I asked this gentleman at the playground, (we were both their with kids) if he wouldn’t mind posing for a picture. I loved his hat, beard, and shirt combo. He agreed, after he asked me what kind of camera I had, and if I had a model release. After I showed him the image he said, “nice bokeh.” I was a little taken a back, but turns out he used to shoot movies.

Anyway, the above shot is pretty much what I envisioned, but I thought it would have been better without the blue car that was in the background. I had other shots of him, but I liked his eyes in this one the best. So, I tried it in black and white.

So which one do you like better. I can’t decide. The car is irrelevant in this image, and his features are stronger I think, but I miss the purple shirt.

Then I asked myself, what was my vision for this image. Good question. I knew I wanted his look without a strong background, hence, the shot at f/4.0. Actually, I thought I was shooting at 2.8. My bad. Anyway, I think I like the purple shirt. Maybe I didn’t have a clear enough vision when I took the image. Maybe I am thinking way to much about this.

I still like the shot.