retirement in the sun Photo

Photographer’s Note

These gentlemen were enjoying a sunbath the opposite side of the café which has not a good orientation (seen at the back of the photo : facing the north east) ; arriving there at around 4pm after a long walk with my dogs, they urged me to join them and offered me tea, yelling at the tea "boy" (a man, in fact) who was not coming rapidly enough : poor guy, he was running a marathon between the various customers scattered around the little place...

... but this was done in a good mood with lots of joking. After having found the trace of a lady that I had met 3 years ago, passing again there, some other elderly men had joined these ones ; funny conversations and again, I got some marriage proposals from the widowers ;o))

All very peaceful and seeming happy with life in general - some had worked in Germany, others had remained here to cultivate their plots of land, while others had worked for the government...

(PS - I've recently discovered that the macro option works very well with those Ixuses, the friendly man in the FG did not mind having my camera at 40cm from his face and smiled at me this way, I did not have to do much with PP here !)

axiotea, ymrk, tesup, holmertz, papagolf21, sevy, Cretense, Vasa, faubry, Glint has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

axiotea (16107) 2008-11-07 7:32

Salut Cath
Une image pleine de bonne humeur accompagnée d'une note sympathique, comme à ton habitude! Une, euh je veux dire plusieurs demandes en mariage? hehe ;))
Amitiés
Marilyn

ymrk (8735) 2008-11-07 8:00

Merhaba Cath;
He is lovely old man:)
Good compo and wonderfull shot.
Tesekkür ederim arkadasim.
See you soon,
Regards,

YAĞMUR

tesup (210) 2008-11-07 13:03

"a down-to-earth realism, if possible in amusing situations"...
this is it Cath, so cool :)
and it s very esthetic as well.

best wishes,

tesup

jonathan_hart (22576) 2008-11-07 13:17

un léger "bokeh" comme on dit qui donne une excellente profondeur, c'est encore une belle réussite cette photo
amicalement
jc

holmertz (9645) 2008-11-07 13:28

Hello Catherine,
It's nice to see that some things haven't changed drastically in Turkey in the last 30 years. Elderly gentlemen seem to dress the way they always did. Otherwise I think Cappadocia is a different world from when I saw it in 1970. A fine perspective with one man in a close-up and the other one blurred in the background.
Have a nice weekend,
Gert

MarianneS (14266) 2008-11-07 13:54

Bonsoir Catherine,
Une excellente composition mais surtout, une fois encore, une expression 100% détendue et cordiale.
Un vrai plaisir!
J'aime bien la manière dont tu centres l'intérêt sur ce monsieur à l'avant-plan, avec une parfaite netteté, tandis que le reste de ta compo est bien flouté.
Bien joué!
Bises. Marianne

papagolf21 (56367) 2008-11-08 1:23

Bonjour, chère Catherine,
J'apprécie beaucoup vos compositions et particulièrement vos portraits.
Vous avez ce don pour saisir, croquer à souhait des personnages de la vie courante, cela demande une sorte de "communion" entre le photographe et le personnage photographié. Je n'ai pas cette qualité, aussi je me contente de photographier la nature, l'architecture, ...
Je comprends très bien votre démarche, vous allez à la rencontre des gens (vous voyagez beaucoup), cela facilite beaucoup cette entente.
Merci, Catherine, de nous offrir ces beaux portraits naturels.
Amitiés.
Philippe

sevy (13450) 2008-11-08 1:38

Bonjour Catherine,

Je vois que tu maitrises bien le cadrage en escalier, en profondeur pour bien detacher les 2 personnes, donner un contexte grace a un cadrage suffisament large et a donner ainsi du volume a la scene.
Je trouve souvent ce type de portrait plus interessant que le classique portrait serré en faible profondeur de champs. Bien entendu, ces 2 approches ne se combattent pas car elles montrent des aspects differents.
Ici, le 2nd homme apporte beaucoup par sa position mais surtout par son regard. Il procure une sorte de distanciation.

Yves.

MarcT (21099) 2008-11-08 5:02

Salut Cath,
Très joli portrait rapproché. Excellent piqué et beau rappel par le deuxième vieil homme.
Amitiés
Marc

nirvana73 (8656) 2008-11-08 6:38

merhaba Catherine
harika insanlar
harika bir gülüş
doğal ve sıcak kare
paylaşım için teşekkürler
selamlarımla
Özhan

bantonbuju (48630) 2008-11-08 9:09

this is delightful, cath!
a close contact with both of your models allowed you to establish a link based on trust - leading to an open smile and charm, and delight...
bw, j.

Cretense (56136) 2008-11-08 9:24

Hi Catherine!

Street photography is your best "field", I think, and this is street photography at its best in general! Excellent portrait here, perfect framing and composition, great light managment and fantastic interaction with your "hero"! Congratulations!

Hercules

Vasa (5500) 2008-11-08 14:26

Chez nous on dit le regard de "schmeker": amicale, tendre, seduisant, sur de soi meme. Encore une photo que j'aime bien. Chere amie.

Branko

SteveH (3903) 2008-11-08 19:10

Hi Cath, I know this man, I'm sure, or at least someone just the same. He looks just like any number of men I drank tea with in Turkey, and that is why this works for me. Very evocative of the country, the guy behind him, the building, the tree and rocks in the BG, couldn't be anywhere else. Great shot, takes me back 20 years. cheers, Steve

Polonaise (5636) 2008-11-11 9:17

Talking about photographing the people ???

what a skillful shot, katarzyna...
from corner to corner...
bold and bravado...
Smelly and hot in touch...

..................
40 cm. from his face...???
Nasty, nasty Cathy...Nasty girl...
You don't approach the people from that close distance...
Nasty Cath...!!!

...................

faubry (32299) 2008-11-11 14:23

bonsoir Cath, une photo d'un homme sympathique, une expression amicale, une échange et le second homme derrière est présent par son regard, très belle image encore une fois, bonne soirée
amitiés
francine

Glint (3042) 2008-11-14 14:48

I like this one Catherine because it makes me feel happy. The man in the foreground has a nice, smiley face and the other man looks sooo chilled out with his pipe.
You have a good composition here to.
bev

ben4321 (9795) 2008-11-15 9:21

I can't keep up with your postings Catherine - you're too prolific for me!
This is my favourite of your recent shots - a superb double portrait, nice and relaxed.
Great expression on the face of the bearded chap, but what I really like here is the pose of the man in the background. What an elaborate cigarette holder - I bet he was quite a charmer in his youth...
By the way, do you speak Turkish? You seem to establish such intimate connections with your subjects that I imagine you must speak the lingo.

Cheers,
Ben