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pdxflint

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Aug 25, 2006
2,407
14
Oregon coast
This week's challenge - Environmental Portraits / People at Work

Tell us a story. Includes elements that help 'paint' a descriptive 'portrait' of someone, not just a studio/lighting exercise. Something with a 'feature story' quality - a bit of a narrative. Have fun. :)

previous contests here:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/580184/


Starting now (25 January 11:30am PST - ending 01 February, 11:30am PST)

Rules:

1. You may enter only one photo.

2. Please do not comment on photos until after the judging has taken place.

3. The contest runs for exactly one week, starting NOW! (see time stamp)

4. At the end of the week, The Judge (last weeks winner) will choose a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place photo, providing as much feedback as possible. (Judge has 24 hours to make decision)

5. The 1st place Winner will start a new thread with the topic/theme of their choice, and act as the Judge for that contest.
(Winner has 48 hours to create new theme)
 

OrangeCuse44

macrumors 65832
Oct 25, 2006
1,504
2
Not sure if this counts, but here goes:
4304402696_2033eaee2a_b.jpg
 

stiffcrumb

macrumors newbie
Jan 26, 2010
3
0
Working at home

Passing from one area of work to another I spotted me. . . . .
 

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RedDragon870503

macrumors 6502
Sep 6, 2006
299
1
Street Painter. Valparasio, Chile.

Tamron 28-75 @ 2.8.

I later struck up a conversation with him and he said he was hired to cover up the graffiti on a small shop. His paintings were beautiful.
 

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  • Chile1.jpg
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AlexH

macrumors 68020
Mar 7, 2006
2,035
3,151
Randomly photographing family members...
 

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pdxflint

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Aug 25, 2006
2,407
14
Oregon coast
Okay, contest is officially over. I won't be picking a winner until after work... so if someone just really wants to post a last-minute entry over the next 3 or 4 hours, feel free to do it.
 

pdxflint

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Aug 25, 2006
2,407
14
Oregon coast
Okay sports fans... just to advise that I'm going to be a little bit later tonight in getting to this. I've got a dinner date which came up at the last minute... and time's running short. Should I survive the evening, I'll post the winner when I return...
 

pdxflint

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Aug 25, 2006
2,407
14
Oregon coast
and the winner is...

First of all, I just wanted to say a couple things...This was a tough week, because I feel I failed somehow to define what I meant by 'environmental portrait / people at work... a type of photography where the photographer obviously knows his subject well enough to introduce him/her to the rest of us. It's not a random type of shot. So that's completely my fault. Having said that, I still judged the shots on what I was looking for, so please forgive any appearance of being tough or negative - it's all meant in the spirit of constructive criticism. Besides the fact that I did this at 4:10 am after a night of serious ale consumption... yikes!! And I want to thank all who participated for their entries, and for bearing with my crankiness on this... :)

OrangeCuse44: Interesting concept, and obviously a shot reflecting some good times with a bunch of friends. However, it didn't tell me much about who the subject was, and in fact wasn't really a 'portrait.'

rjheys: I'm not quite sure what this is telling me, other than it's a bunch of people, friends I assume, strolling along a beach together. I'm not quite getting the 'portrait' part - it's more of a basic snap type shot.

redbuzzybug: I actually like this shot, it does have some cool tones in it and is a bit striking. It does show a workplace, but it doesn't give me the sense of being an environmental 'portrait' of anyone. Who is the subject? It's more of an overall, wide shot which might accompany others in a photo spread, but not so much a portrait which reveals something of a person's character. It does show a typical workplace in an interesting way, though.

stiffcrumb: Ahhh... another shadow shot. Actually, on its own it doesn't fit the description of 'environmental portrait.' It might be an environmental shot, but it's a bit cute and fails to even identify anyone on it's own.

Mattyb240: This looks like a snapshot. I'm not really sure what these guys do, although the certainly appear to be at work... waiting for something to happen. One guy happens to be looking toward the camera, but that's the extent of the notion of a 'portrait.' I'm not sure who the subject even is. My feeling is if it needs a lot of explanation, it doesn't really work. At least based on what I was looking for.

mike dunx: really cool idea... would have been cooler if the dice were sharp - nothing is in focus, not even the cash. Having said that, this fails for me on the description of environmental portrait. I'm not sure where the person at work part might fit. It would have been a good detail shot in a multi-photo series about a gambler, maybe, but as a single photo it doesn't even identify who it is. I want to see the person, be able to get a sense of who they are... see their face. Don't feel bad, you weren't alone here on this.

JDDavis: Okay, maybe we're on the right track on what I was getting at, but once again I can't tell who this is. If you had taken the subject and had him look into the camera... it would have been fine to pose him, with his climbing gear and the rocks and backdrop helping tell me a bit about the person, as well as allowing us to study his face. I get part of it, but these don't have to be candid shots of people's backs. Think of a magazine feature photo about the subject, and how you'd shoot that.

mikshayne:
Nice light, and this shot does tell me something about this person, and makes me want to know who Roger is... There is a bit of a feature, candid feel to this shot, but it works as an 'environmental portrait.'

Indydenny: Wow, wild colors. This shot does provide a sense of this shopkeeper and his occupation in some foreign market... but he's almost buried in the color and patterns. If you could have gotten him to stand, and moved a bit closer and let us see more of him, rather than just his wares, it would have been a lot more successful.

capoeirista: This looks like a snapshot of someone you know, but I'm not sure if it would resonate with anyone else. It's a person, again from the back, just standing there looking out at the water on a beach stroll. It doesn't really tell me anything unique at all about this person...

EugeneA: Another grab shot of a worker. He's got his face covered, and is intent on doing what he's doing, but it doesn't show me his uniqueness. I don't feel as if I know him through this shot, other than he's a scaffold worker. The shot is too busy, and he almost gets lost in the criss-crossing lines and multi-tones.

Chappers: An interesting picture, more photojournalistic than most so far. I do get the sense that the subject is the young man, since he's the active person, and appears to be assisting or providing information to the older woman. I do get a sense of story here, but still, it is more of a feature shot than an environmental portrait... yet I feel I know something about this person's character through this shot.

designguy79: There is something cool about this picture, and I'm not just talking about the tone of it... ;) Actually the overexposed, high contrast look works for me. But, I'm still missing something. What does this picture tell me about this guy, other than he's on a cell phone standing by a pay phone. It's ironic, but a bit contrived. At least I can see what he looks like... ;)

RedDragon870503: Another shot in the vein of EugeneA's. It's more of a 'reportage' type shot, but not as much a portrait. If you had moved closer, engaged the subject and let him reveal himself to the camera, with his 'work' by his side or strong in the background... it would have worked better.

acearchie: This is not really an environmental portrait, but is more of a grab shot with flash. It doesn't tell me much about the subject, assuming it's the guy on the left, other than he's some student or young person palling around with some friends or classmates. It's a shoebox snapshot that would only be of interest to someone who knows him... or her.

nomad01:
Again... who's the subject? this is a grab shot of three cops conferring about something across the street from the photographer. Their faces are mostly hidden, and it just doesn't work - even as a news shot.

Elbert C: Hmmm... it looks like a still from some old b/w movie. It is an interesting character shot, but it looks like it was shot candidly and clandestinely, with a longer lens, like a private eye was spying on this guy. I like the shot, and the black and white... but I'm not quite sure if it's what I'd describe as an environmental portrait. And... he might be working, or he might be talking to his girlfriend while having lunch... who knows? And that's kind of the point. If you don't know, how can you convey that to us?

AlexH: I like the sort of moment, and the technical execution of the image, but I don't get a sense of who this person is, or what they do - something's missing to fill in the character study. Who is she, and how do we come to know her through this photo?

Negrito: first of all, it doesn't fit the category... other than that, the first thing that comes to mind is one word; tripod. ;)


So the winner is:

milkshayne - 1st place

RedDragon870503 - 2nd place

Chappers
- 3rd place
 
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