It was a Sunday morning, at a parking stop along the Atlantic beach near Melbourne, Florida. My wife was attending an outdoor AA meeting at the picnic pavilion, and I had an hour to kill. At a remote table removed from the meeting, I found this older fellow with an ARMY hat on, pulling out his chalk set to work on a beach scene he was working on. I struck up a conversation about his Army hat, and asked him where he served. Vietnam. We talked about the war, his role (mostly outside the wire). At some point I asked him if he minded if I took some images of him. He didn't mind. He said his chalk scenes were his way of helping him cope with his new life (as he put it). I got the distinct impression his artwork was his own personal way of suppressing or coping with his PTSD, but his mind didn't ever seem too far from his memories. We swapped stories a bit. He seemed at ease. The hour flew by.
Canon 5D MkII, 24-105 F4. In post, slight sharpening, enhanced the saturation of the green in his eyes slightly, de-saturated his jacket (bright purple), and normal amount of highlight and shadow tweaking. That's it.
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such a good portrait, well done!