Made in the shade

[RBSinTo]

Taken earlier this spring in Chinatown here in Toronto.
Yet another shot of the homeless Chinese man who spends much of his time beside the entrance to an underground parking garage. On this particular day, I was returning to my car when I noticed him sitting on a stoop smoking. I was struck by the fact that he managed to stay out of the bright, glaring sunlight that covered the sidewalk in front of him, and liking the scene, I exposed for the shaded area, and grabbed this shot.
Converted to black and white in Photoshop.
motorized Nikon FA
Nikkor 24 f2 AIS manual focus
Fuji 100 ISO colour slide
about 5.6 @ 1/125th

[Bjørn Rørslett]

An excellent demonstration of film's capability of bridging contrasts, in terms of light as well as depicting the life conditions of an individual in the big city.

[elsa hoffmann]

nice story telling image.

[Ron Scubadiver]

It's a solid image, although I don't photograph the homeless or down and out.  It isn't wrong, I just don't do it.

[ColinM]

An excellent demonstration of film's capability of bridging contrasts....

I agree, the results are good? Interesting, as I (mistakenly ?) got the impression that slide film had far less latitude than negatives.

RBS, since you used colour slide, did this particular shot just look better in B&W when you compared them?
Thank you for the back story - I guess you must know some of these characterful personalities quite well after the time you've spent exploring the city.

[RBSinTo]

Thanks all for the comments.
Colin,
Yes, slide film has a narrower exposure latitude than print films:
slide 2 stops under, 1 stop over,
colour print about 5 stops total,
B&W print about 7stops total.
However, since I shoot essentially nothing but slide, on those occasions when I am compelled to shoot print stocks, despite the wider latitude, I don't feel comfortable the way I do with slide film.
As for the conversion to black and white, yes, after fooling about in Photoshop, I preferred the look of black and white for this particular shot.
By way of a contrast, see my photo "Home is where you make it" (in this same category about one page back) taken at the same spot, but left in colour.
Robert