The Hands of the Fisherman (b&w)

[FootLoose]

I didn't quite capture this shot - there is a bit of subject motion blur, still - but I thought it was a good candidate for black and white conversion. C&C welcome on composition and conversion

[Mike Buckley]

I think it's wonderful, Greg. The only thing I wonder is if cropping at the top to make the hands about one-third from the top would strengthen it even more.

[FootLoose]

I had the same thought when I saw the image posted here, Mike. I'm wary of losing too much though, because I think the texture in the guy's top is large part of what makes this photo.

[Mike Buckley]

I much prefer the revised photo. Though the texture in the fisherman's shirt is interesting and certainly adds to the photo, it's not the subject. Your revised photo nails the subject. Moreover, the revised photo includes enough of the shirt.

Just my opinion.

[John 2]

Like this a lot Greg. The texture and detail are just excellent.

[Daisy Mae]

I think this is great Greg!

Love the detail of his arm too.

[JPS]

Well done Greg, nicely seen & captured picture.

[Karm Redland]

Greg, great images. I like both versions. I think they tell slightly different stories.

karm

[Donald]

My compliments too. An excellent capture to start with and then very well finished in the digital darkroom!

[rpcrowe]

I second the above...

[FootLoose]

Just my opinion.

But a valued opinion, Mike - as, indeed, are all the opinions expressed here.

John, Sharon, John, Mark, Donald, Richard, thank you all. I do appreciate the feedback. It is humbling to receive positive responses from people whose work you admire

[Stagecoach]

Greg,

This is a great image and I have to say now that when I first saw it my immediate reaction was cropping from the bottom as I thought that gave the hands more prominence, strange our different ideas. Whatever, it tells a good story.

Grahame

[FootLoose]

Greg,

This is a great image and I have to say now that when I first saw it my immediate reaction was cropping from the bottom as I thought that gave the hands more prominence, strange our different ideas. Whatever, it tells a good story.

Grahame

Thanks, Grahame. I think it is those different ideas that keep us all going. I am often surprised by the way the narrative in an image is altered by changing the crop.

[EDGE1]

Great shot. I like the composition a lot.

Did you shoot the fisherman at full body and crop, or did you focus on the hands specifically to capture this image?

I'm interested because it's something I want to work on next. I like this type of crop a lot, it works so well. Initial thoughts would be to take a pic of the fisherman working, making him the subject, and not his hands. I want to train my eye to capture shots like this.

Thanks for sharing!

[FootLoose]

Rob,
this guy was one of four fellows sitting on fish crates on the edge of the harbour, sewing / repairing the net. I was initially attracted by their loud singing, and then the bright colour of the fishing net (ruby red). I took many shots of one particular fellow sitting down and sewing: I thought I had nailed every picture until I downloaded to the computer and discovered that I had managed to cut off some small part of one of his hands or fingers in every frame!!

The shot I posted above was a grab shot. As I was leaving this guy stood up and started doing something different, so I just grabbed a 3-shot burst, focused only on his hands - or what you see above. The only cropping from the initial post is about 1cm from the rhs because of bright white reflecting off boats in the background.

Here is a context shot. It was the guy on the far right that I was shooting. The fellow in the b&w posted above is off the to left out of frame (that is his boot you can see in the lower left corner).

[EDGE1]

Thanks for the feedback Greg.

May I ask how you created the B&W image? Contrast reduction, B&W filter, Exposure painting? What were the steps involved.

- Rob

[FootLoose]

Quite straightforward, Rob.

I processed it as a colour shot, then pushed contrast, saturation etc til it starts to look a little overdone, and then click the convert to black and white button. Then play with the sliders to tweak it to my liking.