Child & Guardian x 2

 

Leica R8 / Leica Macro-Elmarit-R 60/2.8 / Unknown / Epson V550

"Child & Guardian x 2" is a very old photo, taken in mid-2016 on a 400-speed black and white film that I apparently never tagged in Lightroom.  Regardless, I was playing around with the Leica R8, an odd (if lovely) 35mm SLR and the Macro-Elmarit-R 60/2.8.  The lens itself is outrageously sharp (as shown by the example image of my cat below, taken on the 10MP Leica DMR digital back).  Any lack of detail in the shot above is due to the combination of scanner and my lack of experience at the time (and I really ought to re-digitize this one).

Leica R8 / Leica Macro-Elmarit-R 60/2.8

60mm is a bit of an odd focal length for a walkabout lens, but it was what I had at the time.  I was working in the finance sector on the east side of Manhattan, and there was a little plaza near my office that I'd often go to during lunch.

Fortuitously, I spotted this picture-perfect arrangement of two older folks and kids.  Both sets of people were similarly dressed, in alternating light/dark colors-- and perfectly looking at one another in pairs.  The instant I was lined up I went for the shot.  Sure, there's a person's head in the frame between the two girls, but that's the inherent unpredictability of the real world for you.

While there's no guarantee that a viewer's eye will be drawn to either adult first (or possibly one of the children), it seems most likely to me that the white-capped and dressed person on the right will pull the eye first.  From there, there are two visual paths to follow: 

• 1 (R) -> 1 (L) -> 2 (L) -> 2 (R) -> 1 (R): You can look across the bench to the other adult, then track their gaze down to one kid, then the other, then back to the first adult.
• 1 (R) -> 2 (R) -> 2 (L) -> 1 (L): Alternatively, you can move across the frame from right to left, jumping from person to person in sequence.

Whether or not you notice the pigeon (3) is up in the figurative air, and it's not especially important to the shot.

The bottom of the bench and the heads of all four people are roughly at the rule-of-thirds marks.  I don't believe this is an especially important 'rule' to hew to, but it's helpful for organizing a relatively straightforward composition like this one.  You can subdivide the image horizontally by thirds by running the dividers between both pairs of people.

There are two clear directional elements to the frame, running between each child and the adult they are facing.  These vectors don't move you through the entire image, but they clearly illustrate the idea of connection.

All-in-all, one of my favorite shots-- and one that I wasn't able to bring out the full potential of until years later when I'd learned enough about digital editing to fix a set of really awful tramlines that ran through the image.  I think this would have come out fine in panoramic, but I would not acquire the Fujifilm TX-1 until later in 2016.