Okay, cool. This is a nice way to finish out the "DPC" year..with a ribbon. That is 5 in 2005. 5 in 2006.
This is 16th Street Mall in Denver, Colorado. I hadn't walked around taking candid city stuff for about 3 months (pathetic I know). I have simply been obsessed with studio/model work and nature landscapes. So I spent about 2 hrs just wandering around my city taking photographs of people and buildings with "For Sale" in the back of my mind. But the street vendors were always my intention. During this walk I even got my first "I am calling security, you are suspicious" crazy, woman manager threat...even though I was on a public street shooting away from her building. Crazy, insane. It probably didn't help I had my headphones on while she had been trying to communicate with me for upwards of 5 minutes and I was completely unaware of her nagging presence at that point.
But as the light was fading completely and I was walking home, I saw this man and literally was crossing the street with the traffic snapping away. Just bumped the shutter speed high enough (and ISO) that my movement didn't bother the photo.
Okay, the big deal here is sel desat. I rarely rarely use it. But read Mr. Clarke's comment (e301). That is exactly how I feel about the image. The concept behind the visual trick was purely to highlight the fellow and bring the viewer to spend sometime with him. Otherwise the scene is so busy, he would have been lost I fear. But that is why i went for a more graudated color from bottom to top, to make the effect less stark, and almost warming instead.
Thanks again everyone. And watch out for some sweet sub-tropical photographs in the coming weeks.
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Place: 3 out of 120 Avg (all users): 6.7790 Avg (commenters): 8.3333 Avg (participants): 6.4912 Avg (non-participants): 6.8571 Views since voting: 7625 Views during voting: 390 Votes: 267 Comments: 61 Favorites: 17 (view)
I like the selective desat in this shot - and I don't generally. Leaving the area around the street seller in color made it work and kudos to you for realising this.
Its almost like a beam of sunshine or a spotlight on stage..
i love the effect of the selective desat. I agree with the photographer that the background is a bit busy and would rob the main subject of its prominence. i think the effect worked well in depicting an oasis of warmth amidst a cold background (depicted by the desaturated background). the absence of other people in the background even adds to "aloofness" and the "coldness" that we may experience in this day and age. had he left the colrs in, i bet the background will be full of lights especially on the trees...
an island of warmth and comfort in a cold winter night... that's what i see...
I like this very much. I think the selective desat makes the shot. I really didn't even notice it much. It just looked like a snowy scene to me, so I was drawn to the warmth. Nice one.
As much as I love to see candid photographs as top finishers in any challenge, I don't like this picture. What you did to the colours is atrocious, and the composition is too up-front and messy.
I'm pleased you're on the front page again Beau - your stuff's usually worth keeping an eye on. But selective de-sat ... just can't bring myself to even pretend to say I like it :-) Sure, it needs it - he'd have vanished into his background too much without that trick to give it effect - so points for visual understanding - but ... well, if it needed that, it isn't that great a shot, is it?
I would have cropped some off of the top. Great lighting and color at the bottom of the photo. Love the lines created in this photo...again they would still be there even if some was cropped from the top.
For once, a selective color that doesn't irritate me! Has a lovely texture & vibrance while still imparting dichotomistic feelings of loneliness & holiday cheer. Horizon is ever so slightly off, but since I can't give you a 9.5, I'll have to give you a 10.
Wonderful job of selective desat. Certainly made this vendor jump out as it would have been lost in the "busyness" otherwise. Good job of PP (vignetting, blur, desat, etc...). Nicely done.
This was the first image to come up for me to vote on and let me tell you that you sure set the bar high IMO. The selective desat works great. It gives a wonderful contrast between the chill of outside and the warmth that the hot dog cart spreads out. Very well done - bumping up to a 9 for now - but I might be back again. OK - back real quick to add this to my faves.
That is EERIE, strange PP. It almost has a sense of being a stage set with a B/w backdrop, I expect the vendor to burst into song. Oddly enough I was looking for "my" hotdog vendor to shoot him in a similar scene except a natural backdrop, but he's folded up for the winter :-)
Can't make up my mind to hate it or love it, which is all-in-all a good thing. I think it would work better for me if the reds were a little more muted, but I'm not sure. Arresting image, anyway, and into the 6 group for holding.
The Street Vendor
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