A Boy Among Men

[Harpo]

At a recent Mud Sale… a Lancaster County thing. Each spring, various volunteer fire departments host auctions for mostly agriculture equipment and a variety of used items, along with Amish hand made quilts & goodies. Its called a Mud Sale because its primarily outside with all the farm equipment in a field and Muck Boots are pretty much the standard footwear for a good reason!


A Boy Among Men, Vingette, 11x17 by MikePhoto63, on Flickr

[Donald]

One to grab when the moment arises. Well done, Mike.

[Shadowman]

And he was more intrigued by you than whatever had their attention. Nice image.

[Geoff F]

A simple casual shot; but it really works well.

[Karm Redland]

Mike, great photo.

Karm

[Mike Buckley]

Very nice, as everyone has already mentioned.

Do you have a version that allows more space above the men's hats? Also consider cropping the bottom to eliminate the two boots facing each other immediately to the left of the boy. Alternatively, maybe you have a version that includes the boy's feet.

[djg05478]

Very nice. Right place, right time and prepared. Can't ask for much more

[Harpo]

Thanks for the comments. This was taken at 300mm, I was behind a stack of pallets, using it for support, waiting for the right moment. There were some "english" (what the amish call the non amish) who were walking by in their colored coats, so I wanted to wait till they cleared away. The most annoying person was a fellow photographer who was puttering around where the boy is… walking back and forth snapping away in front of the Amish- disrespectful. (They are ok with photos being taken from a distance, but up close makes them uncomfortable due to their beliefs). I wanted to throw a horse apple at him! He finally moved and got the shot!

Mike, the bottom of the photo is the bottom. Was trying to take the photo over some other auction items between me and the crowd. As for more space at the top, see the black blob in the middle above the boy? Thats another amish man with a beard who was looking in my direction, standing in front of a manure speeder. He kinda threw off the symmetry of the image, so off with his head! Also the the background above the hats were distracting. Thats why I cropped it where it is.

My one regret is I did not pay attention when the clouds moved in as I was framing the shot, which lowered my shutter speed to 1/50 on this image. But hey! it didn't turn out too bad!

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks for the real-world explanation of the situation, Mike. You did a wonderful job photographing the scene and without offending any of your subjects. Though a different circumstance might have produced a better image, you made the very most of the situation available to you and produced a definite keeper.

[Hans]

The "English." That's interesting.

Brilliant shot. If I had taken this shot I could die content with my contribution to photography.
Well done, Mike

[Harpo]

The "English." That's interesting.

Yup, thats what the english speaking North Americans are called! The Amish have their German dialect mixed in. Where I live, they speak "Pennsylvania Dutch", and Dutch has nothing to do with the Dutch in the Netherlands! They are an interesting people, and like every culture/group, they have a lot of good people and their share of bad apples. The more you get to know them, the more you realize they are more like us than not. How they dress & live just stands out more as compared to people in many parts of the world- our clothes have become westernized, and we use modern conveniences.

Brilliant shot. If I had taken this shot I could die content with my contribution to photography.
Well done, Mike

Thanks, but I don't know if I would go that far! I still have a long way to go to get to the level of some of the regulars here!

[kdoc856]

Great shot, Mike!

[shoshanna]

I agree-it is a great shot.

[Aforns]

Like the impact !! Excellent !!

[zen]

Yup, thats what the english speaking North Americans are called! The Amish have their German dialect mixed in. Where I live, they speak "Pennsylvania Dutch", and Dutch has nothing to do with the Dutch in the Netherlands! They are an interesting people, and like every culture/group, they have a lot of good people and their share of bad apples. The more you get to know them, the more you realize they are more like us than not. How they dress & live just stands out more as compared to people in many parts of the world- our clothes have become westernized, and we use modern conveniences.



Thanks, but I don't know if I would go that far! I still have a long way to go to get to the level of some of the regulars here!

Nevertheless, a meaningful shot. I'm originally from Allentown and have known and spent time with the Amish. Have found them to be a hospitable, lovely, caring and sharing people. You will never go hungry! This shot brings back warm memories.

Thanks for sharing it.

Zen