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Vasile - Cosmin Bumbut
Taken last year Easter in the courtyard church from Saliste. Selected for the Hall of Fame on 2007/Oct/02
| Camera: | Contax G2 |
| Lens: | Carl Zeiss Planar 45mm f/2 |
| Film: | Superia 400 |
| Exposure: | f2/15 |
| Flash: | |
| Support: | |
| Filter: | |
| Adjustment: | |
| Posted: | 08-Mar-2003 |
Rating: 8.65 (34 ratings)
Comments
Excellent
Very very good. The face, the expression, the out of focus figures and lights in the background - very powerful.
Steve McBride 08-Mar-2003 at 03:04Colours
...and the colours are excellent!
Frieder Zimmermann 08-Mar-2003 at 04:01I think
that a little crop on the left would improve the image a lot. The men standing on the left leave to much to gues for. They seem to look at him but they are too much out of focus to know what is going on. Very nice portrait.
Robert Surenbroek 08-Mar-2003 at 05:01What a story
in this man's face and sad eyes. And you hand held the 45 mm at 1/15 sec, very steady!
Gregg Humphrey 08-Mar-2003 at 09:35I agree that a small crop
on the left would isolate the subject in a helpful way. The subject is so strong, however, that the decision is of little importance.
George Shadoan 08-Mar-2003 at 11:24That Face
Cosmin, you are good! This is a very compelling portrait. The character in his face and the lighting are superb. I really get a sense that this man has lived a hard life without him being in the context of poverty or tragedy.
Kevin Conville 08-Mar-2003 at 12:41The model is superb...
...
[Unknown] 08-Mar-2003 at 20:34Arresting
One of my favorites and don't listen to people telling you to crop of cut the figures on the left, they give this Vasile a social context, an sense of place. A knockout pic.
Kevin Bjorke 09-Mar-2003 at 01:38Thanks
for all your comments. As I prefer to believe, every picture looks like it's photographer wanted to look. Also, I think that nothing had to be arbitrary in a photograph (like the script of a good movie). My picture, after the suggested crop - without the blurred men in the background - would be just a face with some candel effects. As about the out of focus elements, for me the bokeh of Carl Zeiss lenses was a revelation. I worked (and work) with Canon, Nikon and Mamyia lenses, but none of them has such a beautiful (IMO) way to translate from focus to out of focus. So, every time is possible I open the lenses at maximum.
Cosmin Bumbut 09-Mar-2003 at 02:29No crop
After reading all of the comments & getting a better look on my monitor (at first I could not make out that the figures on the left were men) I agree that the image would suffer by a crop.
George Shadoan 09-Mar-2003 at 17:39Fantastic
A moving portrait. The figures in the background provide the makings of a story, and their out-of-focus quality enhances the mystery of that story. The man's weary expression is a lovely capture. Deeply sad, troubled, and human. Cosmin, thanks for sharing this beautiful photograph.
Anker Heegaard 10-Mar-2003 at 05:51Blush . . .
Rich vibrant soothing colors, are rendered in this pic, Cosmin. The subject's pallor is exceptionally captured, too.
Jerome Belthrop 10-Mar-2003 at 06:27OK, OK, enough praise
already (though handheld at 1/15th deserves a clap). What I would like to know is what time of day and with what lighting conditions was this taken. Someone else has referred to the pallor of the subject and another comment on th colours in the scene. That plus the warmth of the lights (candles?) and the compositino are what makes this photo work. So share - if you can.
Charez Golvala 11-Mar-2003 at 01:27Was
shot at early dawn, before sunrise, the men outside the church wait for the priest inside to bring out the Easter Light. The man is the poorest person in the village, his wife died and immediately after the shot, somebody told me that his only cow died and the other villagers help him with milk from their cows. When I shot it I was leaning my back on the church fence behind me, so Charez, forget the claps.:)
Cosmin Bumbut 11-Mar-2003 at 02:19Ahh
Thank you for the relief that comes from understanding. Lovely light and still a pig to hand-hold, fence or no fence. (Clap, clap, clap).
Charez Golvala 11-Mar-2003 at 08:06impressive photo as shown by the number of people who have rated it
plus the fact that it still appears as the top image after it has rotated off the photos in "recent images" I think your explanation about this man and his current problems in life add even more to the image.
Bob Michaels 13-Mar-2003 at 05:22Outstanding
Perfect eye contact, color, composition and DOF. This image proves that the 45 lens is an excellent one.
Carlo Consoli 13-Mar-2003 at 09:13massively over rated photograph. My opinion of course.
Ibbi 17-Nov-2007 at 14:47I agree with you Ibraar. Also, there is quite a bit of compression in this soft image. It doesn't look like it was made with the 45mm.
Sean Cleary 24-Nov-2007 at 15:37