Mutual Interest

Mutual Interest
23 March 2014 -- 82/365
Cranston, Rhode Island

One of the major attractions with street photography is that the photographer has the opportunity to meet some very interesting people. When I set out for today's photo, I planned to add to my "neighborhoods" collection and wanted to photograph the row houses on Dyer Avenue in Cranston. The gentleman you see in today's photo saw me taking numerous shots of the houses and he came running up to me. Naturally, seeing him running up, I took the opportunity to capture him in the scene as well. This is a fairly depressed area, and I've found that people in low income neighborhoods are extremely suspicious of anyone taking photographs around their property, so I was expecting a confrontation. Instead, I was treated to a very lengthy conversation about the history of this section, his experiences as a kid when milk was delivered on horse-drawn carts, and when the rag man came through town once a week. It turns out that he's a photography buff with a fascination for old Fords - specifically the Ford Falcon - and he spoke at some length about his search for an original photo of a Ford Falcon sign on an old dealership. As to the neighborhood photo, well, that will wait for another time. This photo was too spontaneous to pass up.

Post processing started with a classic filter in Topaz B&W FX. I adjusted color sensitivity sliders, adaptive exposure, regions, contrast, boost black, boost white, and protect highlights. A levels adjustment was added in PSE.

Here's the high res version in Smugmug: http://kannafoot.smugmug.com/Photo-Challenges/PAD2014/i-zNWL67q/0/XL/2014%2003%2023_0015%20copy-XL.jpg

[Jule ♥]

He looks like a cool guy :)

[Angie]

Excellent capture...lovely story too. A fav for both

[Ron Correia]

@justaspark Thanks, Jule! Yeah, he had some fascinating stories, and he tipped me off to a place I can photograph some old milk wagons!

@angiec Thanks, Angie! Appreciate the Fav.

[Rob Wareham]

It is a great photo and story. I think you were brave though taking this shot when you didn't know what he was going to do. Might have been your last!

[Jane Anderson]

This is really a poignant picture story, Ron.

[Ron Correia]

@barrowlane LOL Rob, I saw my first black bear when I was on vacation in New Mexico. The bear walked out of some scrub to my left, walked behind me and scampered into the woods to my right. I did what any irrational photographer would do... I quickly followed him into the woods, hoping for a good photo!

@cejaanderson Thanks, Jane! I still have to go back there for the neighborhood shot. lol

[Sierra Nicole]

Cool story, he seems so happy! His facial expression is priceless!

[Ron Correia]

@sierranicole423 Thanks, Sierra! He was quite a character, that's for sure.

[Jed Redden]

Awesome action pic. Love the story behind it too! ;O)