In this scene, I did not want to shoot it straight on to line up everything nice and neat with the frame , etc. . but rather I wanted a sort of chaotic approach to go along with the elements here, but at the same time have it all come together in a balanced composition. I feel good about the result here, and the lighting was captivating and attracted me in the first place.
Do you feel it works ?
thanks

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/3978472-lg.jpg

Hello Gary
When I first looked at this before reading your message I thought it was too busy with too many bits and pieces but then I read your reference to the chaos, which you wanted, and I instantly put my initial feelings in the bin.
But then the overall composition had me looking all over the place again and I start wondering if a landscape format would have opened it up more and relieve the congestion slightly and give it a bit more breadthing space.
I tried cropping a bit from the top and then the bottom and it still looked good though. The indoor lighting is perfect. The outdoor is supplied by one of the two lamps above the door.( I think there's two). It's good that only one of them was working because two would have been too much. I would like to have seen the shape of the lamp that is on rather than just the very bright glow but perhaps that is me being a little to critical given the circunstances. The shadows outside are great too. It's great that there is some detail in the panels of the door where it could very easily have become a black out area.
I never cease to be impressed by your efforts to get your camera to record these anything but straight forward lighting conditions.
In a nutshell then the only nitpick I might have is with the "balanced composition".
Tom

I appreciate the chaos here. It's still neat chaos. I really love how well you've exposed all the dark areas as well without over blowing the lights. I think that took some great balance. The shadows of the foremost objects lend me to believe there was another light (perhaps a light post) to the left and a bit further away. Over all I think it's a great addition to your chinatown series.

Tom. . .what great thoughts and analysis you put out here. I appreciate your concern about the framing/composition. You mention the outside lights, and I too would like to have had the shape of the lit lamp. It might have came through if the wall behind it were black. I didn't realize my good fortune of the one lamp being out until I had processed the picture and thought the same thing as you. I'm glad it was out or it would have made a mess of the lighting. But thats probably part of what attracted me in the first place, the lighting as it were.

Liban. . . .thanks for the thoughts. Yes , there was another lamp on the left creating another dimension of lighting and shadows. This is what I really like about night scenes in the city, especially Chinatown, is that the street lamps and ohter light sources create strange, double shadows that cannot be had during the day.

Another great addition! This one gives me the feel of nervousness that someone used to describe your earlier shots from this series. You are the king! :D

Gary, I hope you don't visit these places alone. ;) I get a feeling of foreboding when I look at some of your work. You set the mood very well, and I really can't offer much in the way of critique.

In this scene, I did not want to shoot it straight on to line up everything nice and neat with the frame , etc. . but rather I wanted a sort of chaotic approach to go along with the elements here, but at the same time have it all come together in a balanced composition. I feel good about the result here, and the lighting was captivating and attracted me in the first place.
Do you feel it works ?
thanks


Gary, I love that one!
The lighting is absolutely fascinating, I would have been totally drawn to it as well. The thing is that you managed to expose it suberbly well and your post processing further enhance the effect.
I can relate to the "congestion" feeling related by Tom but I personally see it as a strenght. I like how I am forced to look at the door, there is something really oppressing/scary about it and that's certainly one of the thing that gives so much visual impact to this picture.
I wasn't comfortable with the trashes in the foreground at first. They command significant attention due to their position in the frame. But in the end, I guess that this is good thing to have elements in the foreground and the play of light and shadow make them looks very tridimensional, almost pretty somehow.

Seb

I have to wonder how much our locations and/or our previous lives have to do with how we view others' art.

I have responded extremely positively to all your posts on this series. This one makes me react no differently. Having grown up in the inner city in Paterson, then living on Columbia Ave and Delancey Street in the city, everything you have posted simply brings me home. Not saying that I would ever want to go back (I live in the NC suburbs these days) but there is a sense of understanding when I see your work.

I, for one, remember my photographs from those bygone days. When you have no flowers, no grass, no trees, no spectacular fields of softly nodding wheat or golden sunflowers in the area readily available (unless you want to spend all your time in Central Park that is, though I never saw wheat or sunflowers there either that I can recall!), you must find beauty where you can. From bits of broken glass on the street, to the sun glinting on broken window panes, to glistening runoff around the sewer drains. Sad huh?

It's why I really like this image as well. The light invites you in from the trash, the graffiti, the steel shutters (which may represent a high crime area). That door offers sanctuary and it would completely have drawn me as well.

Payn817, John, Seb, and D, it's good to know how you feel about this. John, the foreboding feeling and mood always attracts me.
Seb, i agree with you about the door pulling the eye in, but i do not get that oppressing scary feeling from it. I do actually get that feeling from the window above with the air conditioner. When shooting this, I felt a strange sensation of someone watching from in that window
D, wow, so you lived in Alphabet City? I'm somewhat familiar with that area, and know some people there as well. Alphbet City has changed quite a bit over the last several years, with lots of clubs and cafes opening up all around, but still in the very old grungy style that the area is known for. you bring up some good food for thought. i do think our experiences and upbringing has alot to do with how we percieve things and what may attract one , or provoke a certain mood or feeling from.
When i first started taking pictures, I never imagined that i would be attracted to street scenes, because I'm around it so much that i take it for granted. But looking through the lens for the last couple of years has opened my eyes and mind to things that are always around me in a new way. It may also be your experience that having been around it alot when you were younger, it was not easy to appreciate. now that you have been away from it for some time, seeing the images stirs up a certain appeal that may have always been there, but was not easily recognizable until you could stand away and look back.
Thanks for sharing those thoughts, D.