Portraits of Juan Camacho…

Juan Camacho basks in the evening sun enjoying a cold one in front of his garage after a long day of work, San Pablo CA

I like the contrasts of colors in this photo, the green trees, the red sweater, the black squares of the garage, and the apricot house paint. I also like the lines and squares contrasting the organic shapes of the tree, it billows and wisps through the photo. The natural light on Juan’s face defines his furrowed brow without losing any of his features. There is good depth of feel with both Juan’s face and the trees in focus. The textures of the roof and on Juan’s sweater are visible and defined. I think the rule of thirds is quite effective in this photo, it places Juan in between the natural and the built world with the line of the roof literally bisecting his head posing a poetic reason for his grumpy visage.

After a long day of repairing exercise machines Juan Camacho gesticulates by lamplight at his home in San Pablo, CA

I like the dark outline of Juan’s hands; Juan is a mechanic and his hands are very much a part of his character. The cord in the back has an interesting kink and there is a sparse batchloresque look to the photo. I think the positioning of the frame with Juan slightly off center works because the dark shadow to the lower right contrasts the bright light on the wall and on Juan’s face. The focus is good and his prickly silver beard is highlighted.

Juan Camacho performs reiki on a lamp at his home in San Pablo CA

Note: Somehow these pictures look much better on my phone; they are in a smaller format and they are not so grainy. I think when I transfer them there is some sort of poor compression in process of transferring the files to my computer.

The light definition in Juan’s hands and the detail from the shadows on his face. His sweater is very red so I placed a thin blue shirt over the light and it gave the image a cool hue that I thought contrasted well with the sweater. I also liked the lines and how none of them are straight and all at different angels; the door sash, the outline of Juan’s chest and the shadow that extends back from Juan’s neck(you can see this much better in the larger frame).

As Juan Camacho meditates quietly the kitchen table begins to levitate at his home in San Pablo CA.

I thought this was good front lighting that showed texture and detail. It is useful for this image to be centered and symmetrical because the pose somehow requests it.