Captains & Sternmen - Comments Appreciated: Here are a few of the lobster people of Monhegan. There are 12 boats in the fleet, each with a crew of 2 or 3. Here are some of them, trying...

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Here are a few of the lobster people of Monhegan. There are 12 boats in the fleet, each with a crew of 2 or 3. Here are some of them, trying to load in difficult weather and worried about getting out for opening day of the season. The two in the first picture are those you've already met, from the Chris, the others from other boats.

Your suggestions will be helpful as I am still struggling with processing, and have many of these people in action. There are challenges to capture of the work. This can be much more intrusive than photographing Amish farmers in a field, because here you can endanger someone by getting in their way, so you have to be very careful about respecting their work area. They don't mind you being there as long as you don't intrude in their space or get all in their faces, but they are not there to be curiosities, just to get work done.

Bait Bags for the Chris

(Download)

Worried

(Download)

On Top of the Pile

(Download)

Frank2013 Loc: San Antonio, TX. & Milwaukee, WI.

minniev wrote:

Your suggestions will be helpful as I am still struggling with processing,

Great composition and treatment of #1.

#2 seems better flipped for me of course.

For some reason in #3 I want the gulls to disappear.
#3 is on the verge of looking painterly to me which is fine, I'm wondering if that was your intent.

All three shots are good in my book minniev.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

#1 - can't imagine how it could be better in terms of sense of place and capturing this life. Excellent!

#2 - I'm not generally into people photography to begin with, so this one doesn't do much for me.

#3 - Love it! The textures, shapes, colors, perspective, the man's intensity...all super interesting and eye-catching.

The processing is very appealing and appropriate, IMO.

Frank, I'd lose the seagulls too :)

Frank2013 Loc: San Antonio, TX. & Milwaukee, WI.

Linda From Maine wrote:

#1 - can't imagine how it could be better in terms of sense of place and capturing this life. Excellent!

#2 - I'm not generally into people photography to begin with, so this one doesn't do much for me.

#3 - Love it! The textures, shapes, colors, perspective, the man's intensity...all super interesting and eye-catching.

Frank, I'd lose the seagulls too :)

I edited my response to number 3 and wonder if you see the same thing as I Linda?

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Frank2013 wrote:

I edited my response to number 3 and wonder if you see the same thing as I Linda?

I was actually thinking HDR or tone mapping, to the extent that I know anything about either - ha - and also allowing for my viewing on an 11" Chromebook. I do find it to be very appealing!

Frank2013 Loc: San Antonio, TX. & Milwaukee, WI.

Linda From Maine wrote:

I was actually thinking HDR or tone mapping, to the extent that I know anything about either - ha - and also allowing for my viewing on an 11" Chromebook. I do find it to be very appealing!

Gottcha

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Frank2013 wrote:

Great composition and treatment of #1.

#2 seems better flipped for me of course.

For some reason in #3 I want the gulls to disappear.
#3 is on the verge of looking painterly to me which is fine, I'm wondering if that was your intent.

All three shots are good in my book minniev.

Thank you Frank. I'll try a flip though it feels like it'll be headed the wrong way. You are noticing the difference in processing. #1 is processed sort of "straight up", #2 on the soft side, and #3 with a little enhancement of detail compliments of macphun.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Linda From Maine wrote:

#1 - can't imagine how it could be better in terms of sense of place and capturing this life. Excellent!

#2 - I'm not generally into people photography to begin with, so this one doesn't do much for me.

#3 - Love it! The textures, shapes, colors, perspective, the man's intensity...all super interesting and eye-catching.

The processing is very appealing and appropriate, IMO.

Frank, I'd lose the seagulls too :)

Thank you Linda. The 3 were all processed a bit differently, and I'm trying to figure what works. You may like some of the other photos of #2 better - her expression was what made me choose this one, but I've got her also doing action work, she was one of the toughest on the dock, she moved 100's of those heavy traps in addition to all the tie-ups and supervising. The whole operation was so fun to be close to.

NJFrank Loc: New Jersey

# 1 does it for me. The two look like they have a" purpose" and they are going to be sure to get it done.
#2 for whatever reason doesn't do anything for me.
#3. Another intense worker on a mission. BTW the sea gulls don't bother me. Heck they belong there. It's their home. :-)

Billyspad Loc: The Philippines

I sympathize with you min trying to get something with appeal of of a group of folks going about there normal work especially when you cant get in close and serious.
A guy stacking shelves in a supermarket from afar probably would not be a worthwhile image get in is face and record his mood and concentration level for instance and you probably stand a chance of getting a wow shot.
So No 1 does not work at all. Looks like a small fishing port in any part of the world with a temperate climate.
Its in touristy snapshot territory
N0 2 is a great capture and I love it. Best of the bunch by a million miles with a well taken shot showing a working lady deep in thought.
No 3 crop real close with maybe a square crop to leave just our man hauling his cages around. The background the post etc convey nothing.
For processing the Macphun version has most appeal.

Uuglypher Loc: South Dakota (East River)

minniev wrote:

Here are a few of the lobster people of Monhegan. ... (show quote)

#1 good composition, lotsa local color!

#2 I really like her 1000 yard gaze, would love to see her closer to being the image's intent...at least a bit of crop on the left to give her a greater proportion of room to gaze into n the right.

#3. "Top of the Pile" needed to be in portrait format with more of the lower parts of the pile visible...I don't get a sense of height.

Looks like you had a wonderful time there!

Dave

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

NJFrank wrote:

# 1 does it for me. The two look like they have a" purpose" and they are going to be sure to get it done.
#2 for whatever reason doesn't do anything for me.
#3. Another intense worker on a mission. BTW the sea gulls don't bother me. Heck they belong there. It's their home. :-)

Thanks for the feedback. I'm not one to take many people photos so this was good experience.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Billyspad wrote:

I sympathize with you min trying to get something ... (show quote)

Thanks for the detailed feedback. It is interesting who likes which and why. #2 was one of my favorites so I'm glad at least one somebody liked it. Will try the crop on #3.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Uuglypher wrote:

#1 good composition, lotsa local color!

#2 I really like her 1000 yard gaze, would love to see her closer to being the image's intent...at least a bit of crop on the left to give her a greater proportion of room to gaze into n the right.

#3. "Top of the Pile" needed to be in portrait format with more of the lower parts of the pile visible...I don't get a sense of height.

Looks like you had a wonderful time there!

Dave

Thank you for these detailed comments Dave, and I will try them all I assure you. This is not a kind of photography I typically do, so it's been a learning experience to develop a collection of shots of large and small aspects of a contained landscape and its citizens.

Yes, Monhegan is a wonderful treasure, a place I love quite dreadfully much, but a confounding object of photography.

ebrunner Loc: New Jersey Shore

minniev wrote:

Here are a few of the lobster people of Monhegan. ... (show quote)

I like all three of these photos. I think the processing and composition are fine. In the third shot the man is right in the center; but it seems ok in this instance. Good shots. Makes me feel like I was there on a damp morning with no sun. Well done.