Steel Drums Photo | TrekEarth

Photographer’s Note

This handsome black man was sitting on the sidewalk in front of my bank in downtown San Anselmo playing steel drums you would most likely associate with the music of Jamaica. As I listened to his delightful music, I took a number of photos of him playing with the thought of using one for the Scavenger Hunt. The final photos were of his face, taken with the camera set for aperture priority to limit the depth of field.

The man was wearing two colorful shirts and initially I thought to crop the image wider and do it in color to show off the shirt, but this face was simply too compelling and I knew the colors were distracting rather than enhancing. I desaturated the image and applied sepia tone before finally feeling satisfied with the image, which is my first portrait shot.

In addition to processing noted above I adjusted levels, applied USM and sized for upload. Hope you enjoy Jamaican steel drum music!

Rinie_Hoff, Burnham, Galeota, nwoehnl, jhonny_blue, touristdidi has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Rinie_Hoff (9334) 2004-07-02 4:04

Bravo, Curtis! Excellent portrait, very nice tight crop. I love his expression, concentration. I'm very happy with the sepia. Ho could have some more space in front of hs face, but it's excellent. I love it

Burnham (2426) 2004-07-02 4:11

Da capo! Standing ovation from Denmark :o) I'm impressed that you seem to find portrait rather "easy", and what a nice model you picked, his face tells a story of it's own. It looks a bit fuzzy on my monitor though, looks like the compression hurt the surface a bit. Anyway really good protrait and an interesting angle.

Galeota (10334) 2004-07-02 5:36

Have I missed something Curtis? Is this a repost? I have the feeling that I saw it yesterday with other comments..

Excellent crop on his head. A real nice portrait even more intense by the tone you've chosen.

merpb (1970) 2004-07-02 5:46

Spot on street portrait Curtis, his concentration is matched and enhanced by your tight crop and really provides a very powerful image.

GrahamB (939) 2004-07-02 5:55

Great tight crop on this portrait and the sepia tones work very well. I like the concentration you have captured on his face, without the note you would have to guess what he was doing.
Very nice.

clodreno (0) 2004-07-02 6:13

This is a GREAT portrait, I simply love it... Nothing else to add. Pefect.

manny (21378) 2004-07-02 6:35

Curtis...your first attempt at potrait is very good. A little more sharpness perhaps but in this case, this just look fine as it is. I like the tight compo an dthe patterns of the shirt. Very very good. I am looking forward to more.

Cat (0) 2004-07-02 7:53

Excellent portrait! I love the tight crop you have used in this presentation, and the sepia tone is perfect.

He is quite a handsome man indeed, I love the facial expression of deep thought. This is just a lovely portrait, and you have done your job quite well.
Congratulations!

danbachmann (1684) 2004-07-02 13:48

I like your cropping very much, but it would be nice if the image was a little clearer.

nwoehnl (120) 2004-07-03 18:16

Just dropping by to leave my congratulations on your first portrait, Curtis - I think it's excellent. Your cropping is very original, the profile view presented in sepia is effective, and the guy's thoughtful look leaves room for a lot of interpretation which I guess is quite intriguing. Way to go, I hope you'll try more. Portrait is a category I have so far not been comfortable trying myself - I don't particularly fancy to have my picture taken, so I figure why would anybody else. But I do have infinite admiration for people who are really good at this - Claude, Manny, Darren and Maciek just being a few of them active on this site.

Isabelle (9020) 2004-07-04 19:13

quite different from your ordinary compositions, Curtis, and very well done.
sepia or b&w are the best choices. cropping is excellent.

femkevdh (2633) 2004-07-05 2:52

very beautiful capture Curtis! Good choice to crop and get rid of the colours. I love the focussed expression and his beard. And the fact that this man is playing steel drums makes me love him vene more! ;-)

jrzufferey (7249) 2004-07-08 9:38

Superbe, j'aime beaucoup le cadrage de ton image c'est magnifique ce piqué met tellement bien en valeur le personnage. De plus avoir choisi le sépia est à mon avis un excellent choix. Amicalement/jr

oochappan (22032) 2004-07-15 3:54

and every time I cross your gallery, I stop at this impressif portait. This time I say it: one of my fauvourites ! (thnx for putting me back on track by ur encouragment)

jhonny_blue (4954) 2004-07-15 5:12

Very beautiful pictures you have in TE Curtis !
I love this picture with this old man. Great expression and composition.
Very good colour choice.
Congratulations

touristdidi (8561) 2004-07-15 11:09 [Comment]

Show Comment

ChrisJ (70521) 2004-07-18 4:02

Great portrait, great sepia / b&w, great pov.
There needs to be a reflection from the eye, imho.