cables too ... and paste olde worlde clothes onto Dad thus booting him back into an imaginary past.

I mean - I see absolutely nothing wrong with having pictures of life as it is here and now - 21st century merging in alongside 18th, 19th or 20th.

As for Stephen's picci - you took the pic to show the wheelie bins iirc. Is that right? I mean - isn't social commentary an art form in itself, eh? It's certainly a valid form of recording life as it is here and now.


Pol

[Stephen]

Re: Bye Dad

As for Stephen's picci - you took the pic to show the wheelie bins iirc. Is that right? I mean - isn't social commentary an art form in itself, eh? It's certainly a valid form of recording life as it is here and now.


Pol

Sure I did Pol, but I went to this location, Saltaire nr Bradford, to take pictures of the streets which have a certain charm of their own. Then I was faced with this sight, which curtailed what I had set out to do, though I did take this as a social comment.

In Jons photo (to get back on topic) I do see the AC unit as a distraction, and I believe with a few paces it could have been eliminated. The fact is though that Jon implies he never really saw it, as to him its part of the scene, a fact of life. My problem is that I don't want to see it and would have endeavoured to lose it when composing. For me, being used to seing things from an English POV, its an alien addition. At least there are no street signs and double yellow lines

[Pops]

Re: Bye Dad

I love this photograph.
I sense some underlying sadness.
The air con doesn't bother me one bit, it just comes in at the edge of the eye and is easily dismissed.

[Pol]

Re: Bye Dad

... For me, being used to seing things from an English POV, its an alien addition. At least there are no street signs and double yellow lines

Careful Yorkie! We're getting into dangerous territory by suggesting the American gizmo is an alien. The crowd across the pond is bigger and more powerful than us and we'd only have green Daleks (wheelie bins) to rely on for defence!

Seriously though - I do know what you're saying and I do agree with you in many ways. It's just that there are some photos that are somehow more 'vibrant and alive' when they're left as an untouched, spontaneous record that kinda speaks a thousand words and this is one of them imho.


Pol

[Autumn]

Re: Bye Dad

UK air con units?

kinda like this.....



but with a portion of it open

unashamedly linked to one of ian's photos in the galleries

I was thinking the same thing.