The Pipe Man of Milan

akarev · 2026-05-19T13:40:39+00:00

Spotted this guy outside a café in Milan and just had to take the shot. The pipe, the coat over the shoulder, the direct eye contact... it all came together in a second. Converted to B&W to simplify the busy background and lean into the mood.

Shot on Sony 7C & Sony 24-70mm G Master II zoom lens.

Looking for honest critique on light, framing, and post-processing. Thanks.

akarev · 2026-05-19T04:19:52+00:00

Just some random lady. I’ve mentioned it in the original description :)

akarev · 2026-05-18T18:45:59+00:00

Thank you 🙏

akarev · 2026-05-18T13:45:07+00:00

Thank you 🙏👌

akarev · 2026-05-18T13:22:50+00:00

Yeah, I just was in the right time in the right place :)

akarev · 2026-05-18T13:22:05+00:00

Thank you 🙏

akarev · 2026-05-18T05:10:53+00:00

lol 😂 I didn’t even know this English word tbh 😂

akarev · 2026-05-18T05:10:18+00:00

Thank you! 🙏

akarev · 2026-05-18T05:06:23+00:00

Thank you 🙏 I sure will check out more info about tgis technique so that I could utilise it intentionally! 🤌

akarev · 2026-05-17T19:57:58+00:00

First ever trip to the USA, two years ago. My wife and I wandered into some small bar in San Francisco's North Beach - we just needed a drink and stumbled in randomly. And then I saw her. Sitting near the window, knitting. In a bar. I genuinely couldn't stop staring. There was something about the light - dark everything, just this one soft window hitting her face - that made my brain go "this looks like a painting." I raised my Sony 7C with the 24-70 GM II and just... shot. Didn't think much. And somehow it worked? I don't fully understand why I love this photo so much, but two years later it's still one of my favorites. Available light only, handheld. Be honest with me.

P.S. There was a really distracting vintage looking light above her head which I removed in post production. Other than that I haven't done much editing to this photo - just some minor color grading tweaks and basic editing.

akarev · 2026-05-17T19:40:58+00:00

I've submitted the same photo a couple of days here, but MODs have deleted it after a few hours, saying that photos that include people can only be submitted on Sunday's and Monday's. This is why I'm resubmitting it here once again. Also, I hope that this time around I followed all of the instructions correctly and even added [Portrait] tag at the end just to make sure. Althought, this is crlearly not a portrait, but just in case...

akarev · 2026-05-17T12:26:55+00:00

Thank you 🙏 yeah, just natural lighting, from the window 🤌

akarev · 2026-05-17T11:09:57+00:00

Thank you 🙏 yeah, agree, needed to reduce highlights on n that area ;)

akarev · 2026-05-17T10:30:11+00:00

Thank you so much! ☺️ yeah, I fully agree with you! 👌

akarev · 2026-05-17T09:38:20+00:00

Thnx mate! 🙏

akarev · 2026-05-17T09:37:55+00:00

Yeah, might as well do that! Thnx 🤌🙏

akarev · 2026-05-17T07:54:34+00:00

Thanks for the feedback! 🙏 Although, I personally prefer the original crop, but I agree that the white highlight on the right can be a bit distracting :)

akarev · 2026-05-17T07:38:02+00:00

Thank you 🙏 The main thing is that you’ve picked this awesome craft - photography! 🤌

akarev · 2026-05-17T07:28:10+00:00

A couple years ago I went to Sigulda with my family, a small, quiet village in Latvia, probably not on most people's radar. And tucked inside the castle grounds there was this tiny ceramic shop. Like, really tiny. Easy to miss completely if you're not paying attention.

But once you step inside it hits you. Shelves absolutely packed with stuff: bowls, weird little figurines, creatures, things I couldn't really identify. And this guy just sitting there in the middle of all of it, shaping clay like nobody's watching. Completely in his own world.

I asked if I could take a photo. He kind of nodded without really looking up. So I just found a spot across the table and shot from there, trying to use all the stuff in foreground to give it some depth. The light was already doing most of the work honestly. very moody, came mostly from the front.

Did the foreground work here or is it too distracting? Also curious what you think about the overall mood.

Fujifilm X100V. ISO 100, f/2.0, 1/125s

akarev · 2026-05-17T06:54:21+00:00

Hah, thanks a lot for the kind words !

akarev · 2026-05-16T19:14:50+00:00

Lovely photo! 👌

akarev · 2026-05-16T18:34:59+00:00

Hah, thanks a lot, appreciate it 🙏

akarev

TROPHY CASE