# Stranger on the Subway



## DanOstergren (Feb 15, 2014)

Pretty much the title explains it. I stopped this hauntingly beautiful creature as we were both exiting the Subway train in Brooklyn and asked if he would let me snap his portrait. His makeup was on point, and his styling just had me in awe. Really, I was so hypnotized in general by his overall beauty.


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## vipgraphx (Feb 15, 2014)

Pretty cool picture..For street/subway photography I would say this is quite good..If you would have said you had a photo shoot in the subway I would have believed it.


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## EOV (Feb 15, 2014)

This does look like a photo shoot. How serendipitous that you were able to see him and get this shot. The lighting on his face looks great, to me at least.


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## Alexandtheng (Feb 15, 2014)

great work!!


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## Sarmad (Feb 15, 2014)

Wow, just amazing mate. Doesn't look like 'A stranger on the subway', looks like a studio shoot.


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## sashbar (Feb 15, 2014)

Awesome. Great shot. I hope the guy got the photo. Have you tried to cut the upper part a bit?  Too much space above his head to my liking.


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## tirediron (Feb 15, 2014)

Quite the catch!


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## DanOstergren (Feb 15, 2014)

sashbar said:


> Awesome. Great shot. I hope the guy got the photo. Have you tried to cut the upper part a bit?  Too much space above his head to my liking.


Yes, he's gotten the photo. 

Thanks for the feedback. I'll be keeping it this way though as I prefer some space over the head so he isn't centered in the shot.


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## JustJazzie (Feb 15, 2014)

Great work!!


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## Rags (Feb 15, 2014)

Really good...

Rags


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## mmaria (Feb 15, 2014)

my kind of guy...

great shot!


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## treeafodo (Feb 15, 2014)

Nice shot! 

Looks like a relative of Marilyn Manson to me.


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## pixmedic (Feb 15, 2014)

it IS a nice shot!
my only nitpick here is that i personally find the OOF wall in the foreground pretty distracting. 
i would crop that out and make him off center.


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## Braineack (Feb 15, 2014)

Impressive as always, Dan.


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## terri (Feb 15, 2014)

Excellent work.   

Don't you love New York?    :goodvibe:      Such great people-watching.


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## DarkShadow (Feb 15, 2014)

Some of your best work IMO.Great Capture.


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## bribrius (Feb 15, 2014)

treeafodo said:


> Nice shot!
> 
> Looks like a relative of Marilyn Manson to me.


first thing i thought too.
interesting character


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## ratssass (Feb 15, 2014)

...one thing I've felt about the stuff you share with us,here,is,I've never felt "Meh"....Quite the opposite,they've always provoked emotion.Keep it up,Dan!


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## AggieBecky (Feb 15, 2014)

Wow, I love it!  Amazing this was a random encounter and not a photoshoot!


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## weepete (Feb 15, 2014)

Great shot Dan, thanks for sharing it. I allways like seeing your shots mate.


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## Trever1t (Feb 15, 2014)

I love it! The lighting is moody, wardrobe and location contrast very well.


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## manaheim (Feb 15, 2014)

First off, I love this shot. I've been thinking about it on and off all day trying to decide how I wanted to phrase my reactions to it.

Great subject, really intense mood, interesting character.

However, I don't personally get beauty... I get creepy. If I bumped into this guy in a dark alley I would be REALLY not comfortable being there.  I say that just to toss you another reaction that seems to go a bit against the flow. I may be the only one. 

Something about the crop bugs me a LITTLE. Something tells me you could get away with trimming a bit and bringing us in closer to your subject.

Also... some part of me feels like him facing you dead-on like that may not have been the best pose... except that the in-your-face nature of his posture and positioning also seems to work really well.  That makes it pretty perplexing, which is very cool.

Again... really neat.  Thanks for sharing.

You need fill flash!

(KIDDING!!!!!!)


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## sashbar (Feb 16, 2014)

manaheim said:


> Something about the crop bugs me a LITTLE. Something tells me you could get away with trimming a bit and bringing us in closer to your subject
> 
> )



I agree, that's why I mentioned possible trimming of the upper part. I am glad I am not the only one here. The guy is a bird with all his feathers etc. and the Underground surroundings are a bit too heavy if I may say so, especially the upper part, I just feel the pressure of the ceiling.. It creates tension, and brings something miserable about this guy. I understand why Dan does not want a central composition,  but if cropped a bit, the guy would  look more assured, kind of lighter and free from that pressure if you wish. That's how I feel here, sorry my English lets me down probably...
Probably Dan wants some  more dramatic touch. He has this "dark", tense side in his work.

I hope you get what I am trying to explain.. But the closer crop does change the mood of this image.


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## manaheim (Feb 16, 2014)

I get you. 

Yeah, I think it's a matter of "how do you crop while still maintaining the elements you need and want", and I think the picture is VERY fragile in that way.


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## kathyt (Feb 16, 2014)

I really like this. I love how his left foot is almost mid-step accentuating his calf.


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## DanOstergren (Feb 18, 2014)

Thanks for all the feedback and comments! 

I'll be keeping the crop for a number of reasons. One of the things I will comment on is that "light and airy" is certainly not a feeling I wanted to express through this shot. Also, the subway environment is something I wanted captured here, so the room above the head was intentional. Giving a sense of location is necessary to me in this sort of shot, especially since I met him and stopped him for this shot in this location. 

Not to say that there aren't valid reasons for other's opinions, but to me a crop would take away from this shot.


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## DanOstergren (Feb 18, 2014)

manaheim said:


> However, I don't personally get beauty... I get creepy. If I bumped into this guy in a dark alley I would be REALLY not comfortable being there.  I say that just to toss you another reaction that seems to go a bit against the flow. I may be the only one.
> 
> Something about the crop bugs me a LITTLE. Something tells me you could get away with trimming a bit and bringing us in closer to your subject.
> 
> ...



Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I think having him face the camera shows his clothing better, which was a big part as to why I stopped him for the photo. 



manaheim said:


> You need fill flash!
> 
> (KIDDING!!!!!!)



Fill flash is against my religion.  :<


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## DarkShadow (Feb 18, 2014)

Nominated February Photo Of The Month.


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## Tony S (Feb 18, 2014)

Dang, it would have been worth asking him if he had an extra 5 minutes and doing a few more shots using the look and what seems to be great subway lighting for a quick series, a sort of mini impromptu session.


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## DanOstergren (Feb 18, 2014)

Tony S said:


> Dang, it would have been worth asking him if he had an extra 5 minutes and doing a few more shots using the look and what seems to be great subway lighting for a quick series, a sort of mini impromptu session.


Both of us were in a hurry. That's just the nature of New York City; you're always busy and on the move, and things need to be planned out.


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## DiskoJoe (Feb 18, 2014)

This is better than your shoots


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## DanOstergren (Feb 18, 2014)

DiskoJoe said:


> This is better than your shoots


Not sure if that could be taken as a compliment, lol...


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## Geaux (Feb 18, 2014)

Have you contacted this person to set up a legit shoot?  I'd be real interested on what you two would come up with with some planning, judging by how amazing this shot was, without planning.


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## DanOstergren (Feb 19, 2014)

Geaux said:


> Have you contacted this person to set up a legit shoot?  I'd be real interested on what you two would come up with with some planning, judging by how amazing this shot was, without planning.


I've got his number and we connected on facebook. We''ve been waiting for fashion week to come to a close before planning anything.


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## DiskoJoe (Feb 19, 2014)

DanOstergren said:


> DiskoJoe said:
> 
> 
> > This is better than your shoots
> ...



Well it is in a weird way. On your shoots you seem to get too relaxed and a tad bit sloppy with the details. But here I can tell you were excited to meet this stranger and wanted to get a really great shot and did. Great DOF, perfect framing, and just an interesting character as well. Decent pose on his part too. So you seem to work best when excited. Try to find other ways to bring that out and I could see your work skyrocketing.


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## manaheim (Feb 19, 2014)

DanOstergren said:


> Thanks for all the feedback and comments!
> 
> I'll be keeping the crop for a number of reasons. One of the things I will comment on is that "light and airy" is certainly not a feeling I wanted to express through this shot. Also, the subway environment is something I wanted captured here, so the room above the head was intentional. Giving a sense of location is necessary to me in this sort of shot, especially since I met him and stopped him for this shot in this location.
> 
> Not to say that there aren't valid reasons for other's opinions, but to me a crop would take away from this shot.



Something you should consider is that you can maintain a sense of location with far less of the location visible.


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## Rosy (Feb 24, 2014)

very nice Dan


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## DanOstergren (Feb 25, 2014)

Thanks Rosy, and thanks to everyone else for the great feedback!


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## CoordinatedKate (Feb 25, 2014)

That's an amazing shot! The lighting and the expression on his face are both eerie and beautiful. Looks like the gothic mayor of an underground city!


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