Yvonne, with a bad old wig

amazing portrait, intense but natural, impresssive.

A masterpiece!

 

.oesse.

Nice, ambiguous portrait, it shows inocence and maturity at the same time.

Fabulous! Great tone and dof! Great composition!

a wonderful collection of faces, but this, this was the one that stood out for me. such a portrait. such strength and softness. such clarity.

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I have a sense of both immediacy and penetration looking at this portrait. The play of depth of field works really nicely. She is framed by focus and her eyes remain muted and soft, nicely standing against what seems to me an unfortunate penchant among a lot of photographers for over-sharpened and unrealistic eyes. Her expression has both a calm and a presence. Her lips have character. Even her collar has sensuality. Some may worry about its lightness being a distraction. I don't. I like the way its curves catch my eye. Nothing can take my attention too long from this girl's face.

Probably due to compression, I'm seeing a bit too much of the red and green which comprises the toning, a little bit of streaking effect especially in the shadows. The shadows on the right side of her face (her right, not ours) maybe don't work so well with her freckles (especially right where her nose meets her cheek) and maybe a bit of fill light or post processing could have alleviated just a bit of that, which is also not a big bother to me.

A phrase I want to use here is "deliberate freedom." This doesn't seem a mere casual shot. I sense intention on both your parts. And yet there's a visual wispiness (for example, the back strands of hair) that suggests looseness and life.

This fits nicely into your body of work, which is difficult to get a read on because there is so much in your portfolio. It's a standout among your head shots and I'd love to see what you'd choose if you were going to edit your portfolio to a more manageable gallery-type experience.

The sepiaesque tone adds a touch of agelessness. This could have been shot any time in the last hundred or so years. I love the black border. It really adds a filmic touch. There is great humanity in this composition. The eyes are full of intrigue and it makes you want to look for that while longer.

Well, I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the image. There is something about the small thumbnail that doesn't allow the beauty of this image to come through like this larger size. Another reminder about how size plays a critical role in the reading of an image in many cases.

I can't really add much to what Fred said about this image. I think it is wonderful and I agree with him, the collar just isn't an issue and maybe in some ways, a wonderful counterpoint to the subdued tones here while not being any sort of distraction.

I am also glad Fred mentioned the right cheek, it is something I noticed right away and caused me a little pause--which I too have gotten past. Fred's sense of what it is might be right while I had been trying to determine if it was the result of the limited depth of field and the softness of the tonality here--maybe a combination.

While I really like the soft and depressed tones, I will say that it might slightly be on the wrong side of the line with reference to how soft it is to my taste--but not by much. I have no issue with the lack of lighter tones but might consider a slight additional weight to the bottom end--slight. I tried it and like it a bit better, but it might just be an individual thing--although I don't know that I saw another one of Theo's images quite this flat in the lower tones.

This final comment isn't one that is any sort of deal breaker for me, I love a lot of the portraits--in fact most of them--but as I shuffled through the images the shifting tones sort of distracted me (brownish to yellowish to neutral etc). Maybe made at different times or testing different effects, it isn't that any of these treatments bothered me in and of themselves. It was just that the changing tones and toning started to draw my attention away from the photos and to the technique. I am not talking so much here about the color images in amongst the black and whites--although there seems to be different techniques applied with those as well. My distraction was more just the tones and toning of the b/w. Just something to consider.

Anyway, there are a lot of nice portraits here, maybe too many as Fred might have suggested, however, I did look at the website and as I remember things were a bit more, and maybe better, edited down there.

Nice work.

Almost a haunting look. The shallow DOF works very nicely. Love the expression & wig. The sepia makes it a pretty timeless image

Thanks for the comments.

Taken 5 years ago, this picture now looks a little dated for me. Not for Yvonne, but the post processing is not the one I would use today. In the meantime I learned a lot about scanning, color management and photoshop, and last but not least, there's a better monitor.
Another thing is the silly phase of the day, soft, contrast, dark, moody, maybe we all go through this?

Learning to play with the advantages of scanned medium format film and new digital adjustments really is a joy and that old camera is being used to this day with much pleasure. The files from my 5D2 are great, the scanned files sometimes have some extra magic.

I absolutely agree with the comments on my portfolio, it's far too big. From time to time i pick some to remove, drop a folder etc. New ones keep coming, but one day it will be fine.
Thanks again.

I think she has a classic face and most likely would take a great photo under any circumstances. I like the treatment. I think her eyes make the shot. Great focus points there and the softness of the cheeks and chin give it the aged photo feeling.

It might just be my eyes but I think her right eye is out of focus. And it does bother me a bit.
Cheers ~
Alberta

I find all the positives mentioned agreeable. There does seem to be a bit of softness to the eyes, maybe the eyelids, and yet they eyes themselves are sharp, weird. Something bothered me though, and it took a while to pinpoint it; the piece is a bit static. I usually try to get anyone posing for me to have a slight head tilt, it gives a bit of movement to the piece. Otherwise, very well done, congrats.

There isn't anything about this I don't like (except for the title). For me, this is photography at its best. It may look dated to the photographer as far as his current technique applies, but to me, it's timeless. It has a depth that you often see in vintage photographs that were made with equipment that was nowhere near the level of sophistication of cameras and lenses we use today. I see everything I need to see in this photograph...there is nothing to draw my attention away from the subject. Classic work.

The look it's very deep and expressive! Texture and fine sepia are delicate as the subject seems to be! It's an unusual fine portrait. Regards Sergio

I very much like the use of depth of field to frame the subject, which gives a very nice, soft look. I also find the expression of the model to be very pleasing. A bit miss Lisa-like, in as much as it seems rather hard to pinpoint her mood exactly. Her eyes in particular are full of expression. The collar creates a nice frame or point of reference as well. Very lovely done :-)

What a wonderful portrait! I can't add much more to the positive attributes described by Fred G. at the beginning, and he said it in a much more detailed way than I possibly could. For me in particular, I'm struck by the eyes, which is as it probably should be with many/most portraits. In particular, her eyes are not the same, and the eye that is in shadow is actually a bit brighter and has a brighter reflection than the eye on the right which is on the more fully lit side of the face. This is somewhat counter-intuitive, but to me it just adds a bit more interest to the photo. This is a very real, very direct portrait of a young woman, it's exceptionally appealing, and I admire it greatly (in part because it's an area of photography --portraits-- that I haven't done in the past).

adding to faves.

It's a nice solid portrait. The title is distracting. There is more of Yvonne and far less of wig. The wig does not look bad and it does not look old. It looks good on Yvonne. I think that is because Yvonne is so photogenic anything would look good on her. I am drawn to her eyes first and then her freckles. I really don't give a hoot about the wig as a wig. I wouldn't have known it was a wig if it were not pointed out.

Yvonne's eyes just grab onto me. The toned monochrome is quite effective and the soft lighting, wonderful. I like the wig and the mood it helps create.
I am also quite pleased that you resisted the current trend to "fix" things like freckles. They look great and support the overall old-style look. Well made, Theo!

mesmerizing.

The direct gaze, unconcerned. The confidence in the erectly held head, even while sleepy eyed and serene.The warmth of tone and softness of light. The tight framing and bemused, self deprecating title.You found a good collaborator in this... t

Theo, I was delighted to see your name and image for POW. I think this is a great example of your work. Your models communicate a frankness and ease which so many photographers strive for. There seems to be this very comfortable beauty radiating from the model...which is true in so many other images of yours. Congrats on the image. Well deserved.

This is such an interesting image...the lighting is fantastic..however it is the model that I find so intriquing. She has a child like feel to her and also I feel wisdom within...I cannot tell whether she is young in age or older. Bravo,well done!

It is interesting how very simple lighting, apparently a window or a light bank to the right, well used, can provide all that is necessary. The lighting is very good in that the little girl's right face (cheek) receives a portion of it and the nose shadow is not too extensive. The light modelling is excellent. Contrast this to the overly dramatic lighting used by many professional portraitists (back lights directed to the model, light skimming the hair or side of the face, multiple fill lights, etc.) that often simply overwhelms the subject.

The little girl provides all the content that is needed, with her serious stare at the photographer and the latter's ability to put the subject at ease (seen also in his other portraits). A very nice result.