Jazz it up, a photo from Quebec, Central

Photographer's Note

Jazz musician on the street of downtown Montreal. There are always several of these musicians either in downtown or in the subway enhancing our daily life.

He is not having a good day though. A lot of passing people but no taker. For the record, I did gave him something after taking the photo. I am a lurker, I hate to disturb my subject when I am taking the pictures.

This photo is inspired by Cedar's young flute player. This is an occidental and much older version :).

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When I was visiting Hiroshima, I had a little chat with a Japanese teenager. When I heard that she had visit a couple of cities in Canada, I asked her which is her favorite and she said "Montreal". I was taken by surprise as I have always considered Vancouver or Toronto to be a better city. I promised myself that I would take more care in finding out in which way the city that I choose to live is a favorite to the eyes of the young friend.

hispic, oswaldsson, Timmok oznaczył to zdjęcie jeko użyteczne

Critiques | Translate

mbaltuch (0) 2003-06-24 22:07

Great start to a great picture. The composition is really nice. The two issues I see are that it needs to be sharpened and the musicians face is too much in shadow. Some photoshop work can probably help bring out some of the features of his face. However, still a really nice picture.

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Abocc (3304) 2003-06-24 22:58

Great Jazz shot. Yes I write Jazz shot because I can feel the music soul. He is alone playing trumpet to get some coins, but at this moment he 's probably out of the world.
Great hamony of the colours, maybe it could be a bit sharp

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gringofil (0) 2003-06-24 23:46

This is great. I don't mind that his face is in shadow. Works nicely for me. But I do have some trouble with your focus point here...seems like his case is blurry and he's the one in focus. If the shot was a close up this kind of setup would work, but given a wider angle of view, I think you should have focused both on the case and the player. Well done, though.

[3]

Porteplume (4036) 2003-06-25 2:07

You did it again!
I like the soft tones and the way you framed the man and suitcase in the square shape, great balance...

[2]

Aegean (2571) 2003-06-25 2:09

Simple and very effective composition...Great street portrait...

olli (2091) 2003-06-25 2:36

That musician really has a style to dress. And I think he must have chosen the place to play just for that he´ll look good when someone will take a shot of him perfect tones! I like how the hat comes up from the great grey background. I also like his "cool" pose. I think you have taken a cover image for his next CD...

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ornis (1271) 2003-06-25 2:48

This guy is really cool and elegant. The grey background he's leaning on is perfect to enhance the only warm details as hat and shoes. I regret suitcase is blurry, but it wouldn't work as well without it, so... Agree it could be a CD jacket idea.

[2]

momshu (505) 2003-06-25 3:49

My partner who plays sax and is from Montreal says,"I can hear the music in the gray tones of the walls." We like this image.

Darren (6823) 2003-06-25 6:52

Really nice shot. I agree with the others who would like to see more detail in the face. I think conditions were against that, as the rest of your shot is perfectly exposed, any brighter, and his white pants would be blown out. Perhaps some dodging with Photoshop would help? Also, I see you shot this at f2.8, was it bright enough to go with a smaller aperture in order to bring the case into focus? Nice shot Thien.

anadai (2687) 2003-06-25 6:52

Great photo, I can hear the music...

dominique (11414) 2003-06-25 9:13

really well, the perfect photograph all is well, very good idea.

greg (2835) 2003-06-27 8:36

Fabulous! Colours are great, the pose is wonderful, composition perfect. A pity that the focus is on the wall behind the figure - the case is just a bit too blurry.

ninadev (5377) 2003-07-13 14:17

Nice shot! I like the way he leans on the wall and with his legs crossed, so relax.. I should go more often in downtown Montreal, there are things to catch there with a camera, which I miss. Lucky for me you were there.

mcreider (673) 2003-07-19 6:08

Wonderful, very laconic and beautiful

anthony (35) 2003-08-01 8:50

very well shot, i regret with the other that we can see details of a face
Congratulation quand męme !!

ebban (180) 2004-04-01 9:17

I like this photo with a jazz feeling. He looks like he doesn't care so much for any money in the bag turning away from it. It's the music he cares for. The feeling is helped by the colours in the photo - grey background and grey coat.
Am I right - is there a photo of a jazzmusician in his bag?

Timmok (802) 2005-06-21 17:42

Hi Tien,

Beautiful simple picture. I like this framing that shows only what's necessary : the guy, the wall and his trumpet-case. The way the hat contrast with the monotone colours is pretty cool too.

Concerning the Japanese girl, she can be right to like Montreal. I really prefered it to Toronto and Ottawa when I went there this winter. Don't forget Robert Charlebois' song called "Je reviendrai ŕ Montréal" (which means, "I will go back to Montreal") which can make pretty nostalgic when you think of the good times in this city while listening to this song...