# Tears



## Rhoads238 (Dec 5, 2012)

Hey all,

Went out to do some street shooting today. I was walking around and kept seeing this guy walking in different parts of town. When I was walking in one of the more populated areas of town, he struck up a discussion with me about photography, then got rather enthusiastic about me taking his photo. So I took a few, gave him directions to where he was looking to go and we parted ways. It was a little nerve racking I wont lie. But it made my day as far as shooting goes.




_DSC1041 by rhoads238, on Flickr

Ps. 5150 means criminally insane. 

CC always welcome,

-Jason


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## The_Traveler (Dec 5, 2012)

Nice
I think it could benefit from even more aggressive PPing.

This kind of facial tattooing seems to indicate something scary underneath always


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## Rhoads238 (Dec 5, 2012)

Fair enough. So I gave it a try




_DSC1041 more cooked by rhoads238, on Flickr


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## invisible (Dec 5, 2012)

That's a cool character you stole the soul from  

Your profile says that editing your photos is OK so I took the liberty of playing a bit with this one. I think your re-editing was maybe too aggressive, but of course this is a matter of opinion  plus this is *your *photo and *your *vision.

In any case, what I did was mostly add light to the subject's face to make it stand out, in particular because the dark patch at the top right was a big distraction. I also added some contrast locally. The image still didn't look finished to me, because the top right corner was still too bright. My post-processing skills are limited to say the least, so  as you can see  my darkening of the area is a fail, but at least helps to show what I mean.




If you prefer that I take the edit down, please send me a PM and I will right away.


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## Rhoads238 (Dec 5, 2012)

invisible said:


> That's a cool character you stole the soul from
> 
> Your profile says that editing your photos is OK so I took the liberty of playing a bit with this one. I think your re-editing was maybe too aggressive, but of course this is a matter of opinion &#8211; plus this is *your *photo and *your *vision.
> 
> ...



Its absolutely ok. Looks great. I think it's helpful to see how other people would handle the processing. I see what you are saying about the top right. As for my vision and photo goes I still haven't quite gotten there. Your's was definitely closer than the first two though. I'm going to have to have another try with it and find a balance that i like best.


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## pixmedic (Dec 5, 2012)

+1 for that guys awesome mustache!


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## runnah (Dec 6, 2012)

You have bigger balls than I do. If I saw that guy on the street I'd just keep walking.


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## The_Traveler (Dec 6, 2012)

runnah said:


> You have bigger balls than I do. If I saw that guy on the street I'd just keep walking.



I think this is where people might miss out on great opportunities.
Virtually every street person, I've ever encountered who wasn't totally certifiably crazy at that instant, will respond to an ambiguous 'how are you doing?'
It is the perfect entry to somewhere who generally gets treated as an object by most passersby.
It's asking about their current feelings without wanting to know their past.
    If there is any response, I usually say something about how I feel about the weather, the crowds, whatever, but its what I'm thinking - given as a conversation starter.

I generally don't ask them anything about themselves until they volunteer info.
I tell that why I'm there, what I do, that I like to meet interesting people and talk to them. 

When the conversation is just about over, I ask if I can take their photo to remind me of the conversation.

Treat them as the people they are as the non-crazies will respond the same way.


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## Rhoads238 (Dec 6, 2012)

The_Traveler said:


> runnah said:
> 
> 
> > You have bigger balls than I do. If I saw that guy on the street I'd just keep walking.
> ...



I am going to have to try that my self on my next outing. I had an encounter with a homeless person a few weeks ago who was adamant about not having his photo taken. It made me feel like I shouldn't have been so brazen.


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## The_Traveler (Dec 6, 2012)

Rhoads238 said:


> The_Traveler said:
> 
> 
> > runnah said:
> ...



I have some advantages.

First, I really mean what I say, I only take pictures if the people are interesting, I'm not just out grabbing homeless porn.
And I'm perfectly happy to walk away without a picture.

Second, I am a particularly non-threatening person. I'm not too big, I'm not too young and I've developed into someone who can talk to pretty much anyone who is willing to talk.

When I stopped trying to 'score' pictures, it became much easier for me.


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## pgriz (Dec 6, 2012)

Rhoades, I'm glad you took his picture.  There's a lot of intriguing stuff going on.  His eyes, mouth, and head position are friendly and non-threatening.  On the other hand, his tattoos almost scream "back off!".  He appears big in your photo, and if he was as close to me as the image appears to show, I'd feel that he was intruding on my personal space - which would have my mental alarm bells ringing.  So your image captures a lot of ambiguity about who this person is, and what his intentions may be.  I like Invisible's edit - it is a bit stronger than your original, but does not overshoot into "cartoony".  Well done.


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## Rhoads238 (Dec 7, 2012)

pgriz said:


> Rhoades, I'm glad you took his picture.  There's a lot of intriguing stuff going on.  His eyes, mouth, and head position are friendly and non-threatening.  On the other hand, his tattoos almost scream "back off!".  He appears big in your photo, and if he was as close to me as the image appears to show, I'd feel that he was intruding on my personal space - which would have my mental alarm bells ringing.  So your image captures a lot of ambiguity about who this person is, and what his intentions may be.  I like Invisible's edit - it is a bit stronger than your original, but does not overshoot into "cartoony".  Well done.



I had to get very close for the shot. It was taken with a 50mm. I was in the range of fourteen inches or so from his face to the camera. 

So I just had a realization that the pictures I am posting on flickr are being altered somehow. Anyway I had another go in the processing and feel I am finally satisfied with the processing.


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## Rhoads238 (Dec 7, 2012)

Interesting turn of events here as well. This is being displayed considerably darker on this website than it appears in photoshop. Same problem with flickr. I have never noticed this effect before. What is the reason for this?


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## bunny99123 (Dec 7, 2012)

For some tattoos, a tear represent how many people they have killed.  Hope not in his case. Maybe he is sad. I like the photo, and you had enough respect to take his picture.  He has a story to tell by his tattoos.  A picture is a story, so you probably made his day.  Good job.  I haven't tried street photography, but plan on trying soon.


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## SamiJoSchwirtz (Dec 7, 2012)

Yeah ^... It's to represent how many people youve killed.


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## Rhoads238 (Dec 8, 2012)

SamiJoSchwirtz said:


> Yeah ^... It's to represent how many people youve killed.



It can also represent how many of your people have been killed. Adding a tear drop is to mourn the loss of a friend.

Anyone have any idea why this is being displayed darker when uploaded? When I compare the finished jpg to the one that is uploaded here the tones are noticeably different.


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## SamiJoSchwirtz (Dec 9, 2012)

*5150 somebody call the po-po* good song.


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