(With the Canon G10 as walk-around camera): The Man Who Plants Cantaloupe Seeds

Asher Kelman · Feb 12, 2009

Chance meetings are avoided as we going along our way and have a look of purpose. However, coming back from the dentist, I was somewhat disarmed. I made fill eye contact with a homeless man who followed me as I was photographing Birds of Paradise flowers at sunset. He gave me a look to indicate that he was busy too, as he got down on his knees.

"Most unusual, I thought! Is he going to pray, lie down or fix his shoe lace?"

To my surprise he was making a hole in the well manicured church garden and proceeded to plant a seeds, one at a time.

"That's 5000 I've planted!" pointing to an almost empty 1 Gallon juice container that had a thin layer of seeds in the bottom.

He wanted me to actually see him plant as seed. He'd been a miner in Pittsburgh and now he was planting cantaloupe seeds everywhere he could! I guess this sort of balanced the "Karma" of having previously remove stuff from the earth!

I asked if I could photograph him. He asked for change. $1 was agreed. Hence the picture:

"The Man Who Plants Cantaloupe Seeds" Toned,
Canon G10, 28mm, 400 ISO, 1/25 sec, f7.0

"The Man Who Plants Cantaloupe Seeds" B&W,
Canon G10, 28mm, 400 ISO, 1/25 sec, f7.0

"The Man Who Plants Cantaloupe Seeds" Color.
Canon G10, 28mm, 400 ISO, 1/25 sec, f7.0

So which version if any shows him best? These were taken with my G10.

Asher

Daniel Buck · Feb 12, 2009

ahh, there we go :-D

looks like quite a character!

Asher Kelman · Feb 12, 2009

Well this is what I was photographing when he came along:

I really like the way the light transilluminated the flower so I underexposed 1 stop using the G10 at 200 ISO, 1/500 sec at f4.0. This should really be photographed with a 50mm f1.2 or even better a large format camera! However, the advantage of the G10 is that it's always available!

I hope you guys like it too.

Asher

james sperry · Feb 12, 2009

hey ash,
i can't really say which image portrays 'him' better, but i think the tonal quality of the first image sets the feeling for the situation better. for whatever reason it has the 'way back when' photography feeling, when everybody had to really work to live.

Kathy Rappaport · Feb 12, 2009

Color!

He's a colorful fellow. I know just where this was taken. He needs color. 5000 Cataloupe seeds can wreak havoc on the tidy city they were planted it. Could be a major issue for the city council.

The Bird of Paradise is beautiful. It belongs however in Flowers by the Wayside. I bet Cem would move it!
I will have to show the birds of paradise in my office complex that are two stories tall and the head of them is 3-5 feet in length.

Asher Kelman · Feb 12, 2009

Kathy Rappaport said:
He's a colorful fellow. I know just where this was taken. He needs color. 5000 Cataloupe seeds can wreak havoc on the tidy city they were planted it. Could be a major issue for the city council.

Actually that day I found other folks doing illegal things! There were guys doing carpentry late at night and that for sure could get them a ticket. They were afraid I worked for the city, LOL!

Kathy Rappaport said:
The Bird of Paradise is beautiful. It belongs however in Flowers by the Wayside. I bet Cem would move it!

Nah, he'll give me a break! Besides, I'll put the rest of that shoot there. That, BTW, is an excellent thread.

Kathy Rappaport said:
I will have to show the birds of paradise in my office complex that are two stories tall and the head of them is 3-5 feet in length.

That I'd like to see! Is that a joke or real?

Asher

Cem_Usakligil · Feb 12, 2009

Hi Asher,

Off-topic:
I see that you have taken the picture of this man @ 400 ISO. If the G10 is similar to my G9, then it explains the excessive noise present in the picture. I never shoot above 100 ISO with the G9 nowadays. Just look at the hairs/face/beard and the red overall. I am assuming that you have done some excessive S/H processing to put more light into those areas, which has increased the present noise. It seems that the camera has exposed for the skies leaving the man in the dark. I am just assuming though. As you ask everybody to show their originals in similar situations, I might ask you to do the same here, LOL.

On-topic:
I like the look on the face of the man and the composition. His hair/head blends nicely into the background with a sloping line from the church up left to the tree down right. He fits right in the middle. Great shot!

Cheers,

PS: Are you going to post your flower in the proper thread like Kathy has suggested?

Ken Tanaka · Feb 12, 2009

Like James, I can't speculate on which image most accurately reflects this fellow's character. I have a personal bugaboo against toned images, so my choice would be between the latter two.

More notable is the general impression of this image. The breeze blowing the fellow's hair into a wild fluff, his beard, his piercing eyes, and that cigarette pointed squarely into the lens all create that Charles Manson Charm School look. The Spanish mission glinting in the background adds a bit of extra mystery.

Nice shot, Asher.

Asher Kelman · Feb 12, 2009

Cem_Usakligil said:
Off-topic:
I see that you have taken the picture of this man @ 400 ISO. If the G10 is similar to my G9, then it explains the excessive noise present in the picture. I never shoot above 100 ISO with the G9 nowadays. Just look at the hairs/face/beard and the red overall. I am assuming that you have done some excessive S/H processing to put more light into those areas, which has increased the present noise. It seems that the camera has exposed for the skies leaving the man in the dark. I am just assuming though. As you ask everybody to show their originals in similar situations, I might ask you to do the same here, LOL.

Yes, I underexposed! You are correct, the G10 should be used at ISO 85. Hopefully I will post the original after I come back from the dentist tomorrow! The RAW won't open in digital Camera Professional or my CS2 so I'm using the jpgs for now.

Cem_Usakligil;69567[B said:
On-topic:[/B]
I like the look on the face of the man and the composition. His hair/head blends nicely into the background with a sloping line from the church up left to the tree down right. He fits right in the middle. Great shot!

Thanks for the comment.

Cem_Usakligil said:
PS: Are you going to post your flower in the proper thread like Kathy has suggested?

Yes, I have a set to post! Just need to process them! I knew you'd notice, but this picture is the reason why I met the fellow. I will also post pictures of the act itself.

Asher

Cem_Usakligil · Feb 12, 2009

Cem_Usakligil said:
...I like the look on the face of the man and the composition. His hair/head blends nicely into the background with a sloping line from the church up left to the tree down right. He fits right in the middle. Great shot!

Hi Asher,

I am so impressed by the build-up of the compositional elements in this picture. Just take a look at this:

Excellent!

Cheers,

Cem_Usakligil · Feb 12, 2009

Asher Kelman said:
...The RAW won't open in digital Camera Professional or my CS2 so I'm using the jpgs for now.

So why don't you use the DNG Converter (download the latest version for free from the Adobe site) in order to convert the CR2 into a DNG first? Then you can process it in CS2/ACR as a raw file.

Re. DPP, download the latest version from the Canon web site.

Cheers,

Kathy Rappaport · Feb 12, 2009

Asher Kelman;69566 That I'd like to see! Is that a joke or real? Asher[/QUOTE said:
Asher - yes, the Birds of PAradise in my office building are taller than two stories. I will try to take a few snaps of them if it doesn't rain.

james sperry · Feb 12, 2009

Cem_Usakligil said:
Cheers,

i'm starting to see a trend here

Asher Kelman · Feb 13, 2009

Hi Cem,

You asked for the original, so I've added it to the sequence I have already provided:Sepia, B&W, Color and then the original as shot!

"The Man Who Plants Cantaloupe Seeds" Toned,
Canon G10, 28mm, 400 ISO, 1/25 sec, f7.0

"The Man Who Plants Cantaloupe Seeds" B&W,
Canon G10, 28mm, 400 ISO, 1/25 sec, f7.0

"The Man Who Plants Cantaloupe Seeds" Color.
Canon G10, 28mm, 400 ISO, 1/25 sec, f7.0

Well here's the untouched original:

I shot under-exposed to get the sky, b.g. and mood I wanted. I cannot say how I like the color version as it would be based on how I like the printed output. To make a color print I'd want, I'd have to start from the beginning with the unaltered file and work from the RAW. I do prefer the original dark look. The color version was just a stage in going to the tinted version I really had in mind.

I have worked on a series of derived images from photographs of the planting here.

Asher

Asher Kelman · Feb 13, 2009

Cem_Usakligil said:
Hi Asher,

I am so impressed by the build-up of the compositional elements in this picture. Just take a look at this:

Excellent!

Cheers,

Cem,

Thanks for the triangulation. It's interesting to have revealed how one's mind works. The triangle of course is one of the most celebrated shapes and is paramount in many madonna and infant paintings.

Asher

fahim mohammed · Feb 13, 2009

The sepia-like tone of the first version appeals to me. Old world like image that shows the planter
looking at a stranger with a stranger still gadget interested in his work.

To the planter the approaching stranger does not seem like one who would be planting seeds..why then is he interested?

puzzeld the planter gazes straight at Asher, his hair disheveled and clothes soiled. Asher presses the
silent G10 shutter.

Cem..I euclidean trig way back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, but you have correctly reminded me
that the greeks knew things more than they let on!.

Best.

(With the Canon G10 as walk-around camera): The Man Who Plants Cantaloupe Seeds

Asher Kelman

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