Shot with Canon 5D, 200mm f/2.8L II
@ 200mm, f/2.8, ISO 640, 1/1250s

I was lucky enough to catch this courier just as he was putting on his helmet to make some more deliveries on his little Yamaha Riva scooter. Right before I clicked the shutter for this one, I chuckled to myself at the thought of Eddie Izzard (comedian) and the way he says ‘Ciao’ – which happens to be my informal title for this one.

Processing began with my custom Lightroom preset, Grayscale, Portrait 2 and then I proceeded to crop at an 8×10 ratio rather than a 2×3 ratio to get a bit closer and lose some empty, boring space. I used some brush strokes to add in some Clarity for better contrast in the midtones of the subject, and then I added just a little bit of sharpening.

Shot with Canon 5D, 200mm f/2.8L II
@ 200mm, f/2.8, ISO 640, 1/320s

I’m really torn on this image. On the one hand, I do really like the composition, timing, subjects, lines, etc… The original intention for this image as I was shooting it was to focus very sharply on the brick wall, for the texture. I wanted the texture / shape to be eye-catching and then for the figures to keep your eyes busy after that initial glance. I knew there would be compression from the 200mm lens, of course, and I wanted it, but part of me can’t help but wish that both people were of similar sharpness. But then again, the woman is the more interesting of the two, so it makes sense in a way for the woman to be more sharply in focus. The man being sharply in focus as well would probably actually make this a less interesting image.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this image – leave a comment and tell me what you think.

Processing began with my custom Lightroom preset Grayscale, Portrait 2. Next, I played with the color temperature of the image, added some highlight recovery, brushed in some clarity on everything but the man (it would produce an unsightly dark halo around him), adjusted black clipping to reign in shadow detail, removed the vignette, and finally increased the exposure a bit for a better balanced image.

Shot with Canon 5D, 200mm f/2.8L II
@ 200mm, f/2.8, ISO 400, 1/320s

This woman caught my interest because she just had this intense, hardened New Yorker feel about her. She was so focused on whatever it was on her mind that I don’t think she even noticed I was there.

Processing started with my custom Lightroom preset Grayscale, Portrait 2 and then I adjusted exposure, tweaked the grayscale mix for the best tonality, and finally some exposure adjustment brush strokes around the face to tone down some highlights just slightly.