On Portugal Place by judithg

On Portugal Place

A glorious day out today with a real feeling of spring if you stick to the sunny side of the street. It was a pleasure taking Monty down to Jesus Green for a change and he enjoyed chasing balls while I enjoyed several episodes of Desert Island Discs. I segued from Sarah Millican to Justin Welby and both were interesting. I had a chat with Stuart from Birkenhead and Vixy from County Durham on the way home. Stuart asked me where I was from and despite being well into his (not the first) can of Special Brew was lucid enough to tell me that Preston 'is a bit rough'. I told him what I thought of that assertion and he backed down a bit and admitted they had done well to get 1-0 up last night!
What a varied dog walk you had! My other half is a staunch Utd fan so Ireally got told off when Preston scored!! This is a great picture that doesn't even look English! What with the sun and the pots and is this a priest coming towards us?
February 17th, 2015  
Excellent candid capture. Enjoy your beautiful day. It is pretty here today with the sun out but it is extremely cold with snow everywhere.
February 17th, 2015  
I adore the lighting in this shot. Wonderful
February 17th, 2015  
@Cherrill A monk - seemed appropriate for Shrove Tuesday and listening to the Archbishop!
February 17th, 2015  
Wonderful lighting and wonderful composition. Knew this was yours as soon as I saw it
February 17th, 2015  
A great candid capture and street scene.
February 17th, 2015  
Sounds as if you had an interesting outing! Good capture and great lighting and processing.
February 17th, 2015  
What a beautiful scene! Love the lighting.
February 17th, 2015  
the lighting and the 'dress' makes it look like it IS portugal
February 17th, 2015  
Beautiful lighting in this shot. I come from Birkenhead originally - Rock Ferry - now that is rough!
February 17th, 2015  
Beautiful photo, nice to get warmth from sun again.
February 17th, 2015  
@sarah19 Really raises the spirits!
February 17th, 2015  
Great day over here on the coast too.
Nice portrait!
February 17th, 2015  
Great shot, lighting
February 17th, 2015  
Hmm, I really like the light, and sthe shot. A little contrasty. I actually think it would be a better portrait, closer cropped. I'm not sure the top part adds much. There is the light on the wall, but it is a long way for my eye to go to get there. Plus it feels sort of like the subject is too far away... what is the subject--- the man? The street? I like the shot. Hope you don't mind my comments, just saying...
February 17th, 2015  
@adambralston I do mind at all! I did crop it down actually but then I lost the atmosphere of the street and decided I would lose the monk as subject specifically and go for the overall effect. Will revisit it again - makes a very different shot. Thanks for the feedback!
February 17th, 2015  
@adambralston that should say DONT mind!!
February 17th, 2015  
Fabulous lighting on this :)
February 17th, 2015  
Nice shot
February 17th, 2015  
@judithg Yes, I can see it does make for a very different shot. I mean, I get what you were doing here. And I like the over all feel. Was this a stranger? I can't take stranger shots. I get too nervous. I think we all tend to rush those shots and snap it too soon...

But, I like the atmosphere here. If the street is the subject, I think it works better... the monk is a little small to be the main subject.. and in fact because of perspective the lamp over his head almost looks larger than he is. It might be...

But, I would be struggling with this photo myself if I had taken it. I'd be saying that I love the way it came out, and I really like the look. But, I would fight with myself over the subject. Cropped it does make a kind of more intimate portrait shot of a monk on a cool street... you NEVER see portrait shots of monks! So, in that way it is unique. As is, it is a nice scene, and feels cool. The street is interesting, the lighting is neat, your process is good, but I just kind of feel that it sort of misses the mark there... see what I mean? It's just a little too open. And my eye keeps drifting up to the light like it is "photobombing". :)

So, in the end, I think a square crop even might be interesting with the monk as the portrait subject. BUT, you must leave in the entire shadow of the monk!!! *shrug* Thank you for letting me express my views. I really only do that when I really really like a shot, or when I love it but there is just something that is bugging me, OR rarely when it just doesn't work for me at all.

For me, this is the second.
February 18th, 2015  
a bit of contre jour here judith , good on you for being "Proud Preston" :)
February 18th, 2015  
I like his halo. :)
February 18th, 2015  
Cool shot!
February 18th, 2015  
Great capture!
February 18th, 2015  
This almost looks like summer in Italy!
February 18th, 2015  
Love this!
February 19th, 2015  
He looks just at home - relaxed and happy. Nice candid, nice moment captured.
February 20th, 2015  
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