Larisa story Photo

Photographer’s Note

Railway stations ..…fabulous places. Nodal, very earthy and noisy places where people take and change trains, but also places full of the resonance of the stories surrounding the circumstances why people do that. To go to work, go on holiday, maybe even change their future.
This pic was captured in Larisa station. We were on our way from Volos to Athens and had to change trains there.

From the Moleskin travel diary:
“….When we again tried to make reservations for the train to Athens, the Larisa ticket office lady told us that there were no seats available in the ICE and IC express train. So no delightful Hermes for us this time. She confirmed what we already had been told in Volos. We had to wait 5 hours for the first regular train to Athens.
A friendly OSE station employee took care of our luggage and we walked to the city for lunch and were pleasantly surprised by the great atmosphere of the centre with its delightful green squares. Very lively. After lunch we visited the archaeological museum ( a former Turkish mosque) and strolled back to the station, easily finding our way back because of the city’s rectangular grid. The OSE man proudly refused a tip while he retrieved our luggage. We took a table on the station’s café terrace and along with a steady stream of espresso diplos enjoyed the hustle and bustle of the busy station. From the terrace I spotted the young woman in the picture. The contrast she formed with the gritty backdrop of the station was striking. After a while an old man joined her here and a conversation started. After the young woman had left, my love took this one.
A nicely narrative triptych was the result. We will never know the story and the things that could have happened next -no matter, our fantasy is enough.
A few minutes later we would board the Train from Hell ….”

The PCS3 processing: I altered the saturation, contrast, curves and levels for the whole pic and some elements separately, using different layers, applied the high pass filter on a 35% tranparant layer, enhanced the edges, USM-ed, added a frame and resized and enhanced the edges and did a gentle USM (1,1px, 14 %) again on a 85 % transparent layer.

exif data
Camera Manufacturer : Canon
Camera Model : PowerShot S5 IS
Exposure time [s] : 1/125
F-Number : 3.5
ISO speed ratings : 80
Focal length [mm] : 390 mm (35 mm equiv)
ISO speed ratings : 80
Date taken : 2008:07:04 12:40:59
Exposure bias value : -2/3
Metering mode : Multi-segment (5)
Exposure mode : Manual (1)
Colour space : sRGB

ribeiroantonio, ktanska, carper, jhm, dip, UlfE, alvaraalto, Tue, lucasgalodoido, syd1946, feather, Dpbours, Vames, BennyV has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

ktanska (16514) 2008-08-26 23:46

Hi Bert,
Stations are perfect placec hor hanging around and forget hurries until the train comes. Cool side portrait with harmonous all brown background.
Is seat reservation obligatory on Greek IC trains?
Kari

bema (8633) 2008-08-26 23:47

Hi Bert,

fantastic outlook on that pretty object; l like the colors and the sharpness at your beautifl picture, also a real good story..

kind regards Bernd

serp2000 (9355) 2008-08-27 0:24

beatiful artwork, Bert! An interesting story!
I like your work! TFS!
Greetings from Ural,
Serghei

ribeiroantonio (21859) 2008-08-27 0:48

With or without story you got a terrific picture, with a very attractive lady and superb colours. I love it. Well done.
Antonio

athanvas (2341) 2008-08-27 1:00

Hi Bert
Very beautiful photograph!

Best regards, VASILIS

carper (64546) 2008-08-27 3:43

mooie verschijning, uitstekende foto Bert.
zo had ik ze nu nog niet van U gezien. goed fotowerk, prettige dag verder.
groet Jaap

jhm (82201) 2008-08-27 3:55

Hallo Bert,

Wat heeft u nu gevonden zo alleen opeen bank, maar als model heeft u het goed bekeken.
De zonnebril is wel de blikvanger door de weerkaatsingen en de kleur.
Goede foto, zeker van kwaliteit en presentatie.
Bedankt Bert.

Groeten,
John.

TGULUMSER (12496) 2008-08-27 6:16

Hello Bert,
Railway stations and also airports are really interesting places. You captured a nice moment from the daily life,
Best regards,
Tulay

portmanndominic (2388) 2008-08-27 6:57

Hello Bert

In a station we are the spectators of the daily life departures... comme back ..and many others things
you shot from a good POV a good contrasted picture with a very useful note
regards
Dominic

dip (12534) 2008-08-27 10:58

Geia sou Bert,
beautiful composition with excellent clarity and light,nice natural colors too,
interesting note:)
Greetings,
Dimitris.

UlfE (8937) 2008-08-27 11:38

Hi Bert,

Wow what a fabulous portrait. Very impressive sharpness concentrated to this cool and relaxed lady. The little bit blurred background is perfect. Also part of the bench is actually blurred. I love that the lady as the main subject is really in focus. A superb photo-job. TFS and have a nice evening!

Cheers,

Ulf

alvaraalto (5229) 2008-08-27 12:21

Hallo Bert,

Ik kan me goed voorstellen dat je hier een plaatje van moest schieten. Je geeft het een mooie literaire draai met dit passende dagboek-fragment.

groet Rob

Tue (25608) 2008-08-27 12:31

Hi Bert,
Een hele mooie foto van het dagelijks leven op het station met deze dame die even op het bankje zit uit te rusten. De kleuren zijn heel prettig en warm. De compositie is uitstekend. Heel mooi werk, bedankt!
Groeten,
Lars

lucasgalodoido (16583) 2008-08-27 14:13

Hi Bert,
interesting and beatiful (image and girl) moment this, railways, bus stations and airports always was great places, but I don´t like of the cigarretes... it´s not the best of health...
Congratulations and Hug

syd1946 (17869) 2008-08-28 0:50

Geia sou Bert,
What a beautiful scene you captured here...the lonely young woman and her thoughtful face expression made it so interesitng and attractive.It is incredible how fitting with the story on the diary.I enjoy it file mou,a type of shot that I like it very much!

Have a nice day,
Thomas

feather (49858) 2008-08-28 4:08

It sounds like quite an adventure. As long as your carriage didn't resemble the one in the background here. ;D I can see why you (a man ;D) were attracted to this scene. Are you sure it was the contrast with the surroundings? :D The image is well composed with the girl looking into the frame. Good use of a narrow DOF.
Well done
Kath

brevbrev14 (372) 2008-08-29 2:11

Hi Bert, very well composed this image and the woman has a great natural expression
Railway station are interesting places for a photographer
HAVE A GREAT W.E. :)))
ciao!
Valeria

Dpbours (218) 2008-08-29 6:47

Hi Bert,

That reminds me of a smoking photograph I once took myself in a station. Same theme you find here!

You're a bit more up close, which I really like! Or should I saw, you had a bit more zoom. 390mm! :-)) Nice!
What do you mean with the 'high pass filter' in your post processing? Just wondering.

Greetings,
Dennis

Stepan (27175) 2008-08-29 22:43

Makes me feel like taking train in Greece !!! Beautiful... light management and perfect sharpness. You did it well.
Stéphane

vascao (192) 2008-10-02 15:23

Hi, Bert
From your recent gallery, this one took my attention. She's gorgeous, isn't she?
Sharp image, very well detailed, with a lot of atmosphere. Very nice DOF.
[]'s
Sergio

Vames (4356) 2008-10-14 5:14

ciao Bert, questa 'e magnifico ragazza ,bravissimo Bert,bella momento !

Hanssie (9133) 2008-10-30 6:52

Hey man:-))
What a beauty (the picture:-)), this scene, so sharp and very clear, also the surroundings are just fantastic !
Very well seen:-))

andante (7092) 2009-02-08 10:55

Hi Bert, you have create a great image here. This photo captures a beautiful woman having a cigarette while, I assume, waiting for the train or a friend... just because of the woman I'd be attracted to look at the image. But this composition is so good, that even without her presence, just the bank, and the wall behind would have standout. You have a wonderful eye for patterns.
TFS,
E

BennyV (4614) 2009-02-12 12:30

Dag Bert,

Veel 'views' voor deze mooie vrouw, maar het is voor mij toch de manier waarop je ze gefotografeerd hebt die ik zo geslaagd vindt. De kleuren zijn mooi vol en gesatureerd, zonder dat het 'over the top' gaat. En - vooral - de compositie vind ik erg knap, met mooi licht op de houten bank, die bijna het kader lijkt binnen te schuiven. Mooi werk, dus.

Benny

BASILEIOS (117) 2009-02-27 13:55

now if I say that I admire colours I will say lies and this because very simply do not exist beautiful live colours in the photograph. Of course and you are not to blaim you for this but the employees of station. What of course remains admires no one is what other, from the beautifully miss

sayeed_rahman (2265) 2009-04-30 23:30

Hello Bert

The perfect saturation has been contributed by the correct exposure..you had worked it out well..good proportions..gives a sense of interaction between the elements.

Commendable job my friend..like it alot.

Story-teller:)) Youve put a lot into this post..appreciate it.

Cheers
sayeed