Arab Entourage

[Ron Scubadiver]

July, 2015, Seattle

From this batch: https://ronscubadiver.wordpress.com/2016/01/08/seattle-revisited/

[Bjørn Rørslett]

Try that in Dubai and you quickly get into trouble ...

The females are aware of your presence, though.

[Ron Scubadiver]

Try that in Dubai and you quickly get into trouble ...

The females are aware of your presence, though.

I would not try that in an Arab country, but it isn't a worry because I have no plans to visit one.  At least two of the women were looking straight at me.  My guess is they are Saudi's.  In fact, I probably would be inhibited anywhere other than the US where I know the rules are heavily in my favor.

[elsa hoffmann]

Well captured.

[rosko]

That's a great street photo!

Even more powerful as some women are staring at you.

I wonder if this image would gain even more power in B&W.

[Thomas G]

Look to the right - it's the men, not the woman.
The woman are more looking back in friendly curiosity, especially the man in the background just up to the tree gives a more confronting stare.
Very effectual.

[Ron Scubadiver]

Look to the right - it's the men, not the woman.
The woman are more looking back in friendly curiosity, especially the man in the background just up to the tree gives a more confronting stare.
Very effectual.

It's sort of always that way.  It is usually safe to shoot women alone or in groups.  When men are around they can act unpredictably due to some urge to "defend" the women.

That's a great street photo!

Even more powerful as some women are staring at you.

I wonder if this image would gain even more power in B&W.

I went through a lot of thought before deciding to do this one in color.  Contrast between colored scarves and one red gown and the remaining in black made me decide to do it in color.  The background has been desaturated a little.

Thank you Elsa.

[Frank Fremerey]

From the series I love the Taxi driver looking out of his windows best. The movement of the woman in front, dragging her air, and the guy, obviously impressed by her...

[Fons Baerken]

I encountered same a few times, young arabian women being open, curious and good natured, visiting Europe.

[Ron Scubadiver]

From the series I love the Taxi driver looking out of his windows best. The movement of the woman in front, dragging her air, and the guy, obviously impressed by her...

Over the last few days I have been exploring the question of color in street photography.  Most street photographers go black and white all the time to eliminate distractions from brightly colored signs and clothing in the background.  A few have been successful shooting in color.  I can't define it exactly, but it seems to require some important color information that adds to rather than distracts from the scene.

Fons, thank you for commenting. 

[rosko]

the man in the background just up to the tree gives a more confronting stare.
Very effectual.

You are right, Thomas. but I see him less visible.

The second girl from left, with wide eyes, clearly stares at Ron (it could be some surprise), while the girl with pink dress looks at Ron normally.

I mean these women give more interest to this picture.

It'd be interesting to see their expression just few seconds after the shot.

[Frank Fremerey]

Over the last few days I have been exploring the question of color in street photography.  Most street photographers go black and white all the time to eliminate distractions from brightly colored signs and clothing in the background.  A few have been successful shooting in color.  I can't define it exactly, but it seems to require some important color information that adds to rather than distracts from the scene

For me it is just a feeling I cannot explain.

The "churchyard sale" series looked great in color, then I got rid of the color and threw out a lot of details ... that is when people started to very strongly respond.

In other cases the other way, the colorful way might be best.

After one year I should really re-evaluate the "cremation" serie (color) and the "funeral" series (bw).

Very interesting point you make, esp. as we do not decide before we shoot anymore.

In film days I had one body with color slide and another with BW film. I knew what I did when I took the picture...

[Ron Scubadiver]

Thank you Rosko for commenting.  Initially, I did not notice the guy by the tree, and I am not at all certain if he was a member of that party of just a random passerby who could pass for being from the region.

Frank, the situation is shaped by the fact our cameras are color capture devices, except for a few special cameras from Leica and Phase One.  There is a Fuji shooter in another forum who says Bayer sensors respond linearly but B&W film is able to stretch its dynamic range at the extremes due to a non linear response that looks something like a curve to increase contrast.  He claims the Fuji X sensor has this non linear property.  I don't know if he is right, but the guy does make some real nice photos.

[Frank Fremerey]

Frank, the situation is shaped by the fact our cameras are color capture devices, except for a few special cameras from Leica and Phase One.  There is a Fuji shooter in another forum who says Bayer sensors respond linearly but B&W film is able to stretch its dynamic range at the extremes due to a non linear response that looks something like a curve to increase contrast.  He claims the Fuji X sensor has this non linear property.  I don't know if he is right, but the guy does make some real nice photos.

I am not sure if that is a question of sensors. I think of it more as a question of a response curve of the sytem as a whole.

What we receive as RAW-files has already undergone some analogue and digital preprocessing in the chips (recording & editing). It is not a pure, clean slate "measuring device output".

I can add a lot of non-linearity in post processing and that is what I do when I post process for a "film look": Throw away information to make a picture more emotionally appealing.

[Ron Scubadiver]

This image has been moved to a larger gallery of street photography:
https://ronscubadiver.wordpress.com/2016/01/13/seattle-street-photography/

I am not sure if that is a question of sensors. I think of it more as a question of a response curve of the sytem as a whole.

What we receive as RAW-files has already undergone some analogue and digital preprocessing in the chips (recording & editing). It is not a pure, clean slate "measuring device output".

I can add a lot of non-linearity in post processing and that is what I do when I post process for a "film look": Throw away information to make a picture more emotionally appealing.

Frank, I think it is reasonable to attribute performance to the system as a whole.