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I was at a farm in South Carolina this past weekend for a very rainy Fall festival, and came upon a blacksmith. He was just getting his fire going when I took a few shots with my 200mm lens. He did not really notice me initially, but I got a little closer and he saw me, stood straight up and looked into the camera for a few seconds while I captured a couple more shots.
I walked over to him, and struck up a conversation about his smithing - very nice gentlemen, and fascinating to watch. He told me he had made horseshoes and shoed horses in the past, but had given that up due to his back. I ended up buying a couple of his works, and had a great day - rain and all.
Love the 1st image,great exposure and color. Really like the warmth of the light on his face, pop of the red shirt, richness in the worn apron. Great job.
Thank you, Shepherd, John and Louie!
It was a flat light day, but fairly bright as it was later in the morning. I underexposed in the hope I could accent the highlights to create a moodier shot.
Nice processing and image subject.
My quibbles are that he's not *doing* anything related to the craft or title.
In the second image for example he could have been holding a hammer - that would tie him to the work and environment.
The first image he is engaged with something but it's unclear what. You did a pretty good job on your processing of the smoke to make really nice ambience.
