cweeks on DeviantArthttps://www.deviantart.com/cweeks/art/a-sad-evening-4-xmas-shopping-13057650cweeks

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Daily Deviation

December 17, 2004
a sad evening 4 xmas shopping by *cweeks is a moving and timely deviation. We have a lot to be grateful for at this time of year, however it can be easy to walk past the homeless or less fortunate than ourselves in our mad rush to make the shops before closing. This image forces us to think about others, in this case the slumped figure on his worn and tattered suitcase, quietly observing the silly season around him. I wonder who he is, and where he would like to go if given half a chance.
Featured by serpentinekiss
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a sad evening 4 xmas shopping

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Description

i return to los angeles ... only to find rain.

this was actually very early in the evening ... like 5.30p.

was shooting details of a new showroom featuring $60,000 bathtubs and $25,000 stoves for an architectural mag. when i walked up to the location i saw this guy. felt bad for him. alas, there's really nothing i can do for him. as with most of the homeless in santa monica ... they have internal problems that they must face and deal with before they could "really" accept help from any person in society.

this guy had a blank stare. i know he was fretting about a rainy night and no where to sleep.

the showroom i was shooting in had a sign on the door, "no sitting or sleeping in this area." guess that's not the image they wanted.

so i smoked a cigarette and just watched with my 70-200.

what i liked was that the guy was basically in the dark and although rainy there were so many christmas lights and store lights on illuminating the sidewalk and street. saw this happy little family juxtaposed with the dispair ... and knew this was the photo i wanted to make.

canon eos 1d mark 2. 70-200/2.8L. 1/6th second (thank God for Image Stabilizer) at f5.0. 800 iso.

i have two (2) versions. dunno why but the colour works better than a b/w version. i like both but i think for once the colour connoting xmas was good. further, i decided not to shoot wide open as i wanted at least some of the detail of the background to come out. only the homeless guy and the background blown out ... hmm ... not sure i'd like it. shooting at 1/6th ... hmm ... that was a challenge ... but it also allowed some walking movement of the family.
Image size
1100x910px 230.25 KB
Make
Canon
Model
Canon EOS-1D Mark II
Shutter Speed
1/6 second
Aperture
F/5.0
Focal Length
120 mm
ISO Speed
800
Date Taken
Dec 8, 2004, 11:39:05 AM
© 2004 - 2024 cweeks
Comments167
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ambermdigitalpaints's avatar
The man's body language just breaks my heart. I've never looked at a photo and cried. For some reason, this one just makes me tear up. Great capture.